John and Bev O’Brien left Sydney in search of a different way of living, and in 2009, that search took them to Three Hummock Island, a remote State Reserve off Tasmania’s north-west coast, where they spent the next nine years managing accommodation and helping care for the island. The couple had no permanent neighbours nearby and lived with the practical limits of an island that could only be reached by small boat, light aircraft or helicopter. They finally left in 2018, and were returning to Sydney after years in a place where some months their Land Rover travelled only about 30 kilometres. According to ABC News, the couple had managed the island’s accommodation business for the entire nine-year period.
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