The Ship - Bay of Fires

Captains Log - 0001 / 17th February 2024 / 1620hrs

Everything is a story, why do people write. Some version of us discovered that if you make a mark with something on something else - it can remain. With a little dexterity, those first marks turned into directions for others to follow - the thousands of millennia thereafter are evolution. For me, it is an oasis of words and thoughts where there is nothing else but electrical connections that turn into words typed into this.

If you take second here to have another look at the photo above, I would like to declare that this is where we live. We moved in here yesterday. This is our life now. This is everything we have dreamt about for decades; this is everything we have worked for. This is it - I am writing with the breeze over the Tasman Sea washing up over the pristine East Coast Forest, of which, 27 hectares is now under the custodianship of us. For those that came before us up to at least 35,000 years ago, please know we understand and accept our role in this very special place. We promise to care for it.

To be honest, I am writing this slightly dazed with a sense of freedom, expanse, beauty, creativity, peace and love. If I hadn’t inherited this hairstyle, I could probably grow dreadlocks. Up until about 4pm yesterday we were in “move our life two hours east mode”. It has been a bit intense. We probably should have put more effort into garage sales and donations because we now have a good portion of our entire lives in boxes in the amazing shed that comes with this property. It is like a museum awaiting to be unpacked, but it is also the sum collection of two adults and two children's clothes and surplus ‘stuff’ over a period of twenty years. No doubt it will be the garage sale of the century at our new home at some point….I hope so, I would like that shed back for other toys. I digress. After a six-month journey to get here, (I now know way too much about real estate, banks, spreadsheets and forms), today we have decided to r e l a x. Debi is asleep in hammock on the deck, some friends of ours have taken their own hammocks into the trees and are also asleep. An hour ago, we all went to the beach at Binalong Bay and dived into the ocean. I have an ice-cold Moo Brew pale ale in a glass, a table to write on, the sea to the right of me and forest everywhere else. It is bliss.

Just in case you need proof.

What we are very excited about is that we get to share this with humanity.

When we first visited 813 Reids Road, Binalong Bay we fell in love. We were down here for a friend’s fiftieth. As usual when visiting Binalong Bay (or anywhere really) I ended up looking at properties in the area that are for sale. This one popped out like a beam from a lighthouse. We visited it a week later. You will have to come here yourself to see why, words are hard to form to describe the feeling of here - the picture above sort of sums it up, but only a little bit. That night, sitting around our fire in our home of sixteen years in Launceston (it was winter), someone said the house looks like a ship. From that moment on, the property was called “The Ship”. It’s a ship. It is a ship on a mountain that looks over an untouched forest to the ocean and New Zealand some two thousand, two hundred and seventy-one miles away. I recently learned that The Ship was designed and built by a naval architect. It makes sense when you see it. It is a Ship. It is The Ship - Bay of Fires.

The lower section of The Ship has cabins. Two of them. They have a view over the front native lawns, across the forest to the sea. They have their own bathrooms. They have a “Saffire” queen mattress in them with premium sheets, pillows and Waverly Woolen Mills blankets. They have original art from Tasmanian artist Nick Glade-Wright. They have an oar from the Sepic region of Papua New Guinea (where we lived just prior to moving to Tasmania some twenty-one years ago). They have framed original bills of lading dating back to the eighteen seventies. The have the incredible soundtrack of mother earth on the edge of an island. There is an undercover outdoor communal area with a fridge with everything that is amazing to eat, or drink sourced from this part of the world. There is a place for a fire. There are nature tracks all across the twenty-seven hectares to explore. Kookaburras sing you awake whilst the ocean coming to shore sings you to sleep. Black cockatoos glide overhead from time to time. It’s one of those places you will forever be saying to your partner in life -” Remember when we stayed at The Ship”. In the morning, if you want, you can order “The Captain’s breakfast”. It’s not cheap because it is something you won’t forget…. don’t worry if you don’t want breakfast, it means I get to sleep in, but I will do it for you if you want. Over time we will have the temple of vegetable and the cathedral of chicken close by, so everything will come from around twenty steps away.

Our theme is:

Boutique, comfortable, sustainable and memorable.

The Ship on a mountain

We are launching these real soon, we are not doing the whole “corporate app thing”, rather working on letting people know who want to know and asking them to tell their friends about it. Maybe you are coming down as one of those mad folks that ride a mountain bike 42 kilometers downhill to Swim Cart beach on the Bay of Fires trail - it ends just up the road. Maybe you are just looking to get away from the ones and zeros for a spell. Maybe you are a Queen in Denmark and want to show your kids what home looks like. Whatever the reason, I can honestly say that we cannot wait to meet you and hear your reasons for coming here and witness your desire to stay.

This is 2.7km’s away. We swam in this an hour ago.

Thank you for reading the first log entry for The Ship - Bay of Fires, it is my intention to write this every week. I imagine that in years to come, I will enjoy looking back and reading about the voyage of The Ship on a mountain overlooking the Tasman Sea. I hope you also like reading along.

To make life easier to get these log entries, go to The Ship - Bay of Fires and sign up to receive “The Captain’s log” via email.

Peace.