After years of illness, Burnie man finds path to health on South Burnie beach

The Burnie man who had suffered a series of serious health issues, grabbed his mobile phone and went to the South Burnie beach, where he took a few photos on the phone.

"I have been unwell for a while.

"So I thought I'd pick up a camera and start taking photos and some are coming out reasonable. I post them every day to the family (in New Zealand).

"The family can't believe Tasmania is like this. They're amazed by it all."

Mr Karanga, who comes from a small town in northern New Zealand, has lived and worked in Australia for 42 years, and in Burnie for the past 12 years.

He became ill about four years ago with some serious conditions, and two years later contracted a so-called 'super bug', which resists antibiotics.

"I nearly died. When I woke up in the Burnie hospital I had all these specialists standing around my bed. I was out for quite some time. They told me it was golden staph, and I was quarantined.

"But I haven't really recovered from it."

When Mr Karanga was discharged from hospital, he went home to the small unit where he lives alone.

"All I did was sit in front of the TV because I couldn't get motivated.

"For two years I've been sitting in my unit looking at my four walls. I don't go out, I don't drink alcohol and I don't do drugs. I was depressed.

"I was lost from reality."

It was his family that got him up and out.

With the mental health of young people in New Zealand a concern, the government ran programs to get people exercising.

Many of Mr Karanga's family joined in, and would dare each other to do 20 sit ups a day for 20 days, for example.

"I thought I'd better do something every day and post it, and if it's exercise they're doing, then I'll do the photos.

"So I got up and came to the beach and I'm loving it."

The project he has set himself is to take the photos from the same spots every day, to record the changes in the weather.

He also takes pictures of the Burnie Port wood ship pile, then heads along the beach to the Emu River bridge, where he takes more images, sometimes visiting the beach two times a day.

The outings have meant he is meeting other people, many of whom are walking their dogs, and he is having more human contact.

Before his illness, Mr Karanga travelled around Australia doing many jobs.

"I'm a person that does all the jobs that other people don't want to do, and more," he said. "I'm multi-skilled."

He intends to keep going with his daily pictures of the beach, saying he's never had such a good feeling about life before.

"It's peaceful and it's getting me out of the unit and visiting people.

"It's really empowering for me. It's getting myself back into health again."

If you have been affected by this story, contact Lifeline 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467, Beyond Blue 1300 24 636 or MensLine 1300 789 978