“I see dolphins, dugongs, turtles and humpback whales while I’m working”

I have a 360 degree view ... we have dolphins, dugongs and turtles, says the ferryman of the happiest job of his life.

Some people think I must have a dull job because I drive a vehicular ferry backwards and forwards across [Moreton] Bay to Stradbroke Island … it’s not like it’s navigating to new places.

Each working day, I make up to six return trips from Cleveland [south-east of Brisbane] to Stradbroke Island. It’s about 45 minutes one way, then 15 minutes to offload and go again. It’s either a 12 or a 14-hour shift and most of the time I’m on the same boat, the Sea Breeze.

What it’s really like to be a wedding singer

I was hit by a train and survived

It’s not dull at all, it’s a beautiful part of the bay [and] there are interesting things that happen.

I have a 360 degree view from my bridge. We have dolphins, dugongs and turtles in the bay and we regularly see them. At certain times of the year we see humpback whales and, occasionally, [rare] right whales too.

It’s also close to my home. I can look across the bay and see my house and the kids can see the boat going back and forwards. I think it’s a great job.

We are allowed to invite people into the bridge and quite often we get people and kids come in and sit in the chair and get a photo. Once I had [former prime minister] Paul Keating sit in my chair.

Sealink Stradbroke Island ferry master Leyland O'Brien at work. Photo: Mark Cranitch.

The other positive thing is that I get to go home every night, because there are plenty of jobs in the marine industry where you don’t.

I’m a bit of a late starter, but I have a couple of young kids [aged 10 and 6] and I like to go home every day. My wife [aged 47] and I have been married for 25 years.

It [having kids] is just the way it worked out. When I was younger, it’s not something I thought I wanted to do but, it turns out, it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened. I just want to be the best father I can.

I was born in Tauranga, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. My name comes from my [late] uncle and the story goes that, as a baby, he was not named for some time.

Then one day, his parents drove past a sign in New Zealand for a sawmilling company called Leyland O’Brien. They thought Leyland went nicely with their surname of O’Brien and so named him that.

Tauranga is a beautiful place but I left when I was 21 to look for other things.

I’ve lived in Sydney, Perth, Cairns and Hervey Bay and I’ve done a variety of jobs including as a sparky’s TA [trade assistant] in the mines in the Pilbara, and painting iron furniture. In Cairns, I bought a boat to try and do charters but it didn’t really work out.

My love of boats began when I was in Perth where I got on board with a guy delivering a yacht to Greece. That was the first time I’d ever been on a boat and we sailed across the Indian Ocean, stopped at the Chagos Archipelago and Diego Garcia where there is a huge American military base.

We sailed across to Africa, into the Gulf of Aden and up the Red Sea. I went as far as Sudan.

It was more than two months at sea and physically and mentally it was a real endurance trip, a test of character. You feel quite a sense of accomplishment doing something like that.

My wife and I moved to Brisbane in about 1999 and I started working on a ferry at Coochiemudlo as a deck hand. I got out of the [marine] industry for a while but then decided to get back into it and came to SeaLink, my current employer, where I have worked for the past 13 years. I started as a deckhand and then got my tickets to drive the boat and applied for the next position that came along.

Sealink Stradbroke Island ferry master Leyland O'Brien. Photo: Mark Cranitch.

Now, I’ve been driving the boat for about 10 years.

In my life, it’s definitely never been about one job or one certain direction. I’ve just gone along finding my way and for a long time, I didn’t make plans or connect anywhere. This is definitely the longest job I’ve had and it suits me very well.