Homeless man prefers his Mosman ferry spot to a permanent roof over his head

THE cold weather hasn’t deterred Ray Johnson from sleeping rough at a ferry wharf in northern Sydney — he says the view is better than a warm bed.

HE was given a chance to live in a Mosman retirement home, but homeless man Ray Johnson prefers to sleep on a bench at Mosman Bay Wharf.

“It’s the best place in the world,” he said.

“I prefer to be independent, to suit myself and see all my friends at the wharf.”

Mr Johnson said the recent cold snap had not worried him.

While he sleeps undercover in the ferry terminal, the building is open to the elements. He is rugged up in two sleeping bags, warm slippers and a bench lined with blankets.

Mr Johnson shows off the great view from his bench at the wharf.

Earlier this year concerned residents arranged for Mr Johnson to live at the Garrison Retirement Centre at Mosman but he left after two months.

“I’m only 68 and the people there were all in their 90s,” he said.

“The food was good and the staff were really nice but it was a bit depressing. I just wanted to get back to my spot.”

Mr Johnson, who receives sickness benefits, has lived at Mosman Bay Wharf for the best part of six years.

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He has also had brief stints in Housing Department flats in the inner city but hated the “junkies and the noise” and did not feel safe.

“I feel safe at Mosman Wharf,” he said.

Mr Johnson said society was too caught up with material wealth.

“People work their butts off for all that material stuff but it’s just an illusion that we need all that stuff,” he said. “It depends on what you want — whether you want to keep up with the Joneses or you want a little better than a park bench — it depends on how satisfied you are.”

Mr Johnson has a lung condition and after a recent stint in hospital a Mosman family put him up for the night. “I had breakfast in their home and I cried because it was the first time in a very long time that I’d had a family breakfast,” he said.

Mr Johnson decorating a roadside tree for Christmas.

In 2012, Mr Johnson decorated a tree for Christmas on a traffic island outside the ferry terminal at Mosman Bay. He bought some of the decorations and local residents also contributed.

At the time, Mr Johnson said his Christmas tree was for the whole community to enjoy.

“I wanted to give something back to the people of Mosman,’’ he said.

Mr Johnson has become a fixture at Mosman Bay Wharf.

Every morning he exchanges greetings with commuters — many of whom he knows by name.

“If I get a smile and a hello, it makes my day,” Mr Johnson said.

Local residents also bring him hot food, shout him the odd coffee and make sure he is OK.

“Some of the people who catch the ferry are the richest people in town but they don’t mind saying g’day,” Mr Johnson said.