CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
A 30-year-old man who lives in a mountainside shack in the Byron Bay Hinterland, with no real dependents other than his stoner mates that occasionally crash on the couch for a week at a time, says he’s a bit under pump heading into Summer.
As a qualified carpenter who fled the city in search of some waves a good decade ago, Eddie Brett now lives a very different life.
The main reason for this is that there’s no ‘big jobs’ in Byron.
With all the billionaire Hemsworth types shipping in their own builders from down south, and a NIMBY local council willing to commit acts of domestic terrorism against anyone who builds a house taller than two stories, Eddie is mostly getting hit up for some light renos at best.
In fact, most of the time he’s mostly just changing door knobs. Or being asked by rich blow-ins to do the type of jobs that don’t actually require a qualified chippy. Like painting a gate, or killing a snake.
With no real lack of work, and the ability to charge the unofficial 35% ‘Byron Tax’ for taking an arvo off surfing, things are pretty good for Eddie.
Which is why it puzzles his friends back home when he says he’s been flat out. What else is going on that they don’t know about?
“Well we’ve got this chilli fest coming up in Mullum” says Eddie.
“So wanna get everything sorted for that”
When asked what role he was playing in the organising of this upcoming food festival, Eddie reveals he is in no way involved in the event planning aspect.
When asked if they needed someone to build a stage, Eddie says they were going to just do it at the footy oval. When asked when this event was, Eddie says it’s just before Christmas.
In fact, Eddie is planning on doing not much more than simply ‘attending’ the festival, but he might have a few mates from Lennox coming down. If they can get their shit together.
Outside of that, he’s mostly been making love to beautiful Brazilian backpackers and smoking the purest bush cannabis that good ever put into a young man’s lungs.
“Yeah the school needs someone to clean the gutters at some point too” says Eddie, and he sighs with frustration.
