Ruru Norbury
"It's from 1983; the year I was conceived. Well I was born in '84, which means my mum and dad must've been getting busy around summer 1983, which is when this thing was rolled out of the factory."

Ru's a carpenter on Victoria's Surf Coast. After losing his job due to coronavirus, Ru now spends most of his days surfing up and down the Great Ocean Road.

"Yeah, there must be a wave here."

Despite restrictions on travel and outdoor activities, popular surf spots have been quite busy. And some people have even risked a fine to come down the coast to surf.

"So the other thing I heard was that, although I don't think it happened, was 'cause that French dude drove down from Melbourne to surf. So he got bitten by a shark, and then he got fined."

Many places along the foreshore have been taped off to prevent people from loitering or gathering in groups.

But today, some restrictions on outdoor activities in Victoria are being lifted, allowing people access to public parks like the coastal reserve.

But for locals like Ru it seems, little will change.

"That crew in the surf, even though it's been iso time, I feel like I've got to know heaps more people because I just think everybody's heaps more chatty than normal.

"Lots of times in the water surfers are super... like lone wolf, you know, it's like you versus them. But, I don't know, it's maybe everyone's in a good mood.

"I think a lot of people down the coast are pretty happy about the whole iso thing."

"How come?"

"Don't have to work as much, get to spend more time just, like, surfing, doing things you like."

Ru's originally from Wales, and got his Australian residency just weeks before the lockdown began. Without it, he wouldn't have been eligible for unemployment benefits, which he now relies on to survive.

But his life isn't all surfing. Ru believes strongly in helping people in his community.

We're on our way to meet some people Ru's volunteered to do work for.

"I might have to stop and pick up a tape measure, a couple of bits."

Andy Wallis
"We met Ru through a friend of ours who was having a house renovation in Lorne. We had him over here to do a couple of little jobs and he might become builder in residence here."

Andy's a retired doctor from Melbourne. Because it's his usual habit, the rules permit Andy to visit his house in Lorne during the lockdown.

"We're trying to do all the right things. We're eating in every night obviously. In car parks when we're surfing we keep our distance. And we've been adhering pretty tightly to the instructions we've been given."

The Surf Coast has had very few cases of coronavirus, but tourism has all but disappeared.

"There's far, far, far less traffic around the Great Ocean Road, so the road's empty which is beautiful. And obviously with the restaurants and everything closed the town looks different, works differently."

But lots of people like Andy have come down from Melbourne to isolate at their beach house.

Which is good for those businesses that stayed open, like this cafe in Aireys Inlet that gives Ru free coffee and food in exchange for his handiwork.

Carli Setchell
"So a lot of our customers that we see in January, Easter, long weekends, school holidays, who've all got holiday houses down here, straight away in March were all saying to us that they'll move down here.

"Because they've been told to work from home, or they're homeschooling their kids, and they'd rather do it here than in Melbourne."

But despite having a rent reduction and a monopoly on takeaway coffee, Carli's still losing money by staying open.

"But it was just more about giving everyone something to do, even just two or three days a week, a reason to get up. They would've lost a lot more than just a job."

But for Ru, working for free or giving his fee to charity is all the work he needs.

Ruru Norbury
"My lifestyle's pretty minimal. I live in that caravan over there, which costs me $100 a week.

"I know a lot of people doing it harder than me. I'm pretty much having a ball. It's just like the happiest I've been in years. And so I thought, I might as well do something to give back."