The Republic of North Macedonia, as it is officially known, is a small country in the Balkans wedged between Greece, Serbia, Albania and Bulgaria. Generally, it's name will draw blank stares from many Australians, and yet Macedonians have been coming to Australia, at one time in big numbers, since the 1930s and have made a significant contribution to our migration history. However, at the current time, you could probably count the number of Macedonian migrants in Tasmania on your fingers.
Seven years ago that number was bolstered by the arrival of Blagoja, a native of Skopje, and his wife. He works as a technician for electronic security systems, and from a young age he was a hands-on problem-solver, something he acquired from both his family and the community he lived in. He was never a fan of school or book learning but was a kid who had to be active, and for 15 years he practised Parkour, and was even a Parkour trainer in Sydney for a time, which also lead to a role in the stunt department of the Mad Max movie.
Initially he came to Tasmania as a kid with his family, who were looking to escape the unsettled times in the early days of Macedonian independence, but they returned after a few years and Blagoja would grow up in Macedonia, before returning many years later as an adult.
