THREE months after her release from prison a smiling Schapelle Corby has rekindled her relationship with her Indonesian boyfriend and is excitedly refurbishing her family’s surfboard and swimwear shop.
The 37-year-old was spotted out and about several times this week in Kuta with Ben Panangian, the man she met in jail and who supported her when she was in her darkest hours.
The couple were affectionate and business owners around the family shop said that Corby was often at the shop with Mr Panangian.
“She always comes with her boyfriend,” one local shopkeeper said, adding the couple “looked harmonious” together this week when she saw them.
Corby, who is on parole, was with Mr Panangian at the Board Room, the business run by her sister Mercedes and brother-in-law Wayan Widyartha, in Central Kuta.
This week Corby began refurbishing the shop and playing a major role in its transformation. The bottom floor was cleared out and painted and onlookers said Corby was there overseeing renovations.
Back together ... Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian in front of the Board Room Surfing shop belonging to her sister Mercedes in Kuta, Bali. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
By late Friday surfboards and swimsuits had been neatly arranged in the shop’s ground floor area.
But it’s not all work for the former jailbird, with Corby regularly visiting the beach, swimming and even taking a short trip to Lembongan Island, off Bali.
Having a chat ... Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian in Kuta, Bali. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
Corby had told justice ministry officials that her goal, upon release from jail, was to work in the family business, perhaps designing swimwear.
And she appears to have thrown herself into the new task, buoying her spirits, after the past decade during which she was arrested, convicted, jailed and ultimately released on parole.
Getting help ... Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian in front of the Board Room Surfing shop. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
It is understood that Corby is helping to manage the shop and has busied herself in recent weeks with sourcing goods to sell, like surfboards, swimwear and other articles.
After developing a severe mental illness and psychosis in jail, she remains on antidepressants and medication.
Mercedes Corby’s surf shop .. where Schapelle is working in Kuta. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
Since her release from jail on February 10 this year, Corby has been required to report monthly to her parole officers at the Denpasar parole board. Each visit has been fraught as she has desperately tried to escape the media photographing her there.
A month ago she wore a motorbike helmet into the meeting and this month she again tried to cover her face with a scarf.
Having a laugh ... Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
Parole board chief Ketut Artha told her on this occasion to remain positive and calm and try not to let the media presence stress her out too much.
Corby first met Mr Panangian, a native from North Sumatra, when he was a prisoner in Bali’s Kerobokan Jail, serving time on minor drug offences.
At work ... Schapelle Corby cleaning up the Board Room Surfing shop. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
The couple became close and were often seen cuddling and canoodling in the jail’s visiting area.
Mr Panangian was later moved to another jail in Bali before his release but the couple remained close and until one year before her release Mr Panangian would visit Corby in jail.
Getting out ... Schapelle Corby having a chat outside the Board Room Surfing shop. Source: Supplied
Looking well ... Schapelle Corby waiting outside the Board Room Surfing shop. Source: Supplied
Before her release however he was being described as a “friend” and while he did not visit, he regularly supplied her with food and goods from outside.
But the couple has rekindled the love they found behind bars and have been out and about around Kuta this past week. News Corp Australia understands they have also been away on a short trip together.
Out and about ... Schapelle Corby at the Board Room Surfing shop belonging to her sister Mercedes in Kuta. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
He is a top stand-up paddle boarder and had a business teaching the art.
In April 2013 he became one of the heroes in the aftermath of a Lion Air plane incident where a plane overshot the runway in Bali and crashed into the sea.
Surfing nearby, Mr Panangian watched as the plane plunged into the ocean then he paddled over to rescue survivors, pulling them free of the wreckage.
Getting on with life ... Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian in front of the Board Room Surfing shop. Picture: Supplied Source: AAP
At the time he told News Corp: “There was one man who could not walk, I think he had a stroke and there was one woman whose face was bleeding.”
In one of the only interviews he has given about Corby, Mr Panangian told New Idea magazine that affection was something Corby craved and missed during her time in jail.
PICTURES: Schapelle Corby’s life
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