There is an Offard E Baker age 21 an able seaman British crew on board the 'Garonne' 1889 in Australia
www.mariners.records.nsw.gov.au/This website has both a transcription and scanned copies of the original records (for scans follow links near bottom of page)
If Offard regularly sailed on ships going to Australia and New Zealand then the chances are he could have been away from the UK for several years at a time. It was not uncommon for ships to take passengers and cargo to Australia then stay in Australian waters/ and or Indian ocean for a couple of years transporting cargo commissions before returning to the UK
