Bernhard had a house built at Western Cove in 1994.

He is semi retired and publishes a home-produced magazine called Investigator. The magazine invites believers in religion and the paranormal to settle their differences with atheists and skeptics by debate. In 2009 the Internet version was included in the  National Library's "Pandora Archive" which is a national archive of: "online Australian publications...that we consider have national significance."

Bernhard's other interests include researching his family history (genealogy), watching television documentaries, chess, walks, jogging, and reading.

Bernhard inside his Western Cove house