Adjusting to Island Life

I knew long before leaving UK shores that island living conditions would be basic. The GVI staff whom I would be working with, had told me so. But until I experienced it for myself, I had no idea that adjusting to island life would so difficult, and wonderful, all at the same time.

I had been given a list of packing essentials… a head torch, a first aid kit, a mosquito net, a water bottle and bed linen to name a few.

Seriously, I thought, is all of this really necessary.

Yes. Yes it was!

Yasawa Islands

The Yasawa’s are a group of about 20 volcanic islands located over 70 miles from Fiji’s mainland and situated quite literally in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean.

For many, me included, the Yasawa Islands are the epitome of paradise. But I was soon to discover that island living is anything but easy.

Island Living Conditions

I arrived on Nacula island about 6 hours after leaving Nadi, Fiji’s capital.

Sunburnt and exhausted myself and 6 other volunteers approached the island in a tiny wooden boat. That boat would become my only means of transport on or off the island.

Upon arrival, I was shown to my sleeping quarters – a large concrete hut with a corrugated iron roof. There were 6 sets of bunk beds, most draped with mosquito nets, towels and sarongs. Backpacks hung from nails etched into the walls to avoid the concrete floor turning them mouldy due to the humidity. And it smelled really, really bad.

The only means of electricity was a solar powered generator. It provided electricity for about two hours each day (one in the morning to make breakfast and one at night to make dinner).

No electricity meant no air conditioning, no refrigeration and no light.

We ate pasta, tinned corned beef and long green beans that we grew ourselves.

A water shortage meant there were no flushing toilets and we could only take one 3 minute cold shower each week.

Nacula Island looked like paradise, but for a girl who normally wouldn’t leave the house without straightening her hair, this was going to be no holiday camp.

But it amazed me just how quickly I adjusted

Fast forward 3 days and I had happily traded the things I take for granted at home (like electricity, a constant supply of hot running water, food etc) for simple island life.

Here’s why:

I was lulled to sleep each night and woken at sunrise with the sound of the ocean.

With no light pollution I spent many a peaceful night dozing under a shower of dazzling stars, waking periodically to make a wish upon a shooting star.

I hiked to the middle of the island through hilly terrain, and I witnessed spectacular views and the most amazing sunsets.

I shared a daily commute to work (on a nearby island) with dolphins, whales and once, a shark.

I taught a litle girl, who barely spoke English, how to add and subtract. That lightbulb moment as her eyes lit up when she finally got it, was one of the simplest but most rewarding moments of my life.

I helped build and install a fresh drinking water tank next to a residential school. Children are still drinking safe water from it 5 years on.

I experienced a way of life that was so far removed from what I knew, it was insane.

And I experienced this way of life with awesome people from all over the world. We sat on an isolated beach in the dead of night talking, laughing and sharing stories about our very different lives.

I was invited to share this idyllic island with the dozen or so Fijians who lived on Nacula Island. Their hospitality, generosity and love for life was humbling and inspiring.

I was welcomed into their community, their homes, their church and their lives like I was family. We were family.

Adjusting back to ‘normality’

After an unnerving start to living on an island, it was gut-wrenching when it was time to leave. I knew that I would probably never see my Fijian family again.

Strangely, it took me longer to adjust back to ‘normal’ life with electricity, running water, shoes, make-up, hair straighteners, a car, than it did to adjust to island life.