Home sweet home
For the next year I am living in a house rented by VSA, it is about as far into the centre of the island as you can get. Which means we've a 200m walk to the road and lagoon on ones side, about 75ms to the seaward beach on the other! Yes, the island is that narrow.
I'm currently flatting with a VSA volunteer called Aaron who finishes up his 20 month placement later this week, then the place will be mine. It has been great flatting with him, he's really been a great host and full of good advice to make settling into life here so much easier.
The outdoor area, the room at the end is the washhouse and houses a couple of old soft top surfboards the local kids can use, my boards.
The house is pretty solid- we are above the cyclone zone, king tides and strong winds combining are our main natural hazard. The home has been used by volunteers for a number of years so is well appointed with various odds and ends left behind by my predecessors, making it a reasonably well appointed home- it is probably not too dissimilar to a kiwi bach in that regard, lots of bits and pieces to make life comfortable, not many of which match. But it is great not having to go for a big shop to get the basics.
A large open plan lounge/living area. We have Sky tv, it hasn't worked for the past 6 moths or so despite several attempts by the landlords to fix it. However they took the decoder away last week and replaced it so as of Friday I have Sky tv (there is no tv on the island, only satellite tv via Sky). Never had Sky at home so is a tad ironic that I moved here to get it- and Aaron is still in denial that it finally works!
And towards the front door and kitchen area.
I've been crashing in the spare room/ sunroom. All houses (if they have windows) have louvre windows and mosquito netting over them. This room is small but comfortable and I'll probably keep using it s my bedroom as it is lighter and brighter than the main bedroom Aaron has been using. I always like sunny houses so can't really see me moving into a dark room, even though it is on the cooler side of the house. I like sun damn it!
It is so warm you don't need top sheet on the bed. The first couple of nights I used a fan to keep the room cool but don't bother now. Temperate drops to a nice 27-28 degrees at night and there is often, but not always, a bit of a breeze to cool things off, so its not too uncomfortable :)
The house is surrounded by coconut palms- so need to remember not to stand under the trees. Nothing like picking up a freshly fallen coconut and drinking the milk! Yummmmmmm!!!!!! Fresh, chilled coconut milk is my new favourite drink.
There are also a few banana trees. The fruit is growing nicely. Fruit really is in short supply on the island so am looking forward to these ripening up...
We collect rainwater from the roof and have 3x large (10,000 litre?) tanks and one smaller one hooked up to the main supply. It hasn't rained since I've been here though. All water needs to be boiled, so boiling water for the morning and mixing up milk from milk powder for the next day are part of the evening routine.
There are a few dogs from the neighbour's that wander by for a visit. The black one, Sammy, is a bit of a favourite here. The dogs roam about where they like and there are usually dog fights most evenings/nights somewhere around us. There are three or four dogs further down our track to our house that rush out in the morning, barking and snarling. Some days though they let you past unmolested, other days they are in attack mode. Pretending to pick up a rock from the ground scares them off but can be a tad disconcerting when four come barreling out of nowhere.
Anyway, my house is nice and comfortable and has everything I need for the next year.
I popped down to the beach for surf after work tonight. The water is about 29 degrees. A couple of the local kids came out to join me on one of the old soft top boards a previous volunteer had left. There are a couple more of the soft-tops in the washhouse so will take them down for the kids to use when I got for a surf after work tomorrow.
Craig
I'm currently flatting with a VSA volunteer called Aaron who finishes up his 20 month placement later this week, then the place will be mine. It has been great flatting with him, he's really been a great host and full of good advice to make settling into life here so much easier.
The outdoor area, the room at the end is the washhouse and houses a couple of old soft top surfboards the local kids can use, my boards.
The house is pretty solid- we are above the cyclone zone, king tides and strong winds combining are our main natural hazard. The home has been used by volunteers for a number of years so is well appointed with various odds and ends left behind by my predecessors, making it a reasonably well appointed home- it is probably not too dissimilar to a kiwi bach in that regard, lots of bits and pieces to make life comfortable, not many of which match. But it is great not having to go for a big shop to get the basics.
A large open plan lounge/living area. We have Sky tv, it hasn't worked for the past 6 moths or so despite several attempts by the landlords to fix it. However they took the decoder away last week and replaced it so as of Friday I have Sky tv (there is no tv on the island, only satellite tv via Sky). Never had Sky at home so is a tad ironic that I moved here to get it- and Aaron is still in denial that it finally works!
And towards the front door and kitchen area.
I've been crashing in the spare room/ sunroom. All houses (if they have windows) have louvre windows and mosquito netting over them. This room is small but comfortable and I'll probably keep using it s my bedroom as it is lighter and brighter than the main bedroom Aaron has been using. I always like sunny houses so can't really see me moving into a dark room, even though it is on the cooler side of the house. I like sun damn it!
The house is surrounded by coconut palms- so need to remember not to stand under the trees. Nothing like picking up a freshly fallen coconut and drinking the milk! Yummmmmmm!!!!!! Fresh, chilled coconut milk is my new favourite drink.
There are also a few banana trees. The fruit is growing nicely. Fruit really is in short supply on the island so am looking forward to these ripening up...
We collect rainwater from the roof and have 3x large (10,000 litre?) tanks and one smaller one hooked up to the main supply. It hasn't rained since I've been here though. All water needs to be boiled, so boiling water for the morning and mixing up milk from milk powder for the next day are part of the evening routine.
There are a few dogs from the neighbour's that wander by for a visit. The black one, Sammy, is a bit of a favourite here. The dogs roam about where they like and there are usually dog fights most evenings/nights somewhere around us. There are three or four dogs further down our track to our house that rush out in the morning, barking and snarling. Some days though they let you past unmolested, other days they are in attack mode. Pretending to pick up a rock from the ground scares them off but can be a tad disconcerting when four come barreling out of nowhere.
I popped down to the beach for surf after work tonight. The water is about 29 degrees. A couple of the local kids came out to join me on one of the old soft top boards a previous volunteer had left. There are a couple more of the soft-tops in the washhouse so will take them down for the kids to use when I got for a surf after work tomorrow.
Craig
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