My First Impressions

Sally and I just got back from our first visit to our future home and there is decent mix of excitement and fear. First, the excitement. We got to fly into Koro this time because of the boat schedule and got to see the island from above. Sally and I with our counterparts were the only ones on the plane that would have maxed out at 8 people anyway. The island looks absolutely amazing. It is a volcanic island so is ringed by lowlands by the sea that leads immediately to very steep hills/cliffs leading up into the highlands. The whole place is covered in rain forest with the occasional coconut plantation. And of course, you can see the coral reefs ringing the entire island. Hello, snorkeling (and hopefully diving). When we turned to land the plane, I was pleasantly surprised to see a runway, but less excited when that turned out to be a grass strip. Never fear, our 12 year old pilot did a masterful job.
Our house is a 2-bedroom wood house with running water, a flush toilet (oh yeah!), and here is the best part. We have a covered porch that looks out to the Koro Sea. We can watch the sunrise from there. Our house is above the village in the teacher's housing that is next to a high school. So, our neighbors are folks affiliated with the school. That part is cool because they are from all over Fiji and are more educated. The village is just a short walk down the hill that Sally has already fallen down and so far seems pretty cool. That being said, there is clearly a reason why I am there as the village is dealing with a lot of environmental issues that plague these small islands. I will have plenty to do to keep me busy.
Now for the fear. The island is an hour drive and an 8-hour boat ride from the nearest store. That boat comes only once per week and is sometimes cancelled for weather anyway. There is also no public transportation on the island which makes getting anywhere very difficult and expensive. There are no stores on the island, which means no beer, no ice (for martinis) and certainly no cocktail onions. That last part has Sally shaking (delerium tremens, I believe). We only have electricity for a couple of hours a day in the evening, which rules out refrigeration. And there is nowhere to buy anything of any kind. That means that until we can get some veggies out of the soil, we are going to have to rely on fish from fisherman in the village and a combination of dalo, cassava, and yams (3 very starchy roots). I will be eagerly anticipating the growth of that tomato plant! You should definitely wait to visit until that tomato plant is fruiting.
So, our desire for isolation in a tropical paradise has managed to come to pass. Now, we are kind of stuck with it. I am sure that once we get settled, it is going to be incredible, but we have some serious learning to do as to how to survive in such isolation. If you have any ideas, let me know. We have 3 weeks until we make the move! Sorry I don't have photos up yet, but I will soon. There has been no way to get me photos from the camera to the computers in the internet cafe, but I am hoping to remedy that soon. Until then, you can use your imagination!