Intro
it’s my first morning on restoration
island in the far north of Australia’s
Great Barrier
Reef my host for the week is Dave a man
who’s lived here alone for 16 years like
a real life Robinson
[Music]
Hot Water
cruso it’s early but it’s already
getting hot water is a premium here and
it’s Dave’s biggest worry it hasn’t
rained properly for 2
years yeah this is this is the water
Water Tanks
we’re using at the moment oh this is B
you didn’t build this did you no this
would have been built probably about
approximately about the war time it’s
not in great shape Dave no but it’s the
only water we’ve got left because the
main tank over here is empty and we’ve
just got a like a week this is all the
water hey is this what we’re actually
using then this water that’s we’re using
for the shower and the toilet right now
nice it doesn’t look that it doesn’t
look that appetizing from here no well
underneath it’s quite clean right um but
it’s as I said it’s only shower and
toilet we’re not drinking it we’re not
using it to drink we don’t drink water
from up here
Dave has six tanks in total that when
full can collect 200,000 L of water but
with no rain he’s had to stop using his
one flushing toilet and running shower
because these alone use a quarter of his
annual
Supply drinking water’s collected in a
Water Supply
cleaner tank near the house with a mesh
covered to keep out debris there’s still
some left but supplies have never been
this low the rains don’t come so it
could be another year I don’t know it’s
does that worry you well it’s the first
time ever it’s the first time since I’ve
been here that we haven’t had a rainfall
event to fill up our tanks so I’ve
always figured it’s going to happen so
just it happens it happens that’s the
way it is no point worrying about things
you can’t control but if you run out of
water well we we’ll always get rain M of
some sort but we need serious rain for
the hills to be wet for The Creeks to
run so we’re all we’re not going to run
out of drinking water we’re not going to
die we’ve got plenty of drinking water
and we can wash by hand which is what I
do now with a bucket and that’s fine
Beer
Dave survives on the bare minimum of
water but then unbelievably he shows me
what happens with the rest of the rain
he collects he makes his own
beer the elixir of
Life
beer it’s a luxury item alcohol yeah but
it’s a necessary luxury my personal
objective in on the island is if I don’t
work yeah I don’t get a beer I don’t
deserve a beer so is this your is this
your this is your main luxury beer yes
yes Island living costs Dave just under
£10,000 a year this is the same as his
State Pension so he’s Frugal with his
spending but the businessman in him has
never really retired he knows an
opportunity when he sees it Dave trades
his beer for fish with passing fishing
boats you’re not L to trade alcohol per
se mhm but I gift it you can gift it I
gift it in return for something else
that might they might we give we give we
have we’re giving we givers we all give
to each other it’s not trading has
nothing to do with money people uh like
to give me fish and I like to give them
beer so if uh if water really did if you
were completely out of water here and
you just had the bare minimum would you
still Brew do you think would you still
use that uh yes be I’d clean my teeth in
the beer but but you’d clean your teeth
in but
well well it would be it would be
certainly on the high list of priorities
I’d be careful about it but but yeah you
I’ve never run out of
[Music]
alcohol
