Living in the South Pacific: Is it paradise-like?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Forgive me if this question sounds ignorant, I am not meaning to come off sounding like that. This question is mainly aimed at those who have lived in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific, but anyone else feel free to give your insights, please.

Someone was saying that there are islands in the South Pacific where the trade winds keep a constant warm and cool breeze on the person and keep pests and mosquitoes away, and where there are trees full of avocadoes, mangoes, and bananas and other fruits, for the easy picking, and, rivers and waters full of fish of all kinds ready for the catching, and where a man can live all day wearing a tee shirt and shorts and sleeping in a hammock, never having to deal with the costs and problems of living in America or Europe or the Western world.

They made it sound almost like a near paradise, as if the man or woman from Europe or America or Canada ought to pick up everything and head off there and live the rest of their lives in a near tropical paradise.

What do you say to this?

[Evil D]

Guess it depends on your definition of paradise. Personally I'm not into seafood and I burn like an albino in the sun so it's not my idea of a good time lol.

[Bloke]

Plenty of places in Oz you'd never need anything more than a pair of shorts and T-shirt SEF but the breeze doesn't have any affect on mosquitoes about the size of sparrows or the millions of other bugs.

Plenty of places too you can walk down the street and pick mangoes, avocados, bananas, paw paws, custard apples ... from over hanging tree limbs in peoples front yards or parks and no one overly minds if you do. Council have near full time jobs picking coconuts so they don't kill silly tourists and there's no shortage of fish. :)

Having said that it gets bloody hot and the Sun's UV is brutal so like D said it's not everyone's idea of paradise. I for one would move north tomorrow but I'd have to drag beloved wife kicking and screaming. :eek:

[Tdog]

FL Keys are nice, similar to the Bahamas......about 8 months out of the year. Very hot in the summer when there is no breeze. The traffic is also a problem. If you're not into fishing, diving, boating, probably not the place for you. We've got mango's, starfruit, avocado's, guava's, key limes, and lemons growing in the yard. Lost one of the big avocado trees in the storm last year. Neighbors will be disappointed as it usually produced hundreds of large fruit. Had to get the come along out and straighten the mango's up, still got ropes on them. They're gonna make it. The tropical flowers and trees are beautiful, very vivid colors, but still recovering from the storm. A cold brew and fresh stone crab makes you forget about the heat.

[shunsui]

A friend of mine did that for awhile. Seemed like he had it made teaching scuba at a resort, but I think the social issues weren't his cup of tea. Small towns or small islands turn into reality TV shows pretty quick.

[gingerninja]

Sounds good till cyclone season rolls around

[Bloke]

Sounds good till cyclone season rolls around

Ah, hahaha! :)

[Doc Dan]

Hawaii is like that and there are small less populated islands in the chain, from what I hear from my friends who live there. It stays nice all year and the winds blow enough to keep you cool and the temperature is warm, but not hot. Apparently most people do not even use airconditioners.

There are probably other Islands in the Pacific like that, as well. One issue you run into is that in many of these places, there is no cell service and no internet, unless you have a satellite uplink, somehow.

If my wife were not still alive I would find a remote place to live like that, personally. All I need is my scooter and a few good books.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Good answers, thank you.

I was talking with a man who is an old missionary who has travelled and lived all over the South Pacific since I posted this question and here is what he told me: He gave a response to each of the above points I asked about. He said for every fruit tree there with the avocadoes, mangoes, bananas, and others, you will find a worm. The mosquitoes and other insect pests have learned to adapt to the tropical ocean winds and will still come for your blood if you don't clothe yourself in mosquito netting and other things. He said there are also roaches, lice, and termites and other nasties to watch out for, as well as the mention of the spiders and snakes which I have read of elsewhere and which some of you confirmed on this forum before.

He said if you enjoy wearing shorts and a tee shirt, eventually someone will come and tell you to dress more formally in some places, and, the gains you enjoy from cheaper prices and costs for goods and services, will balance out in the cost for manual labor.

Finally, he added, if you were to find such a truly "fantasy island" that had the "best of both worlds", the comforts and manicured well-kept landscape, and the comforts as well as the food and other things..you would soon find that it is already owned or controlled by some ultra rich person or group of persons.

And to cap it off, he added this: You cannot escape the universal reality of the fallen Adamic nature this side of eternity. If you want that perfect tropical utopia, you find it in Jesus and His Second Coming and establishment of the eternal Kingdom.



I want to add this:

I hope no one here from places like the Pacific Islands and Australia and New Zealand took my posted question in the wrong light and thought I was in any way looking down on the people there. Actually I admire them greatly and the Australians and New Zealanders are some of my favorite people as well as those from Pacific islands.

[Bloke]

[gingerninja]

Nice :)

[MacLaren]

I LOVED Maui. It was paradise for me...

[standy99]

Live in the Northern Territory Australia

Great place to live, tropical paradise for 7 months hot as **** for 3 and wet as anything for 2.

Work in a gov job where I get to fly around across the top of Aus and enjoy places many don't get to. Fishing is great life style is forever outdoors and still have all the mod cons when home.
Can fly to Bali for $130 return and Vietnam or Japan for about $200 return at times.

Love the fact that half hour out of town the phone doesn't work and can catch a Barramundi or mud crab for dinner most nights after work if I want or chase pigs or buffalo on the weekend. Have Mangoes, bananas, pineapples, passion fruit and heaps of other tropical fruits in the garden.

There is no such thing as paradise in the western world,we are a slave to the $
But compared to living in a big city like Sydney I feel like I am a step closer to it living where I do.

[O,just,O]

Anywhere is what YOU make it.
Given that I would not like to live in some snow bound waste land, but the spring & autumn (fall) are beautiful.
Queensland is not all palm trees.
Next time you go to what you think is paradise have a good look & you will see someone pissing on it & crying.
O.

[sailhand]

Hi SEF I grew up in Darwin Australia and left when i was 41 years old. I went to Queensland and built myself a sailing catamaran so I can migrate up and down the great barrier reef each year with the seasons. Never too hot never to cold and living mainly off the land and I think it's as close to paradise as i will ever get. My advice if you are contemplating the south Pacific go to your local sailing/yacht club and learn to sail. Get a yacht and sail the south Pacific and you will have the best experiences ever. It's really cheap too you can buy a 35ft mono in cruising condition for 15000 in australia. It's cheap to live like this and your expenses are minimal there is no shops out on the ocean and if you are reasonably handy and its really a healthy lifestyle. No McDonald's or pizza unless it's homemade, just fresh food and clean ocean air.

[harronek]

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence .

Ken

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Hi SEF I grew up in Darwin Australia and left when i was 41 years old. I went to Queensland and built myself a sailing catamaran so I can migrate up and down the great barrier reef each year with the seasons. Never too hot never to cold and living mainly off the land and I think it's as close to paradise as i will ever get. My advice if you are contemplating the south Pacific go to your local sailing/yacht club and learn to sail. Get a yacht and sail the south Pacific and you will have the best experiences ever. It's really cheap too you can buy a 35ft mono in cruising condition for 15000 in australia. It's cheap to live like this and your expenses are minimal there is no shops out on the ocean and if you are reasonably handy and its really a healthy lifestyle. No McDonald's or pizza unless it's homemade, just fresh food and clean ocean air.

Wow thank you this is one of the coolest posts on this topic I have read!

Do you think a person who has no experience in that life can learn to do all of that if they put their mind and heart to it and endured in doing it, learning to sail and getting a boat like that?

I see what you mean about no fast food and a person having to be resilient and handy to be able to catch fish and live like that.

[The Meat man]

Anything involving tropical beaches is basically paradise to me. I love fishing and being at the beach!

Same here! And I will add to that, collecting seashells. :)

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Meat man, do you think if a person could find a reasonably safe island that had some fresh water and could fish and live off the land, and was able to avoid serious health problems, they could live out their life there unbothered if they brought enough quality tools like knives, axes, and fabric and rope for making shelters and clothes with or do you think they would come upon serious debilitating hazards and problems?

[The Meat man]

Well, one potential hazard comes to mind...tropical storms/hurricanes. Depending on the island's size and topography, this could easily wipe out any hermitage. It would be very difficult to anticipate and prepare for too, using only rudimentary tools/building supplies.

But your question described the island as "reasonably safe" so presumably it would not be in an area prone to violent storms like hurricanes. In this case, I don't really see why your scenario wouldn't work. If you had a constant, reliable, and nutritionally balanced food supply with fresh water, that would go a long way to avoiding illness, especially if you're alone with no new exposure to viruses or germs.


This is starting to remind me of Jules Verne's book, "The Mysterious Island" :)

Edit: add to that volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.