From Cantello to Australia to be the keeper of a desert island

A desert island, a very rich ex-businessman, a young man looking for a job who finds an occupation as keeper. It seems like the plot of a film, but, indeed, it’s the story of Silvano Nero, a 26-year-old man from Cantello. Like many of his peers, he had some problems in finding a job, so he seized the moment and took off for Australia, not only to find a job, but also to fully experience a voyage to the other side of the world. In January 2013, Silvano took off for Perth, with a working-holiday Australian visa, that allows you to freely stay on the wallabies territory for a year, and is renewable with a 3-month agricultural working service. Silvano wandered for a long time across Australia, living a lot of emotions, discoveries and experiences, with his girlfriend Erika, from Rome, but they met in Oceania. Then, the two received an offer that could not be refused: to live on a desert island, Restoration Island,  in the north-eastern part of Australia. Silvano tells us this particular and unforgettable adventure on the other side of the world.

How did you find the job on the island?

“Every year Dave Glasheen, owner of the island and its only inhabitant, goes to Cairns, on the mainland, to stock up. He’s registered at the program WWOOFING (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) with which he finds travelers like us, who, in exchange for room and board, take care of his two dogs and do simple work on the island.  We were travelling to the north, along the eastern coast of Australia and, while we were looking online for a job, we came across a message from Dave. We were among the first people responding, he liked our email, he called us and we immediately went on the road.”

Where is “Restoration” Island exactly situated? What is there on the island? And what is all around?

“Restoration Island is situated off the peninsula of Cape York, the north-eastern Australia’s extremity, some hundreds of kilometers from New Guinea. It’s only 400 meters from the mainland, around 40 kilometers from the nearest residential area, Lockhart River, inhabited by around 500 Australian natives. The only way to reach Lockhart River during the rainy season (October-March) is to take a small plane, for no more than 36 passengers, from Cairns, because the 700-kilometre road of Cape York peninsula, is closed because of frequent floods. Once we got off the plane, at the modest airport of Lockhart (a wooden small house), Dave welcomed us. We immediately  recognized him, and, with his battered Jeep, he took us to the point of the coast that was closest to the island and from which we took a small boat. The volcanic island mainly consists of a big hill of pluvial forest. Dave, in the course of time, traced two paths in the forest, that, in about one hour, let you reach the highest points of the island. From there it’s possible to see the mainland, other islands of that area and the part of land where Dave lives. There, there are some flagging constructions, built during the second world war, that suffered the effects of time and the many cyclones that raged on the island. Dave reorganized them roughly to obtain a house, a garage and a couple of bedrooms for guests.”

How is your “employer”?

“Despite his typical look of a savage hermit, with his long white beard, like Heidi’s grandfather, Dave is absolutely friendly and chatty. He speaks a lot, he never stops, changing topic extremely easily, so that sometimes it’s difficult to follow him. He has an opinion on everything: from the exportation of shrimps to Japan, to the oil price in Saudi Arabia, to Johnny Depp’s performance in “Pirates of the Caribbean”. He has an internet connection and a tablet, and every day he reads about everything. It was him that told us that in Italy we have a new Premier!  He’ s a person full of interests who has lived plenty of personal experiences, and some of them were tragic. They made him quickly become very rich, then poor, likewise quickly, until, one day, he found by chance the peace he was looking for, on Restoration Island. With us, Dave was very kind and willing, and made us immediately feel at ease on the island.”

What is your day like? What do you live on?

“We get up when the sun rises. Our two dogs, Quasi and Locky, come and lick our feet. After breakfast we usually go fishing; we have become two supporters of this activity since we arrived in Australia. Fishing here in Restoration Island, a place that is very close to the barrier reef, allow us to see a great variety of fishes of any colour, shape or size. We free a great part of fish we catch… they are too beautiful to eat. Sometimes we have visitors, mainly native fishermen that stop to greet or to give us advice on fishing and some fish to taste. Although there are crocodiles, sharks, killer jellyfish and stonefish, sometimes we feel rather courageous to have a bath in the crystal clear water of a little natural pool surrounded by a strip of sand created each year thanks to the rainy season. During the hottest hours in the afternoon, we read, write or we drink Dave’s homemade beer in the shadow of the gazebo in front of the Ocean. In the evening, we often have a walk on the Island with our dogs and we do some work for Dave, such as mowing, watering the vegetable garden or keeping the beach clean. When the sun goes down, the island becomes silent, apart from some nocturnal animal sounds. As good Italians, our evening hobby is cooking something edible with the little we have, mainly pasta, rice, flour and a lot of fish. Dave goes to Lockhart every two-three weeks and he buys bread and fresh eggs. For the rest he eats canned or dried food, he drinks dried milk, rainwater and his famous beer that he also uses as a medium of exchange with native fishermen. A crate of beer is nearly the same as 20 kilograms of fish”.

Have you ever had to deal with dangerous animals?

“Apart from the terrible Ocean inhabitants, the island is populated by spiders that have a dangerous bite and non-lethal snakes, according to Dave. Our ‘room’ has no walls and a few nights ago we had an unpleasant visit, a long black snake. Our guardians, Quasi and Locky, attacked it and after a long fight they killed it while we were watching the scene frozen in a corner”.

How dooes one feel in a similar situation?

“Restoration Island is just a part of the journey that began a year ago in Australia. Observing and living such a different life with respect to ours, like Dave’s one, leaves us enriched of an experience and it calls into question the priorities on which we base our lives. In Restoration there is no TV, there are no other people, nor a bar or a supermarket. Dave has several canisters that collect the rainwater he uses to drink, cook, clean and it is important to use as little as possible because, sometimes, during the dry season, it does not rain for six long months. We quickly got used to this life style that is not suitable for everyone. As Dave says when he is invited by his friends and family to go back in real life, it is difficult to evaluate which life style is more real; Dave’s one, composed of fishing, coconuts and rainwater or ours, everyday made up of wasted hours on Facebook and television. In Restoration Island we are alone and we are in a place where nothing happens unless we make things happen. We are free to decide the fullness of our days. Sometimes we wonder how this island can be so undeveloped, but it is simple to imagine how Dave’s days have quickly become years”.

How do you feel if you think you are at the world’s end?

“It is weeks that our lives carry on in the same corner of sand and sometimes it is impossible not to think that we are alone in a very tiny piece of land in the middle of a limitless Ocean. When night falls, we are a bit worried, and we wonder if Dave, instead, is calm when he stays alone. If we hear the noise of a boat we immediately get up and light the torches, if the dogs bark we look at each other worried. Then, the sun rises and we laugh at ourselves, conscious that there is almost nothing to be afraid of  and that spending a few weeks in a great city is definitely more dangerous”.