What it’s REALLY like living on a remote, tropical island like Bougainville, Papua New Guinea

Article | What it’s REALLY like living on a remote, tropical island like Bougainville and coming home. 

When you think about a remote tropical island, it’s safe to say you probably think of white sandy beaches, turquoise water, coconut palms, possibly with a hammock swinging gently in the breeze… and all of those things are true of Bougainville. However, there’s something more, something about the place, the people, the way of life, that grabs you and pulls you in…

I know I am not alone in feeling this way about Bougainville. The abundance of email conversations and messages I get from people reassures me so. These people who were born, have lived, worked, volunteered or simply visited Bougainville, whether it’s before the Crisis or in more recent years, talk ever so passionately about the place and the time they had the pleasure to be on the island of Bougainville.

And now, having spent 2-years in Bougainville, I understand why people feel the connection they do… as I have the same desire to keep connected with Bougainville, to keep connected with the people I’ve met, and to keep the memories I have alive, as do many of the folks I talk with.

But firstly, why was I there?

I usually live in Wellington, New Zealand, over 4,300 kilometres from Bougainville, the island I lived on for almost 2 years with my partner. We were there through New Zealand’s VSA, Volunteer Services Abroad. VSA is an NGO that has volunteers throughout the Pacific and beyond in a variety of capacity building and development roles.

Personally, I was accompanying my partner who held an official volunteering assignment with VSA with an international NGO based in Arawa. I was formally known as an ‘accompanying partner’, it’s VSA’s official term for someone who does not have an official assignment and is tagging along for the ride, that’s me!

My path led me to follow a passion for travel and unique experiences, whilst building an online community via the Travel Inspired Facebook page and YouTube channel and supporting the development and promotion of Bougainville as a tourism destination, a rather remote destination at that, but more on the work I did shortly.

At the time of writing this, I’m sat in an Air B&B overlooking Evans Bay in Wellington, it’s delightful, but I’m wearing long pants, a fleece, warm socks, with the heater on – all things which were foreign to me just a short time ago…

I’ve only recently returned to Wellington, New Zealand, about 6 weeks ago, and the memories of Bougainville are still very much alive at this point and I’ve been spending a lot of time on reflection, indulgence and preparation for what’s to come next recently.

It won’t come as a surprise that I – like so many others who return from a period of time away – have been reflecting a lot, too much maybe, but who’s to say how much is too much? It’s fair to say I’ve been thinking about the place, the people, the experiences, and the opportunities over the past few years. During this period of reflection, I’ve been talking to a number of people about Bougainville, people who have reached out with plans to go back, or simply sharing their own personal experiences, and where possible, I’ve been helping them with up-to-date information on Bougainville and how to make their trip a success.

I’ve also been indulging but it’s probably not as you may think – not in terms of food – rather indulging in the freedom, accessibility and abundance of opportunities in and around Wellington to get out into nature once again. It turns out that simply heading to a trail like Red Rocks on the south coast of Wellington or Otari Wilton’s Bush to just walk for as long as I like, whenever I feel like it, is one of the things I missed most. It was definitely something that I looked forward to upon my return to New Zealand, even more so than food or drink items, although a flat white coffee definitely comes close. 

Now don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say that epic walks weren’t available in Bougainville, they most certainly were and I highly recommend that any avid hikers keen on an adventure check out places like Mount Balbi, Lake Billy Mitchell and the area of Rotokas, which are unbelievably wild, untouched and unlike anywhere I’ve experienced before. Watch our hike to the summit of Mt Balbi in Bougainville here: https://youtu.be/yL4LusVaqFI

However, it was the spontaneity and frequency of it that I missed. Walks took time to plan in Bougainville, arranging all the necessary factors for a hike including guides, permissions, transportation, costs, water availability etc. is somewhat challenging, and although the walks rarely failed to deliver, that spontaneous decision to go for a walk immediately was something I missed. 

And while on the subject of planning and preparation, during my time in Bougainville, I applied for and successfully got a role in Timor Leste, working within the tourism industry through VSA. This is very exciting and has also ensured that my brief visit back to my hometown of Wellington, New Zealand has been somewhat frantic and full of briefings, medicals and other necessary tasks that come with signing a 2-year contract overseas.

Throw into the mix, moving from one Air B&B to the next every week or so, while trying to downsize on the number of possessions we own, and pack for Timor, (I know, I know, they aren’t bad issues to have right…), while trying to sort through a stack of post that was kindly collected for us during our time away. Who knew we got so much post! It took less than 30 minutes to sort through it, as most of it went straight into the recycling bin, followed with an email to unsubscribe from the companies mailing list. The only exception was an unexpected and unbeknown to us, a pile of outstanding bill demands and debt collection letters. They apparently don’t like to use email but would rather send endless letters instead…

But enough of what I’ve been up to since being back – and don’t worry, the bills and debt collectors have all been satisfied for now – so, let’s talk about what it’s really like to live on a remote tropical island like Bougainville and some of the most common questions I get asked about Bougainville.

Is it safe? It’s often the first question I’m asked. I always answer yes.

Based on my experience over the past 2 years, I felt safe, my partner felt safe, and nothing bad happened to us. I could walk down the street, to the market, to supermarket or to the restaurant, with nothing but people greeting me with beaming smiles and a gud pla moning, gud avivon or gud-nite.

The only minor issue I had was some items being stolen during a hike. However that could have happened anywhere I guess. I remember clothes going missing off the washing line when I was backpacking around Australia back in 2004, and a handful of other experiences overseas, so it wasn’t unique to Bougainville. Plus, when I chatted to my friend and tour guide about the issue, a few weeks later, most of the items were delivered back to me.

Having said that, the only time I felt somewhat vulnerable, was when it came to medical issues as the services and medical supplies available were very limited. And as you probably know, Bougainville is very remote with limited flights in and out, which at times would cause me to be a little anxious, if I over thought it to much. Thankfully, we didn’t need any serious medical attention during our time there.

Where do you live?

In terms of accommodation, we lived in the town of Arawa, the pre-Crisis Capital of Bougainville, and the second largest town after Buka. As many will already know, it’s located on the east coast of Bougainville, situated between Buka in the north and Buin in the south.

Our house was a 70’s designed and built Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) mining townhouse. It was a functional, yet beautiful 3-bedroom house, with wooden floors, mosquito netting on the windows and all the mod-cons except working AC, but we had ceiling fan’s. In typical Bougainville fashion, it was raised up above the ground on legs with a balcony which looked over a dozen similar style houses, a giant mango tree, smaller pawpaw trees and the ever green garden – thanks to my keen gardener partner – and also had a great view of the tree carpeted hills.

How would you get around?

Generally, I would cycle as my main mode of transport, to the supermarket, the fruit and vegetable markets, to the shops and to fellow volunteer houses. It felt great to cycle as the breeze was much more prevalent and would cool me down nicely in the otherwise baking heat and humidity, plus, as you may or may not know, I just love to cycle. There are a few other cyclists in Arawa, mostly younger people.

The majority of people tend to walk or take public motor vehicles (PMV) for longer distances. You’ll get plenty of attention while cycling around town as people greet, wave and occasionally laugh at you going about your day. To mix things up I would also walk the short distance into town, taking 10-15 minutes, if I planned on buying a lot of produce that I couldn’t manage on the bike or was going in with a friend without a bike.

Walking was a much more social method of transport, as a lot more people would stop and chat, but it was also much slower and much, much hotter. A word of advice – always carry an umbrella just like everyone else does –  no matter rain or shine. I would also regularly grab a ride with neighbours heading into town to stock-up on larger, heavier items like cases of soda water or packs of Bikpela toilet roll, a particularly large watermelon from the market or pies, cakes and bread, if they happened to be venturing to the supermarket and bakery slightly out of town.

What would you do on the weekend?

On the weekends, a few of us would often cycle 30 minutes to Loloho Beach to chat, swim and snorkel. We usually followed it up with a 2 Kina ice-cream on our way home, next to the old squash courts in town. Or we would catch a ride with one of our neighbours in their vehicle if we were feeling lazy.

If we were particularly energetic we would set the alarm for 04:30AM and cycle out in the opposite direction towards Premier Hill in time for sunrise overlooking Pokpok Island. It was a magical sight. We managed it maybe a half dozen times throughout the 2 years and it was always a special moment to experience.

What did you do in between all the shopping trips?

As mentioned, my ‘unofficial role’ became a tourism promotor, which, as my self-titled job implies, consisted of promoting everything positive about Bougainville including cultural events, natural wonders like Mt Balbi, talented individuals like Joe the wood carver, idyllic landscapes of which there were many to choose from, as well as glimpses of everyday life in Bougainville as a volunteer.

After not too long people started to recognise me, as one of only a dozen white people living in town, and started to get to know me. I began to feel more confident about capturing activities, wandering around the second hand clothes shops, buying produce at the fruit and vegetable markets, visiting Arovo Island for a tour, and capture it all on camera, and edit and share videos and photographs to promote the life, colour and culture of Bougainville.

You can watch the video of our trip to Arovo Island here: https://youtu.be/ZqsgPEyeCQg

The more time I spent in Bougainville, the more friendships developed and more opportunities arose, like visiting a friend’s village, exploring a lagoon with WW2 relics or heading up to the infamous copper mine of Panguna with a local police officer. You can watch a video from my visit to Paguna here: https://youtu.be/L5grrMKDLFs

Was there enough to do?

Now, don’t get me wrong, there was still plenty of down time, especially in the early days, despite my workload steadily increasing as I made new contacts and managed to get more and more trips. To keep motivated and busy, during the first year, I tried to challenge myself to go out every single day – no matter where or for how long – just to ensure I got out, got some fresh air, and was open to opportunities and chance encounters, which happened on many occasions. It also helped get my bearings in and around town.

During my downtimes, I would go to a neighbour’s house, drink coffee and chat, or catch-up on tv series that I had downloaded in preparation for the quiet times, shows like I’m Alan Partridge or The Inbetweeners. There were also the enforced downtimes too, when the town power went out, either due to a malfunction of the generators, or more typically, the town diesel supply running out. This happened once a month or so, but was fairly unpredictable in how long it would last, spanning anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 days in length.

Our house was fortunate to be hooked up to a standalone generator, shared between 4 houses in our compound, which meant we could fire it up and have power throughout the day, until shut-down time around 10PM, when we’d settle in for a sticky, humid but quiet night.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Now, my home was also my workplace, so I didn’t have to go far to start my day with a coffee and breakfast, which was always highly dependant on what was available at the supermarket. Typically, it would be weetbix, museli or toast with my partner and then she would disappear to the office on her bicycle. I would crack on with a couple of hours of work on whichever tourism related project I happened to be working on at the time – a video highlighting of a recent island trip, a written article for a magazine, or online publication about a hike in Rotokas, reviewing, editing and sharing photographs – or catch up and chat with local friends also working in the tourism sector.

At some point in the morning, I would usually take a short bike ride to the supermarket or a 10-minute walk to the fruit and vegetable market in the centre of town to stock-up before it got too busy and hectic, and as I mentioned, simply to get outside and see people.

At lunchtime, my partner would come home from work and make her banana smoothie and I would give her a rundown of what new produce had arrived at the supermarket. To be perfectly honest, this was usually very little, if anything at all, but on half a dozen occasions in the 2 years’ I had BIG NEWS as cheese was delivered to Arawa, which was very exciting. I still vividly remembering seeing the fridge full of New Zealand’s Mainland Tasty. I immediately text my friends to give them the news…

In the afternoon, as the heat and humidity continued to rise, and the fans turned up a notch, I would continue with my to-do-list of projects. There was the occasional distraction, like a game of darts with friends, a visitor or two from fellow accompanying partners, local friends or the neighbourhood cat called Bruce paying me a visit, or the power going out. At some point in the afternoon, the dark clouds would often roll over the hills bringing with them a cooling breeze and rain, sometimes torrential, which never lasted too long. The relief of lesser humidity levels felt amazing for the short period of time though, but wow the downpours were loud on the tin roof!

As the sun went down, and there were some incredible sunsets, our friends would all get together, put on some music and smash out a short, yet intensive and guaranteed sweaty exercise of burpees, push-ups and planks, while Bruce the cat would prowl around us in search of a head scratch. As the exercise came to an end with the group doing wall sits and chats we would often organise a catch-up at someone’s house to watch an All Blacks game, a movie or to just hang out in different surroundings.

Would you go out to restaurants?

On special occasions and to be honest it only happened a dozen times or so times throughout the 2 years, we would walk to one of the two nearby restaurants – Gold Dust or Butterfly Inn – for dinner with friends. A steak and chips would cost approximately 60 Kina / $30 NZD and was a novel treat.

Were there big events to go to?

Occasionally, there would be a workshop, event or festival to attend, where a bamboo band or sing sing would perform, providing a fascinating insight into Bougainville’s heritage and culture and they were always a pleasure to watch. You can watch one of them here: https://youtu.be/3uV2F4oiOCc

We also tried to fit in as many big adventures as possible – long weekends on Pokpok Island, hiking up Mt Balbi, staying in a village house in Rotokas, spending a weekend in Buka or Buin with fellow volunteers or expats, taking a banana boat to Arova Island, and even visited the Solomon Islands for a long weekend too.

Did you fly in and out of Bougainville while living there?

During our 2-year period my partner and I took two trips out of Papua New Guinea, one to England to attend my brother’s wedding, during which we also visited Scotland and the Fringe Festival, and a trip to Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, as direct flights had just been offered from PNG. On both occasions, I was excited to get back to Bougainville. Initially, life would feel extremely slow upon returning, but after a re-settling in period, I kicked back into life in Bougainville. That adjustment period was always the most challenging time, typically lasting 2-3 weeks, before things felt ‘normal’ once again. 

Since being back in Wellington, New Zealand I’ve had many conversations, both face to face, and via email, with people who are considering a trip to Bougainville. I think it’s fair to say I find it impossible to not get excited on their behalf, knowing a little of what they can expect, the adventures they might experience, and the ever-lasting memories. I think it’s obvious from the way I talk, and the way everyone else talks about their experience of Bougainville, it’s a special place, unlike any I have been to before, and I fully intend to return at some stage in the future for another Bougainville stint.

Thanks for reading.

Would you like some photographs for yourself?

I have high resolution downloads of some of my favourite photographs from Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, available as digital downloads from my online store: https://www.travelinspired.co.nz/shop

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