Ben & Lisa's Adventures on Fetoko Island!: May 2012

Saturday, May 19, 2012

beam # 4!

putting up the form for the 4th beam!

4 beams!

taking shape...

beach close to 10m undermined by cyclone and high tides, have resorted to building a retaining wall,
and will back-fill with sand...

Sunday, May 6, 2012

booths and beams...

booths formed up

forming up the first arched beam

booths and removing form

finished the first beam!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

beam forms up

Adding the support beams...

Arched support beams....

Arched into the ground on the hill side...

finished floor pour & retaining wall

Added the back retaining wall, behind the booths. Will be topped with a rough-cut cedar ledge.

Pouring the last step...

Fetoko Island Specs

. she's small... just about 3 acres including the beach!

. nestled between two larger islands: mafana to the north & ofu to the south

. protected from prevailing ocean swell by outlying reef and islands kenutu and umuna

. one of 45+ islands in the vava'u group.

. tu'i & his wife vina were fetoko's caretakers and are our partners

. we plan to be mosquito free... there's one for the ladies!

. s/v waking dream is happily moored off the western side

. there is just open ocean between us and the antarctic... we get some of the freshest air on earth!

. we have one resident cat named 'benzini'

Plans for Fetoko Island

. we have it in our minds to create a living space that is also a work of art

. we'll use curvy lines and unique building materials

. we are building it ourselves with the help of a few Tongan friends

. we have to build to withstand cyclones, earthquakes, sea air, hot, humid and rainy weather

. we are growing an extensive herb garden on Fetoko and a self-sufficient garden on neighboring Mafana island
. we are hanging out in temporary structures, which include kitchen, hot shower, loo with a view, sleeping fale, laundry, and chill spot so we have a comfy space to live while we build the house
. the 'underground bunker', storage, and workshop are well under way with living earth roof, an outdoor kitchen, bbq/fire-pit, and restaurant outside, spilling onto the beach. we'll back-fill it and grow grass and flowers over the top. archways and domed roof will further the natural contours of the surrounding environment. we've got a geni, water pump, and tool shed, also with a living earth roof.
. foundation and water tanks for the main house are in and the plans for the house are coming together. on top will be an small studio apartment and bath and on top of that, at island level, will be the two-bedroom main house featuring split-walls, living walls, open-air design and view right out over the sea.

Tongan Phrases

every syllable ends in a vowel.

use a, e, i, o, u of the romance languages rather than english.

fetoko - boat stick

ofa atu - 'cheers!' and 'i love you'

malo - thank you

malo aupito - thank you very much

male - hello, familiar

malo e lelei - hello, formal

taimi kai - time to eat

alu ki fe - where are you going?

fefe hake - how are you?

sai pe - good

sai aupito - very good

toto atu - excellent

mali mali - smile

faka ofa ofa - beautiful (scenery)

talavo - beautiful (person)

ta'ahine - girl

fefine - woman

tomasi'i - boy

tangata - man

large - lahi

si'i si'i - small

toki sio - see you later

About Us

Fetoko Island – a gem unlike any other island we’ve seen in our travels. Our Tongan friends have told us that it’s a special place and we’ve been finding out for ourselves over the past 7 years. Much of that time has been kind of one-foot-in, one-foot-out in regards to the island as we’ve been based in town running businesses. The time has now come to put all the materials we’ve acquired to use and build something truly magical on this extraordinary little rock.

Let us paint you a picture: Imagine a blank canvas. Well not really blank, as your canvas in reality is a 2.5 acre deserted tropical island, but a canvas brimming with possibility nonetheless. What do you do with it? This is a question we have kicked around for some time. You want whatever you choose to be so many things: unique, a work of art, natural, sustainable, comfortable. Well the moment is here – no more talking about it… time to get down to it and stick a shovel in the dirt. Right now, we feel like we specialize in bridging the gap between dreaming things up and actually doing them. To offer a quote from the movie Waking Life - “the trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams”. In this time of seeing our dreams come true on Fetoko, we are so excited to realize that our blueprints are actually beginning to take shape!

That said, we’ve learned that building structures on remote islands is not as simple as snapping your fingers and moving on in. Let’s say you want a 16ft x 16ft x 10ft cinder-block foundation for your home. Well, surely you have to source your materials first. But oh, wait, we’re in a remote island group of an already remote island nation… we’ve run out of toilet paper here before… how do you think we go with cement, floor hangers and pipe fittings? Okay, let’s say you’ve got all the stuff you need to start building – I don’t suppose you think it’s gonna swim itself right on out to the island? We had to devise a barge out of two of our old rental sailing dinghies. We learned (the hard way) that its capacity is no more than one ton, so that means the truck from the store drops all of your cinder-block, rock, sand, and cement on the shore and you have to pick it up one bag/stone at a time and then tow it out to the island one ton at a time. Of course, you still have to unload it onto the beach and then carry it all up the hill to the build site. All that done? Okay, now you can start working. As we lick our wounds at night, we’re just happy that we have help from some very dedicated (and fit) employees.

The fruits of our labour are ripe and this process has brought all of us closer together than ever before. We’ve managed to keep our wits about us (despite the heat) while running several businesses and even organizing a Regatta sail week the last 3 years. We sold the Aquarium Café to lovely new owners and Vava'u Adventures Kart Safaris to a really nice family and have started a Jet Kayak Tour business here on the east side and will have a restaurant here on the island as well. Our dream is to create a revenue stream that brings smiles to people's faces, employs our local friends, and can be managed from the hammock while we continue to watch our dreams come true. This blog is dedicated to the process of all our dreams coming true. Stay tuned as things take shape!

January 2012

March 2010

Ben & Lisa's Adventures on Fetoko Island!

sunrise over fetoko island

Saturday, May 19, 2012

beam # 4!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

booths and beams...

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

beam forms up

finished floor pour & retaining wall

Where is Fetoko Island?

Fetoko Island, Vava'u, Tonga, South Pacific

Fetoko Island, From the Sky

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Fetoko Island Specs

Plans for Fetoko Island

Where the Weather Is Always Fine... Unless It Isn't

Tongan Phrases

Quotes

Lovely Links

About Us

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