Jen's Top 10 Items for Survival on a Deserted Tropical Island

January 28, 2007 - Atiu

1. Mosquito repellant - tonight I tease them by sitting by a screened window and they are almost deafening.
2. Reliable can opener - because we assume your island has one store that gets canned cargo on average once every two or three months.
3. Something to trade for cheese - grow local fruit and ship it to someone in the next biggest country in exchange for quality/any cheese.
4. Stationery - meaning nice paper, sturdy envelopes, sharpie markers and very nice pens.
5. Sturdy hiking boots - for navigating makatea forests, caves, sandy beaches and roads.
6. Sunscreen/big hats - It's darn hot. Really darn hot.
7. Veggie seeds - grow your own or you won't ever see them fresh.
8. Shipping contract with Silk Soy beverages - not only is there no soy drink on the island, the next nearest one tastes rather bad and curdles in tea and coffee. The alternative is UHT longlife milk, a well preserved dairy that seems to be able to withstand extreme outside heat without refrigeration. This should not be possible.
9. Egg laying chickens - will save you a small fortune in eggs and can be amusing when it is so hot there is nothing to do but watch the chickens.
10. Breadmaker - this applies only if you do not live on Atiu. If you live on Atiu, there is an excellent bakery that creates amazing bread. If you live on Atiu, the number ten item is a French Press. The island's amazing coffee is homegrown but there is no other way to have it other than at home.