I guess our dream started in the mid 90's with out first trip to the Solomon Islands; we fell in love with the country and its people. So for the next 15 years we travelled, enjoyed and searched for the ultimate location to build the retreat.
The 6 key factors we needed was remoteness away from any established tourism areas, a reliable water source, the availability of good consistent waves, great swimming area with quality reefs for snorkelling, location of the local air strip and local villages that where keen to be involved in tourism. On a surf reconnaissance trip to Santa Isabel in Nov 2007 we found paradise at Papatura Island. Finally a location that ticked all the boxes, our dream started to become a reality.
After 1 year of negotiation with the provincial government and local chefs we signed a 50 year lease and started the huge effort of getting 2 full shipping containers from the Gold Coast to a small remote island is the South Pacific. What a huge effort!
Eventually with the help of a few mates we drove our 2 long boats from Honiara to the island and to meet the barge and man handle the containers and 17 tonnes of resort equipment and building supplies up the beach and starting working on what would become the beach little retreat in the Pacific.
Starting out the living conditions where very harsh, bunkering down under tarps from the monsoonal rains, trying to keep the mosquitoes and seas ulcers away and chasing goannas out of our temporary outdoor kitchen and living area. Pete who was 68 at the time was stuff legends are made of, he lived there with 1 worker for the first 3 months until Marg his wife joined him, with the help of family they oversaw the building and construction of the retreat with Darren his son flying in to help with the more technical construction details like power, plumbing and the kitchen.
After more than 12 months of hard work Papatura Island Retreat was officially opened and is now the pride of tourism on Santa Isabel.
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