The Australian guy, a former high-flying Sydney businessman who lost £6.5 million in the 1987 stock market meltdown, has been residing on tiny Restoration Island off the north-eastern coast of Australia since 1993.
David Glasheen, who calls himself “the luckiest person in the world,” has lived off of crabs and coconuts and is linked to solar-powered internet. He has enjoyed a life of seclusion with his dog Quasi.
However, the Queensland government is attempting to evict the 60-year-old voluntary castaway because he did not fulfill the lease’s requirement that he construct a resort on the 1.53ha island.
The Queensland Supreme Court has declared that he and his business partners are “trespassers” and that the land should be taken back.
Living alone, Glasheen developed his independence by producing his own food and making his own beer. He still uses an internet trading account to trade equities.
You quickly learn how to survive in the bush, he continued. If not, you’ll pass away quite rapidly.
I am a lucky guy to be there, it’s a great environment.
‘I have learnt a huge amount. I started to value what is really important. Trust, honesty, respect – simple things.
‘I have learnt that you can do things with very little.’
While he loves his life in paradise, Glasheen does get lonely and several years ago tried internet dating to find ‘Girl Friday’ to live with him. He got hundreds of responses but had no luck in love.
Glasheen said: ‘It gets lonely out here.
‘My only hope is for a mermaid to turn up on the beach.’
A girlfriend had initially moved to the island, 1,500 miles from Queensland capital Brisbane, with Glasheen but found life there too difficult.
He is visited occasionally by passing yachtsmen, kayakers and groups of organic farmers.
On behalf of Restoration Island Priory Ltd., Glasheen leased a third of the island from the Australian government for £13,000 per year.
The 43-year license that gave Glasheen access to the island stipulated that he and a business partner would build fishing piers and lodging worth at least £131,000, but they didn’t fulfill this requirement.
According to a Supreme Court decision, Glasheen’s removal from the island has been a goal of the island’s directors since 2000.
The defendants wrongfully deprive the plaintiff of its asset for more than ten years, during which time they have benefited from it, the court said.
Glasheen is thinking about challenging the judgment.
When questioned about what he would do if he had to leave his island home, he said, “I have no clue. I’m still here. I may pass away tomorrow.
Restoration Island got its name because Captain William Bligh discovered provisions that had been abandoned by HMS Bounty mutineers.
