A man who bought a desert island miles away from civilisation to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a real-life Robinson Crusoe admits it turned into a nightmare – and he’s selling up 15 years later.
In Return to the Wild, airing tonight on Channel 5, Ben Fogle revisits Jim Alston, 48, and Kim Nguyen, 31, who live on Wilderness Island near Exmouth in Western Australia – one of the driest and wildest parts of the country.
Three years ago, in New Lives in the Wild, Jim told the TV presenter he bought the island in 2005 after a paragliding accident pushed him to take a leap into the unknown.
The Australian-born farmer named the island and built his house on it, as well as several huts that can be rented by tourists. His partner Kim joined him five years later and has spent a decade working on the island with him.
But after years of pumping all their money into the island they are struggling to break even – despite turning over around £27,340 ($50,000 AUD) a year – and the couple tell Ben they have decided to put Wilderness Island up for sale.
Jim Alston, 48 and Kim Nguyen, 31, the owners of Wilderness Island, near Exmouth, Australia, tell Ben Fogle they are selling up on Return to the Wild, airing tonight on Channel 5
The one kilometre-long, half-a-kilometre wide island is tiny and appears as a speck on a map of Australia
Ben is shocked to hear they are thinking of selling up, but they explain that their vision turned into a time-consuming and draining project.
‘We’re tired and we just seem to just keep working and not enjoying it and then you think, “What do we do it for?”,’ Kim says.
‘It just seems like the pile of work, there’s just more every year, it’s not less but it’s more. I think we just want more time with each other, a bit more quality time.’
Jim adds: ‘It might sound selfish to a lot of people, what we have here, people might want to go, “You poor things,” but we’re just two people and we’re slogging it off.
‘It becomes a bit soul destroying. It’s like banging your head against a tree, and at the same time you’re throwing fistfuls of money into the wind.’
Jim bought the island in 2005 and met Kim in 2010, who moved with him. The pair have been working on Wilderness Island ever since
During the episode the couple reveal they have just gotten engaged. Jim and Kim met while she was backpacking across Australia with a friend after graduating from college.
Initially the student, who thought she would return home to Denmark and work as an accountant, labelled her romance with Jim a ‘summer fling’.
But after breaking her neck in a life-altering car accident that saw her smash through the windshield at 100km/h, Kim was drawn to the island – and said Jim understood her because he has been through the same thing.
In 2000, daredevil Jim, then aged 28, suffered a terrible paragliding accident which left him wheelchair-bound for two years.
After free-falling 90ft, Jim shattered his ankle and broke his leg, hip, back, neck and three ribs, ruptured his spleen and liver, and punctured his lung and stomach.
After ten years working on their dream together, Kim and Jim admitted they were tired on always putting their money and time into the island
He was in such bad shape even the surgeon responsible for saving his life didn’t think he would survive an operation.
During his painful recovery Jim, who had been destined to take over the family’s farm, thought about his future and realised he wanted to live like Robinson Crusoe, and started searching for an island. He finally found Wilderness and bought the lease in 2005.
In tonight’s show, Jim tells Ben it takes a large amount of money to keep the island afloat, and in spite of their hut-renting business for tourists, caring for the island’s infrastructure has become a ‘money pit’ too deep to handle on their own.
The couple took a year off the island and temporarily parted ways in 2018, travelling around in order to recuperate. Jim went to work on some projects in New Guinea, while Kim worked as a receptionist in a caravan park on the mainland to enjoy the change of pace.
Ben was surprised by the couple’s decision. Jim, who wanted to be a real life Robinson Crusoe, said he was looking forward to him and Kim’s next adventure
They returned, however, and even adopted a rescue baby kangaroo named Ernie.
Jim says: ‘If we don’t sell it, we are progressing with plans so we are more comfortable, so it doesn’t feel like such a physical slog.’
Their plan is to transport sea containers onto the island – which can either be reached by boat or by air – so that they can build a storm-proof house.
‘I think either way I’ll be happy if we sell it; I don’t know what the next adventure is for us,’ Jim adds.
Kim says the prospect of giving up the island was hardest for her fiance, who was ‘up and down’ a lot last year while he battled with the tough decision.
Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, Return to the Wild airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.