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00:00Currently, we have to go to another island to have a shower.
00:07Yeah.
00:11How much do you have?
00:12A pound?
00:13A pound?
00:14Did you bring any?
00:15No.
00:16That would buy us three minutes.
00:17Yeah.
00:18I think it's a rip-off, personally.
00:19Hurry up, then.
00:20That's 90 seconds, and I need two minutes.
00:25Oh!
00:26There we go.
00:27There we go.
00:28Oh, my God.
00:29You promised me when we moved in that I'd have running water.
00:32One bit of running water.
00:34I never promised you either.
00:35I'm not asking for the world.
00:37I haven't got a bath.
00:38I haven't got light.
00:40I haven't got windows.
00:42Good things come to those who wait.
00:53I don't know how we're going to live here through all of this.
00:56No power, no water.
00:57This is the time we're going to look back on and think,
01:00ah, yes, those were the days.
01:03Remember when we didn't shower for three weeks?
01:06Our toilet didn't flush.
01:08These are the good old days.
01:10Are we, no Münster?
01:11I just can't have a bath.
01:12It's on the coast.
01:13It works.
01:14It's a big thing.
01:15I know the fish on the coast of the coast of the coast of the coast of the coast.
01:16Sitting in the Atlantic Ocean, the remote island of Ulva is accessible only by boat.
01:35It possesses no roads, shops, nor anything one might reasonably call convenience.
01:41It shows her home to precisely 18 residents.
01:48I've now been on Ulva 29 years this month.
01:55A lot of people ask, how do you manage over there, because there's nothing to do.
02:01And that's why I live here, because there's nothing to do.
02:05I do interact with other people, but I try to keep it to a minimum.
02:10The last time I was in Ulva House, it was covered in mould.
02:15The roof leaks, all the windows are rotten.
02:18The electrical wiring needs replaced, and all the plumbing probably needs replaced.
02:24The whole house needs to be gutted down to the stonework and rebuilt.
02:29Despite having no water, no electricity, and a somewhat leaky roof, Banjo and Ro have moved into Ulva House and begun this major undertaking.
02:40So, this is our current bedroom.
02:43It's been pretty grim in here.
02:45I've also got a leak in the cupboard.
02:47I woke up to the sound of dripping in bits of plaster falling into a sink.
02:50I think some of the hardest parts about, like, squatting in this place is keeping things clean and keeping things dry.
02:57Everything takes about three days to dry, so everything's damp, dusty, mouldy.
03:02But it's the nature of the beast.
03:04Come, boy.
03:05With the whisky library now complete, attention turns to the hotel lobby.
03:13I want to fuse, like, our Antipodean influences with that quintessential Scottish experience.
03:22So, a mural that starts off at the bottom of the staircase with some tropical motifs, a little bit of an ocean.
03:31As you kind of crawl up the stairs, the landscape morphs into a kind of more moody Scottish landscape.
03:38It's going to be tropical at the bottom, moody and stormy at the top.
03:43Do I get a palm tree?
03:45No palm trees.
03:47Anything I request, nada, I've got zero. Every request.
03:51And listen, a palm tree.
03:53One little palm tree. You've got metres and metres and metres of mural space.
03:57We can do better.
04:01The entrance to Ulva House is to be reimagined as an evocative reception hall.
04:06At its heart, a hand-painted mural will chart the improbable voyage from Australia to Ulva.
04:12Lush greenery will spill from corners and shelves.
04:16And an arrival desk will welcome any weary travellers looking for somewhere to lay their head.
04:22I want this mural to be a mash-up of Scotland and Australia because people are coming to enjoy Scotland and the landscape here.
04:32But they're also in our home and we're Aussie and I'm a little bit homesick as well.
04:37So, I want to have a little bit of us in it and a little bit of Scotland.
04:41But after years of neglect, the walls of Ulva House tell a story of damp winters, peeling paint and ruin.
04:49This needs to be kind of brought into shape before we can do anything.
04:53Yeah.
04:54I haven't seen this much moulds ever in my life.
04:58Like, if we had to get someone in here to clean, who would?
05:01Well, one, who would?
05:02Two, we can't afford that.
05:04The reality is, like, the first thing that really needs to be done is the cleaning.
05:13Moulds on every surface.
05:14Benj is over there making some phone calls for our cleaning party on Monday.
05:23It's a hard sell Monday morning.
05:25Come clean my house for me.
05:27Hopefully, some people will come.
05:29Hey, George.
05:31Hello, how are you?
05:33Yeah.
05:34If we can get 15 people in there to give us a hand, to get it cleaned, to get it done, that'll be great.
05:37Putting on a bit of grub, a bit of a barbecue, and then just do some, like, cleaning at our house.
05:45I'll take three.
05:46I'll be honest.
05:47When you say eight hours, I think you're meaning over.
05:49Yeah, come over to Ulva and just, like, you know, wash a few walls.
05:54No, I can't make Monday, no jams.
05:57All right.
05:58Well, thanks.
05:59Thanks for nothing.
06:00Appreciate it.
06:01I think we're going to have to call in favours from everyone we know on Mull, everyone on the island, to come and help us with this place.
06:11I'm too worried to do it.
06:13Nicholas has got a dodgy hip.
06:15Phil, the farmer's busy with a farm.
06:19Rurie's on the, so there's nobody here to help them.
06:24This is the true test of friendship.
06:34It's make or break from my friendship circle.
06:36No.
06:37Anyone that turns up has gone above and beyond.
06:39If you're not there, you're dead to me.
06:41Hello.
06:42Hello.
06:43Oh, the cavalry.
06:44Oh, no.
06:45You're a lifesaver.
06:46Well, it's a beautiful day for it.
06:47You guys need to soar out.
06:48We've got buckets, we've got heaps of cleaning stuff.
07:03We'll start filling things up and just give it a go.
07:11I kind of miss the old crumbly walls.
07:14You're doing amazing, sweetie.
07:16That's the last bit.
07:18It's honestly the last bit, Asha.
07:21Wow.
07:22It's so light, isn't it?
07:24It's a brand new house.
07:27Thank you, everyone.
07:31Who wants a drink?
07:32Yeah, let's get a wine.
07:37I guess phase two is plastering.
07:40I think with this mural idea, what I really like is the story of sort of us travelling from
07:46Australia to here.
07:47That was our journey.
07:49Ro and I met at the pub and it was love at first sight.
07:52I had tunnel vision for it.
07:54It was just this vision with a ponytail.
07:56And a couple of weeks after we met, we bought a one-way ticket to Sri Lanka.
08:00We were only dating for a tiny bit and then we're on this adventure and that adventure led
08:06us to Mo.
08:07Yeah, it was just such a joyous time.
08:10When I say palm trees, it's got a really special place in my heart.
08:19Like, it was when we went on holidays and were travelling together.
08:23Our first home had palm trees in the back garden.
08:26It's so evocative of all of those memories.
08:28Like, it just takes me straight back to those times.
08:32Yeah, that's why it was important to me to have it on the mural.
08:38I think I've been converted to the palm tree.
08:41We're up to the painting now, which is the fun-er part of it all.
08:49Spent a few late nights sanding, a few late nights scraping.
08:53Just trying to stay on schedule.
08:54The mural artist who's coming.
08:56There is a bit of pressure to get everything done that needs to be done before they get
09:01here.
09:02It can get quite overwhelming when you walk around the house and see all the work that needs
09:05to be done and all the wall space that needs to be prepared and prepped and painted.
09:11Banjo has enlisted a mural artist from Bristol to bring the tropics of Australia to the Hebridean
09:17walls of Alva House.
09:21We're doing a mural on the staircase.
09:23OK, cool.
09:24So is there going to be figures?
09:26A rugged ferryman maybe in the background?
09:29Yeah, and a rugged ferry.
09:37Here we are.
09:38It's not too scary.
09:41It looks bigger though now in the white, doesn't it?
09:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:45It looks massive.
09:46Honestly, kid.
09:47Well done.
09:48You've painted that.
09:49This looked very different 48 hours ago.
09:52So it's representing our journey.
09:55We reached Scotland upstairs.
09:56But this is all about Australia down here.
09:59I would love a palm tree.
10:01The palm tree and the thistle.
10:03The classic combo.
10:04We'll marry it together with colours, even if it seems like a pretty random combination.
10:09OK.
10:10Can we leave you to it?
10:11I guess so.
10:12All right.
10:13You get yourself sorted.
10:14So I've got to leave the island.
10:18That means leaving Roe to do the work here on the ground and leaving him a really long to-do list.
10:27What do I need to do while you're away?
10:29We need to patch the outside, any water coming in.
10:32So we need to make sure the roof's not leaking.
10:35You need to investigate the plumbing.
10:37If it's leaking and it damages anything that's not damaged now, that's what we need to discover.
10:41Yeah.
10:42If it goes wrong, it'll go really wrong.
10:43We'll have more water damage in walls and ceilings than we already have.
10:46Are you OK?
10:49No, I'm not OK.
10:50It's daunting.
10:51Look around this room.
10:52This is where we're living at the moment.
10:53I don't know where anything is.
10:55Where's the rent?
10:56Like, where's my undies?
10:59But I don't know where anything is at this point.
11:02It's really daunting on how to, one, renovate the place and then one, how to live in it.
11:09Yeah, I'm terrified.
11:11It's all going to be OK.
11:13Yeah, I know.
11:14It's just when you start, I guess, putting things down on paper and realising and it's
11:19so much is...
11:20Lots.
11:21It's lots and so much is out of our control.
11:23I know how overwhelming it is.
11:25Mm.
11:26It's a lot.
11:27But if we're moving in the right direction and we do one thing, that's one less thing
11:32we have to do tomorrow.
11:34We got this, kid.
11:35I love you.
11:36I love you too.
11:38While the mural slowly begins to emerge, Banjo departs from Mull on a mission to procure
11:49interior treasures, leaving Roe to hold the fort at the homestead.
11:53homestead my grandpa perfect timing this is when all the work has to begin
12:03you're smarter than you would I know thanks all right just me and you buddy
12:08first mystery to solve the leaky roof Andy has gone up and had a look for us
12:16howdy Andy how do you all right yeah going all right so this is towards the
12:23apex of the roof and just see where you should have mortar it's all gone so they're big slabs
12:28and the water's running down the slab and falling on the joint yeah yeah I suspect we'll just need
12:33to remortar them yeah so you should be fine yeah yeah next enigma to crack the ancient water system
12:39around the house I'll try and give you as much information I can you're probably better at the
12:48discovery than what I'll be able to tell you anyway so John's going around and he's checking
12:54all the water pipes some of them are probably not in use because it's been upgraded at some point
12:57ah okay this would be the cold water storage tank for the house that would supply the the water that
13:04would have came up with the taps okay so this is where the drinking water would come from is it I'm
13:08not sure you could class it as proper drinking water so I mean you can see the amount of rust that's inside
13:14of it until it obviously failed and somebody has isolated it that's wild but there is a more recent
13:21pipe system to explore so I haven't been down here before right I'm just assuming we'll left it and see
13:29yeah it's the only one of I think it's good it's accessible I need to go under and check
13:36are you all right John yeah well good okay from the tiny little bit I can see down there it looks
13:50dry so I think that's good oh John's come back it's actually looking okay yeah so the older bigger stuff
13:56that we can see is probably not in use anymore brilliant we need to test it but there is any
14:00problem so then we can fix it okay cool thanks John while the plumbers prepare to test the cold
14:08running water through the pipes Banjo has arrived on Mull in pursuit of a critical item for the lobby
14:15and naturally any other treasures that might present themselves I've got collections and piles of junk in
14:22all corners of Mull um I've got everything I could ever need to pull a scheme together I don't even
14:30know what's in there and I forget even buying half of her but I know that I'm always going to find
14:35something in there and spin it into gold that's a lovely thing it's a potential bedroom piece actually
14:43a headboard with a skull on it when I was a little boy all I ever wanted to be was an old man I think I
14:59just love old things I love patina I love the story that these pieces bring and I want people to feel
15:06that when they walk in the door I want them to switch off their phone and their worries and just step back
15:12into a time that was maybe a little bit simpler ooh that could be good frames they could come in handy
15:19back at the house Andy has remortared the roof and Melissa is making steady progress on the mural I'm
15:30kind of building up the layers of the background get kind of lots of color washes in and kind of go
15:36from there build things gradually I am trying to get some dark kind of contrasting tones in and then
15:44I'm going to soften it all and kind of bring it together again afterwards I think it'll become clear
15:50later on where this is I'm just kind of trying to build up a lot of different areas at once and then
15:56I'm going to kind of fine-tune them and bring them together Gary how you getting on yeah how you
16:09getting on not too bad not too bad upstairs for Roe it's the moment of truth it's time to test the
16:16pipes everything goes as planned you'll have water throughout the house I mean you get there the stench of
16:23pee from the toilets away as well yeah if there's a leak if anything does go I can turn it off it
16:28shouldn't leak right we'll put it on and we'll see what happens that's there okay Chris you got
16:35people stationed around the house I don't pull them upstairs that's fine you're downstairs let's let's
16:41do it you ready for it yeah I'm gonna put the water on now right let's go on Chris let me know if you
16:48hear anything
16:53okay grim but working
17:13okay that's good oh so far so good so far so good all right yeah hello they've just turned on
17:34the cold water and we have cold water and toilets and showers yeah that's good I want hot water look
17:45I'm gonna have a cold shower tonight do you know we can just have I know it's not hot oh my god I
17:51never wanted a cold shower more I know all right bye love ya without a connection to the mainland system
17:58the water on alva is naturally filtered through a peat bog picking up the color of amber and the smell
18:05of rain before finding its way to the taps
18:08so look it's got a bit of discoloration through it when you do compare it like what you would expect
18:21water the color becomes a bit more noticeable it's fine there's no nasties in it it's mineral rich is
18:29the way I would look at it we're just gonna call it petered mineral rich water so but not everybody on
18:37on the island trusts the water
18:39I got this car off Jeanette so it's it's more or less a community vehicle and we get water any heavy
18:59mail that comes big parcels there was opposition to me bringing this on to the island by certain people
19:08but it's here now anyway so it doesn't really matter because of the quality of the water I have to go
19:19down once a week to fill up water bottles for drinking and cooking
19:29I never felt magic crazy
19:57doing this restoration it's hard is way harder than I ever could have anticipated it's hard getting
20:08things sorted without bench here I miss him I miss having my rock and yeah having that person to to
20:14be there but also help
20:15you know sometimes I do miss Australia you know there's so many happy memories and then we've come
20:28here and it feels completely different and I don't understand just yet why I love it so much it's like a
20:35magnet that I don't know why I feel so connected to but I do
20:41I love it I really really love it they're perfect I really really really love it okay
20:53I'm almost emotional it does remind me of home that's really sweet and I don't get homesick often but yeah it's going to make you feel more at home
21:04it does it does it does I don't I don't even know why I'm quick let's call in grandpa
21:09yeah I'm not homesick it's just it's perfect you've just captured scenes and visions in in this
21:19yeah I'm really I love it thanks Melissa I'll stop crying now I promise
21:25crying no thanks
21:28all that remains now is to fill the hotel lobby with banjo's carefully acquired treasures
21:39ding welcome to the grand island hotel do you have a reservation yeah booking for two
21:46oh where on earth did you find that Barbara Barbara in the borders Barbara's had it for
21:55years husband wanted to get rid of it said you'd be doing us a favor to get rid of it you did good
22:00yeah all right should we get it over howdy Rui what have you got there Steve oh a reception desk oh
22:09thanks mate I think it sits nice with the palm trees no I think it's great I've invited the
22:19cleaning party back I think they'll love it oh I hope they do gosh imagine if they don't no this is
22:26our first first guests I think the magic's in the mix when you pull a space together like this
22:33texture natural materials crack paint all of that adds up to that lovely warm feeling guests are
22:41going to get when they walk in I don't know how it's all going to go together but that's where I'm
22:46thinking the original inspiration board what year we put them kind of suspend them in the frame on the
22:54wall do we have more frames well we need to scrub the bird peel off that for starters oh that's a moment I do
23:06love it I think that looks good because the mural is the backdrop to everything else your eye has
23:15somewhere to land otherwise you're staring off into yonder confused why there's a palm tree in a hotel in
23:22Scotland I'm cleaning the door hello welcome to the Grand Island Hotel Wow
23:52do you like it yeah do you like the mural I love the palm trees well it's meant to be like a bit of a
24:19story of our travel here picture this bro and I a couple of young whippersnappers we're in Australia
24:26we've got a big dream just a couple of dollars in our pocket we leave Australia we buy a one-way
24:30ticket to Sri Lanka then we arrive in like the misty moors of Scotland we land on Mull and we've arrived
24:38you did help us get to this point and clean it up yeah very grateful incredibly grateful yeah it's
24:44incredible you're amazing no one else could have done that created something quite magical you can
24:53really tell it's Benjamin row but sometimes it really fits into the house it's lovely it's a real
24:59homage to their journey our romantic explorers have successfully transformed the entrance to all the house
25:10the stored cold running water to its ancient pipes and begun to repair the various leaks to the roof
25:17all achievements while they have celebration
25:20like what a tree you know yeah it's just nice to be out here and like remind yourself why we fell in
25:42love with the place yeah we can get caught up in it all can't we yeah we're a man can still be free
25:51or a woman if you are one I like swimming in the sea oh my oh my oh my it's a beautiful world
26:01time for a puffin picnic
26:08with a little bit of love saying I like making my own I don't know if we have properly stopped it's
26:21been a lot yeah I know well you've struggled yeah I struggled the other day life just found it really
26:27tough it's all worth it that's the thing if we keep our eyes on the price yeah we're here to kind of
26:33build a life for ourselves and how did we end up here yeah I don't know it's wild isn't it so far
26:39away from where we grew up like the middle of nowhere the bush oh yeah we weren't we weren't surrounded
26:45by sea it's not at all I've loved always loved the sea that's why I'm so glad we've moved to this
26:50place somewhere surrounded by it remember that time you died at sea I was a fisherman and I was
26:56out working you thought I tied that's what the mail I got was like two blokes on this boat have died
27:04so I went down to the pier I was there with the other fisherman's wife we had a cry and then I was
27:11like all right well he's gone I had the most beautiful service arranged for you honestly I'm glad I didn't
27:18die me too I'm glad you didn't die you've done a lot of jobs yeah we've done what we've needed to do
27:23to get by yeah cheers to us cheers to us there's no place I'd rather be
27:28I watch the sun as it comes up I watch it as it sets
27:32yeah this is as good as it gets
27:36so my my my it's a beautiful world
27:42I like swimming in the sea
27:47you
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