"It's amazing what the human spirit and body and mind can adapt to and learn to enjoy."
Markoski said it would be easy to go crazy spending all that time on your own.
"I kept myself busy. I used tree mail and a piece of charcoal to journal every day. I mended my clothes. I hunted and gathered. I was a real cavewoman.
"(You have to) keep your hands busy and your mind busy. An idle mind is the devil's workshop, especially if you let it run away from you. You have to really work through those deep moments."
She admitted Lusth beat her "fair and square" but said she thought she deserved to return to her tribe.
"I really felt that I'd paid my dues. I felt like I deserved to go back in the game."
Her plan if she returned was to flip on her original Upolu tribe, led by Benjamin 'Coach' Wade, and side with Savaii.
She was still angry about being eliminated first, and blamed Wade - who she disliked from the moment they met - for the decision.
"He was very vague about what he was going to do, which is kind of funny because I'm really no threat. I didn't like (him), I didn't like laziness."
She wanted to see either Dawn Meehan or John Cochrane to win.
* Survivor: South Pacific screens on Four every Wednesday at 8.30pm. nzherald.co.nz will interview every contestant as they are eliminated.
- Herald online