Episode 1 – Lutruwita – Tasmania – West Coast Ranges – Acknowledging the Palawa people as the traditional custodians.
‘Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with you one wild and precious life?’ – Mary Oliver
DAY 1 – Who went out there and what did they say when they arrived?
- Tom 33 – Ecologist – From NSW – The place they are going to is Cold rugged and unforgiving – “All 10 of us are actually crazy”
- Eva 31 – Rewilding Facilitator – From NSW – (Woo Hoo….Go Eva!) Nature is the place that embraces her in her deepest and darkest emotions, where the land is the ultimate therapist, the ultimate healer – and right now they are strangers to each other and in a couple of months they will know each other really really well.
- Shay 30 Professional Trapper – New Zealand – Doing this for his family – it is his dream this year – so tapping out is not an option – might sound crazy but he is aiming to be out there for 300 days. He is in awe of the place when he arrived.
- Ben 38 English Teacher – from South Australia – Knows it will be tough, but is prepared for that – He will be praying, inviting God into this experience with him. He is happy and relaxed on arriving, even had a lay down on the ground
- Yonke – Farmer and Permaculturalist – From Victoria (Go Yonke….Cheering you on too). When she is alone in the wilderness she becomes this wild woman that is part of the environment and she knows how to be, how to move and what to do so she is hoping that her wild self will help her to win – On arriving at her site she found lovely sweet water source. She was in awe of Fungi and had a drink from the moss. She felt like she had got her own little bit of paradise at her site. She seemed quite happy
- Muzza 63 Bushman – From Victoria– He is not a Hippie – He is not going to dance around trees. He is just an Aussie bush bloke and knows this will be tough, but he wants it to be tough – “Bring it on!” but when he lands at his site, he seems daunted, describing it as “Just a whole lot of stuff all” – nothing like he expected.
- Corinne 38 – Food Safety Consultant – From Tassie – It is against human nature to be surviving alone. We are meant to be with a tribe – but to win this she is going to stay out for as long as it takes. She seems happy at her site and decides that this is not a gum boot kind of day – so she takes of her gumboots and said she’d told herself that she was not going to get in the water – that is just a waste of energy and then she went in the water- “Ahh..this is so nice” – Then she snapped herself out of that, and went to find somewhere to build a shelter.
- Ceilidh 34 – Disability Services Officer – from Queensland – It is scary out there in Mother Nature – All by yourself. But she knows she doesn’t give up easy, that she is very good at problem solving, and persevering. She seemed a bit shocked on landing because it was so cold. “There is ice everywhere” There is only 3 ways out, you tap out, you get medically extracted or you’re the last one standing. She hopes to be the last one standing. “Let’s do this” she says.
- Karla 35 Expedition Leader – from Queensland – Definitely harder than she thought it was going to be. I thought “Yep, get off the boat, walk up 50 metres find a couple of trees to tie between. But where she lands is so thick, “hectic” – “You have got to be kidding me – I’ll make it work because that is what I do”. But she seems a bit daunted. She likes to have a go if it is difficult, she is not going to quit, she is not going to tap out – no way!
- Matt 31 – Indigenous Youth Worker – From Western Australia. As he head out he is reflecting on the fact that there are 10 people here, hoping to win this but only one can, that there is $250000 prize for the last person standing. He came here to win. As long as he is drawing breath, he can take a step. He is in it to win it. Matt gave a cheery farewell – “I’ll see yas when I see yas”.
