Original subtitles

The goal is to get home by nightfall.

I'm exhausted.

Oh, what is that?

Oh, it's a platypus.

Wow.

I'm very glad to be here.

I want to be out here for 90 days.

Oh, yes.

Definitely a paddy melon.

Make that trap now while the animal's there.

The quicker I finish this, the quicker I could possibly be eating it.

I'm starting to feel how harsh this place can be.

It's like a cane pit from hell.

Where you just can't leave.

Man, my brain is just scattered.

Starting to lose a bit of hope on my abilities to catch food out here.

Suddenly going downhill very, very fast.

Fuck this. I'm over it. I'm fucking over it.

We're halfway to the South Pole. We're going to be totally alone.

It's Tasmania. It's cold. It's rain. It's snow.

We're all going to leave changed forever.

Mother nature's kicking my ass.

This experience... You fucker! ...is just as much a mind

game... Oh, my heart.

...as it is a survival game.

Check it out.

Let's hear it another way.

A $250,000 prize would change my life.

Man, yesterday afternoon was just emotionally challenging.

I don't know, I've never experienced hunger like this before.

The environment's perfect. It's just what the lack of food is doing to my

mind.

In a lot of ways, it scares me. I don't like it.

What the hell is the answer here? Like, how do I continue this journey?

and keep achieving my motives if I can't fuel my brain.

I just need a sign that's going to be alright.

Maybe I'm not as mentally resilient as I thought I'd grown to be.

This is just, unfortunately, the end of my time here.

You're fucking kidding me.

That fishing line is moving.

I kid you not.

No way

No shit.

What the hell?

I feel like I should be more excited, like, but I'm...

I'm absolutely in shock.

Unbelievable.

Look at these eggs.

Oh, no way.

Look at that.

That is...

Absolutely nuts.

Wow.

I'm just gonna soup it up, the whole thing.

OK.

I can go in there like that.

Don't never not ever give up.

Food's in the belly.

Morale is high.

Positivity.

There's nowhere else I want to be right now than here.

And that's honestly the truth.

Today, I need to air my everything.

I just need air on my everything.

So I will now show you why you don't like medical stuff or 52-year-old

woman's thighs. Just go make a cup of tea.

Okay, how's this for absolutely horrible?

Don't you wish you were me?

Yep. I think I've figured out what's really aggravating this hives reaction

thing that I'm having. I think it's heat.

I'm not used to wearing clothes.

Like, I normally have, like, one layer of cotton on and that's it, even in

winter. I mean, I don't even wear undies. I haven't worn undies in 20

years.

30 years.

And now I...

constantly have like layers on on my skin and my it's not breathing

so apologies if anything shows

that shouldn't but yeah i need it for my health

so

today's task is enclose this shelter

I would like to have it done by tonight so that this shelter is as insulated as

possible so I can be warm without having all the layers of clothes on so that I

can actually have a comfortable night's sleep tonight.

My strategy is still not to even worry about food, just to work on this

shelter.

I'm losing energy because I'm uncomfortable.

in my living situation and I need to fix that.

I need a front door so I'm going to set up a bush loom so I can

weave my grass door.

Okay I'm going to pound these two wire sticks in.

I should have bevelled the top of these so that they don't fray but I'm just too

bloody knackered actually.

And then there's gonna be a crossbar across here that a whole bunch of

strings are tied to.

And then I've got seven individual sticks that get driven into the ground

there.

Ow.

All right.

Then there's another seven strings that go in between those sticks.

Oh my God, I can make a musical instrument.

I'm making a nest for my

home.

And tonight I'm gonna sleep

like a baby alone.

So what happens is...

I'm going to put a row of sedge in through here and then

pull this up to trap it.

And then insert another row and pull it down.

And it'll end up being a weave.

It's a bit of a schmuzzle.

However, it's working.

I really wanted to finish it by tonight because I think it's going to be a cold

night.

I'm halfway there and I'm just too buggered.

So I'm going to have a little rest and then I'm going to keep plodding.

Slurps up.

Frontside 50-50, backside three out.

Slurps up.

Now, I've been missing surfing that much.

Slurps up. That I've created my own kind of surfing.

Whoa. It's called slurping.

Yeah, got it.

My shelter is right in front of water, but here's the thing, the snags and

lower lying waters isn't really suitable for catching fish.

Today I'm gonna go explore that far bay.

Have a show of what this beautiful place has to offer as far as food source goes.

Now how in the world do I get across all this?

It's the only way around.

Yeah.

I'll tell you what this last week's brought for me.

It's brought on an appreciation for food.

I've had next to nothing for seven days and I'm really, really hungry. Like,

yeah, like proper hungry.

Look down there no snags a chance for me to throw a line out Hopefully get

some nice food Wouldn't that be lovely?

Wow

Sinkers

and floats were not part of my 10 items

So what I've got is this tightening up

doobie wacker off my rain jacket.

I'm pretty sure it's got a spring in it so it might be kind of weighted but kind

of floats. We'll find out.

Use that as a float.

It's funny how just the littlest things like this remind you of just playing

with your son.

This reminds me of a car spring, one of the springs off the Sky Electric cars

that he has at home.

Just doing little repairs with him.

You miss it.

Definitely do.

Doing this survival stuff makes you appreciate a lot in life, eh? I could

just go home and be with the kitties.

It doesn't float.

My heritage is in a nation of Wannerua, up in Murrundy, New South Wales.

I have a large extended family with all my little nieces and nephews that I love

dearly.

We're like a little mob, we still hang out on weekends together.

And I just love seeing my own children with my nieces and nephews playing

around and learning off each other. It's something that's so important and really

beautiful.

Life is so beautiful and precious back home that it's making me question how

long do I really want to go without all that?

Got my trusty bottle rod.

Stickfish. Bloody hell.

My stomach's saying, hurry up and feed me something decent.

Let's have another go, eh?

If I'm not coming back with a fish, it's going to affect me big time.

that is beautiful honestly let's just go for a swim

let's get out there in the surf go and rip

it up whoa is

he gonna get naked is he

no because i'm watching these

Fuck, this is getting cold.

Oh, yes.

This is not like a bath.

That trout did give me a new sense of what is available and felt like a bit of

an omen.

It just reiterates that I'm here for a reason and I can do this.

Thank you, Palawa!

God

almighty,

that's bloody cold!

Wow,

it feels nice though.

The whole day is good if I don't...

get overwhelmed the whole experience is awesome if i don't cross that line

i guess i scared any fish off the next five days

oh i feel good i feel nice oh today has been such a

change i feel like we've done a full 180 getting that fish

having a feed

It's a good mental health day today.

Recover and replenish the soul.

It's been many years since I got out of the army.

Yeah, I definitely gained some little side effects, we can say, some mental

health challenges.

You know, I hit the bottle pretty hard after Iraq and, you know, lots of

substance abuse.

Whether it's guilt or shame or whatnot, but I want to sort of, you know, spend

my life making up for those things.

Voila!

I wanted to show you something.

These pants were like ridiculously too small for me when I came in at 94

kilos. A friend of mine sewed this kind of like panel in so

I'd be able to actually wear them.

But look how close I am to actually doing them up.

Breathe in!

No, because if I break the button I'm screwed.

Anyway, so... Stop saying so!

So... And that to me says I have lost at least seven kilos.

And possibly more.

That's a lot, considering I'm coming in with 30 kilos to lose.

When you're fasting for this long, bodies, they switch over.

I've definitely switched over into ketosis, which means I'm not burning

carbohydrates for fuel anymore. I'm burning fat, obviously.

I just went and got a whole lot more sausage, and I am going to finish this

for tonight so that tonight I'm going to be warm.

Proper warm.

Snuggly, toasty, yummy warm.

I got a door.

I can just walk in and then I can close the door.

Ha!

Bit by bit.

Bit by fucking bit.

My house is warm.

The first time.

Coming into this, everyone...

He's asking me, why? Why are you doing this? Like, what's your why?

Is it to be the first woman to win?

Yeah, sure. Is it to this? Is it to that? Yeah, sure.

I think the universe bends its attention and holds its breath

whenever humans make a stand for something, whatever

it is.

I think part of my why, my deeper, deeper why, is that I'm making a stand

for remembering a way of being that

my culture has largely forgotten.

I feel such kinship with that way of life, a way of

living where

You can be in harmony with nature.

Because I know it's possible.

I know, I know it's possible.

So that's my why.

That's why I'm here, really.

Big picture-wise, pretty happy with where I'm at.

I've made most of a kayak, made a fishing rod, made a net, got a paddy

melon trap on the ground.

I haven't lit a fire, and I'll continue not to have a fire until I actually need

one, which could be tonight if I get this paddy melon.

It is the time I have been waiting for all day.

I'm going to go up and check the trap.

I haven't really eaten anything for the week other than... um you know one lot

of shoots so i'm hoping now that all that hard work over this last week will

um start producing something i always don't want to look

it's too nerve-wracking okay getting closer

Damn it.

Logged us up a tree.

And the trap did not go off.

All right, let's see what's on the trail camera.

That's me.

It's not standing on the net. He's inspecting the net with his nose.

God, it doesn't make sense. Like he actually sniffs the trap, walked through

the middle of it.

next to the trip line and it didn't bite him. So I don't know why they're being

cautious, but they are.

I have provided them an alternate route.

One around that side and one around that side. So I'm just going to block

something there and put another block just there.

The difference between winning this or not is whether you can bring in food.

And I've got some pretty elaborate ways of doing that. But if I don't pull in

food, then it's really just a starvation competition.

And I don't want to do that. Like, I want to see if I can live off the land

properly without starving.

Oh, well.

That's that.

I'm going to leave it there and...

My attention now is going to go back to the fire setup.

So if I do get a paddy miller, that groundwork is done, so I can just cook

them up.

Because it rains so frequently, I need to put a cover over this fire, otherwise

it's just going to go out every 10 minutes.

And it takes a lot of effort to start a fire out here in the wet, particularly

with a ferro rod.

So I'm going to gather something that goes over.

that.

And I think the best bet is to go find a stringybark and use that.

In order to look after the tree, I'll only take about a third.

Now I've read that Aboriginal people wouldn't take it off the tree unless

they could separate it with their hands.

because if you can't separate it with your hands, it means that it's too dry.

Then the bark won't be flexible enough to bend.

This place is super wet.

And I can use my hands.

My survival skills have come from a range of different areas.

Some of the most important ones were when I was a kid.

That's a good sound.

I didn't play sports on the weekends because I didn't want to waste my

weekends playing sport. I just wanted to be out fishing and camping.

It's been a lifelong passion.

This very shortly is going to fall off.

Ready?

Yeah.

Awesome.

Oh, man, it weighs a ton.

It's full of water.

So as you get older, you just keep getting better because you've had more

time together skills.

You know, I'm 45 now. By the time I'm 65, I'll probably have almost double the

amount of experience that I've got now.

That's part of the joy of it, is that you're always getting better at it.

Definitely don't want to be treading over logs with this on my head.

Oh, I'm having to bend it to get through these trees.

I hope it doesn't snap.

Ah, shit.

If I can get that paddy melon, that is potentially a

game winner for me.

Yeah. If that's a regular thing, once a week, I get a paddy melon, I've probably

won.

Peace, peace.

I need food.

I'd love something hot.

Just something warm in the belly would be amazing.

I want to go back over to Big Bay to go for another fish.

Fuck, it's a...

Freaking tricky little hike though.

You just fucked me up there.

I

feel

like I'm losing so much energy just trying to get there and back.

I'm wishing I had my little boat, my wife, my two kids right now.

I need to feel love and give love.

Maybe it's time to just pack it up.

Come on.

Get away from there.

Here we go.

There we go. There we go.

Yes.

Guys.

Yes.

Get out. Come on.

Beautiful.

Yes.

I'm happy.

Thank you.

Get back and get him prepped up hopefully on a nice fire and fry him if

my wood's dry enough. We'll see.

Long walk back.

It's so much colder today.

So, today's plan is finishing that wall so that it's rainproof.

We're still getting drips coming through it, so it'd just be nice to have it

drier here.

So, pull out that foliage, stack it vertical, make a bit of a frame out from

here so everything can stand up on and not fall this way either.

That should have that wall finished.

But it won't be the end.

It won't even be the beginning of the end.

It will be the end of the beginning.

If I can get started.

For those of you who think you'd have to be crazy to do this, you're probably

right.

But I like crazy.

A drop. I'll let you know that I was not going to quit. I was going to stick with

it to the end. And that was my solemn vow and promise.

Dear God, I take this land to be my home through sunshine and

bad weather until medivac or I'm the last one

standing.

This is my solemn vow and promise.

So I'm out here for the long haul.

I'm in it to win it.

It's a little damper than I'd like for working outside.

I can manage it.

I'll be strong.

It'd be nice to have a shower.

It'd be nice to go out on a date with my wife, to hug my kids.

But it's very important to be able to be content whether you've got plenty or

little.

We'll get through the storm when it comes next and be thankful for this time

spent here.

Oh, careful with your shelter, Michael.

My faith has taught me not to rely on luxuries in life.

I'm here to test my limits, to take them.

myself to the end of my limits and once I've got there to lean on God to carry

me further.

Just a couple more handfuls to go and we might be done.

Great, done.

That is pretty good there.

It's a massive improvement.

Don't tell me this tinder is still not dry enough.

That's got to be.

I need fire to fucking cook.

Freaking stuck this tinder up my fucking ass to try and get warm enough and dry

enough.

It's just not. It lights up and then turns black.

Fuck, what am I doing out here?

Lucky it's a fish species that you can eat raw.

I think about all the good things back home I could be doing.

But what happens three, four days, five days when I'm back home might hit me and

go, oh.

Or do I push on, try and beat these mental barriers and

stay on for as long as I absolutely can?

Alone Australia is brought to you by Kia.

Experience the ultimate human endurance as 10 contestants battle to survive

alone in the Tasmanian wilderness, with the winner taking home a prize worth

$250,000.

Just went to put my hat on.

One of the cheeky fat flies of this area was in it buzzing right inside my head

or under it. Anything else in there?

What's that?

Yuck.

Fly maggot.

My hat got maggoted.

I think I'll just spend the next half hour tweezering them off.

And how many maggots do I have in my hair?

Kookaburras are laughing. Come on.

Oh, you can eat maggots. That's right.

Go away, guys.

Just remember your personal hygiene, Michael.

Priority one for today is a wash.

I was thinking about having a wash this morning as I lay in bed.

And as much as I love the outdoors, I love coming home for a shower

afterwards.

Being fresh.

So I'm going to enjoy having a wash today.

So this will be my bathtub, I think.

It's meant to be a backpack cover.

and chuck some rocks in the fire so I can make myself some nice warm bath

water.

These are my hot water fire rocks.

Hot, smoky water.

I think this will work.

We are ready to start filling with water.

Somebody told me If you hot rock boil, you won't burn the plastic bag that

you're boiling in.

Today we'll find out.

Yep, it's hot.

Okay, that's hot enough.

Yep.

Well,

let's have a feel of the water.

Temperature is cool bath.

And cool bath's better than no bath, so let's take it.

You know how a bath goes.

You'll see naked people, but you won't see me.

Wow.

You don't know how much I needed that just to wash myself and to be clean.

It's like I can go on. I can do this if I can give myself a wash once a week.

It's just so relieving.

I've been running out of toilet paper and I just stumbled across this dogwood,

I think it's called, but it's got this really nice soft underside to the

leaves, so I'm going to stock up.

Today, plants.

I think I saw some acacia or wattle yesterday and then I remembered that

some wattles, the leaves, if you scruff them up, they have like a chemical...

in them that sort of acts as soap. So I was like, oh, hang on.

Cool.

And one of the key things that I'm looking for here is it's got this

parallel venation, so little veins on the leaves that all go in line.

It's the self-care that feels so nice and it makes this place feel more

homely.

Yeah, baby.

Check this out.

I got bush soap.

I'm really happy with that. Clean hands.

I think any day is a good day that I make my life a little bit nicer here.

It feels so good.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to join the Cub Scouts, but, you know, in a

small country town, girls were not allowed to be Cub Scouts, even after my

mum... much down there and said Kate can join the Cub Scouts and they're like

nope.

That could have been that barrier to me feeling comfortable outdoors.

I don't want there to be barriers to other people.

Cool. To be able to experience the joy of being in nature, to be able to

experience the awe and the healing properties that nature has.

I've got all these small cuts on my hands that aren't really healing that

well. I guess I'm just concerned.

that if I leave these untreated they could, you know, get infected and that

could see me out. So I just want to have some sort of method for trying to look

after them.

I remember the Palawa people used tree fern croziers, the little unfurling

leaf, as a treatment for minor cuts and stings.

I'm finding heaps of tree ferns but none of them that have the croziers that I'm

after.

Ooh, I might have found one.

Got him.

Rozzia!

Just got a river stone and I'm just gonna crush it up.

I love botany and I love plants.

So as an ecologist, it really excites me that there's always more to learn.

So now... I'm going to put it on these little cuts.

It's actually interesting. It looks almost like, I don't know, like betadine

or something on my fingers.

That's cool.

I love nature.

It warms my heart and makes me feel so emotional.

It's such a blessing to be out here. It's so nice to...

Embrace the conditions.

It's being in it. It's witnessing it.

It's appreciating those small things.

So the last couple of days, I've been working on a little art piece of mine.

I find it very soothing.

It takes me to another place when I do it.

Time just goes non-existent.

I love telling a story through the land and place and space that has meaning.

And so I've inscribed my place, my

shack, and me being near it, and then the...

Rough outline of the lands and the little bays.

Bird and fish.

The little fish and big fish. The water flowing.

The rolling lands.

The flowing waters.

My place and me.

The hills.

Flow of the water.

The other side of this axe is...

The contrast of me being out here

alone.

Remind me that I'm alone and what I need.

Connection, alone, connections.

Just before I got into this.

My mum said, you'll be fine. You'll be fine by yourself.

How far from that was she?

Alone Australia is brought to you by Kia.

Experience the ultimate human endurance as 10 contestants battle to survive

alone in the Tasmanian wilderness, with the winner taking home a prize worth

$250,000.

In my family, we all have a spirit bird.

My wife's bird is a raven.

I hadn't seen a raven the whole time I've been here.

And then one flies down next to me on the branch.

Just as I was thinking about what she would think, I saw it as a sign just not

to worry and she'll have my back.

And that just made me feel her presence and feel that my decision

was okay.

So now I'm in it too.

Thank you.

It's been great.

Hi, it's Dwayne. I'm officially tapping out.

That was something.

really special to have a nice swim and say farewell to the waters and

thank you.

I just need social interaction.

I can't be alone.

It's plain and simple.

It showed me more of a way of how life was for my ancestors.

You can see how moiety and kinship and connection into relationships

and the environment is so important because that is truly what has sustained

us for...

millennia.

It's about oneness with nature, but sharing it collectively.

Kindness, actions towards other people, not being alone out here.

Maybe it's a little bit of me caring maybe too much about other people, but

that's just me.

I have to stop losing weight now. I'm turning my thoughts to food.

It'd be nice to have a date that he's finished on. It's hard not knowing.

It's funny how the mind can change so quickly.

There it is. Post-traumatic fucking stress disorder.

The kayak, to me, is a very, very important survival tool. Thank you.

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