Huge waves of emotion.
I feel like if I stay,
I might go down a hole where I don't want to go.
Yep, I am officially tapping out.
There's three of them.
There's, like, Elsie, me and Juno, like, my little family.
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
I feel like I'm living out here.
Yeah, baby.
I'm doing quite well, but I miss humans so much.
It would be great having some meat to eat.
You can't stay out here forever,
unless you start catching critters and eating them.
Dear God, please bless me with a possum.
Ow, that really hurt.
Just hit the wall all of a sudden, hey?
I got a fish. I'm eating fish for breakfast.
Oh, oh, God.
What are you eating?
Pretty much nothing. Just got it.
Ah, I just came so close to getting a pademelon.
Little bastard. (LAUGHS)
There's a bloody eel on it.
Shit!
I lost it.
There's no points for close.
Fuck.
It's all or nothing.
We're halfway to the South Pole.
We're going to be totally alone.
WOMAN: It's Tasmania, it's cold.
It's rain, it's snow.
We're all going to leave changed forever.
Holy shit.
Yeah!
What is this place?
It's like a camp trip from hell.
Mother Nature's kicking my arse.
This experience...is just as much a mind game...
Oh, my heart.
..as it is a survival game.
Is there another way?
A $250,000 prize would change my life.
It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
but it comes at a cost.
Oh!
What an absolutely glorious day.
There's one thing that I really
have always wanted to do since I've been here,
and that's jump in the water and go for a little swim.
I'm sure it's going to be a pretty quick swim.
Oh, jeez.
(GIGGLES) What am I doing?
Ooh.
(EXCLAIMS, HUFFS)
Ah! Woo-hoo! (EXCLAIMS)
Ooh! That's fresh! That'll do!
Whoo! (LAUGHS)
Oh, my God.
Whoo!
Oh, my God.
Hoo!
I'm so glad I did that.
It's time to get warm.
No sticks or eels got me. (LAUGHS)
Whoo, it was cold though, cold.
But, jeez, I swear I've never felt more alive.
(LAUGHS)
Oh.
I feel a real appreciation today,
whereas other days it's been a bit of a struggle, you know?
I've been in a bit of a battle to be in this space.
I've pushed my comfort zones a lot, you know?
Every day has been hard.
Ah, it's beautiful.
OK, let's do it.
Being separated from my baby and my partner and...
That's the hardest, and I knew it was going to be hard.
I'm missing Elsie and Juno.
That's a constant. That's every day.
But when I think of the money,
which I said, you know, was never part of it,
but, you know, if someone dangles $250,000 in front of your face,
you're sort of like, "Oh, yeah."
I think of all the things that that money could buy and,
money, like...
I really want to have a big beautiful wedding
at the Botanic Gardens and get married to Elsie, but...
Hm. I do miss them.
Day 21.
I haven't gone this long without eating anything.
If it continues,
I'm guessing that I'll be getting removed on weight.
With the medical team and stuff, the choice is out of your hands.
There's this constant stress.
Got to get food, got to get food, got to get food.
More tasks to get the food.
Yes, there was an eel for the taking yesterday,
but other than that, nah, that's been it.
Pretty frustrating.
Hang on, I got to concentrate on this.
Stability is not great.
Shit.
(REEL WHIRRS)
Whoa, that's a fish.
Holy shit, I got a fish on.
Alright. I have a fish.
I have to be really bloody careful here.
So bloody careful.
Shit. My spool just fell off.
I can't even look down to put it back on.
I'm going to play him out this side because it's better for my balance.
And I'm not even looking.
Have I still got it? Or is it off?
My heart's pumping.
I think I might have lost it. Bugger.
Bugger. That was definitely a fish.
Fuck's sake.
This place is fucked.
Wow, this moss is much harder to peel up
than it was a couple of days ago.
There's a big one.
Yesterday's fish was amazing.
I feel really relaxed here with some food in my belly.
I'm putting them in my boot so they can't run away.
And the prospect of more as long as I keep the worms rolling.
I had an idea.
I was thinking about how...
..everything loves the worms.
The antechinus loves the worms, potoroos love the worms.
The trout love the worms, even the eels love the worms.
So what is it about worms that makes them so sought after?
Well, they're basically just protein.
They're just one big long string of protein just wriggling along.
So I'm going to cook a worm
and I'm going to see what it tastes like.
I'm sorry, worm.
I mean, if that works, if that's edible,
I can get a handful of them in...
..like, half an hour.
And it's probably just going to taste like dirt.
I'm going to give it a whirl.
Because...
..I have got an abundant resource of worms.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
There we go. He's dead.
I mean, how done is done when you're a worm?
I reckon that's pretty done.
I'd rather have him overdone.
Got my worm.
Holy shit.
It's a bit gritty.
But that is really good.
That is really good.
Oh, I got protein.
That's exciting.
Man, I've got a whole field of worms just out there waiting to be eaten.
Like bacon, they taste like bacon.
Oh, they taste really good.
£ Nobody loves me, everybody hates me
£ Think I'll eat some worms. £
Hell yeah. (LAUGHS)
£ Clean undies on the ground makes me really start to frown. £
Do you ever talk to yourself?
I don't.
That's what you tell yourself, Michael.
Oh, who said that?
Quick check of the possum trap.
I'm feeling good about getting this far.
When I hurt myself with the saw,
I think it just put everything to the surface of
I'm vulnerable out here.
Just a small nick and that could take me out.
Looks like it has been triggered.
I'm not sure if anything's in there.
Looks like it works like it was meant to.
Maybe something bumped into it.
Let's go check that trail camera.
That little wallaby or pademelon is there every couple of nights.
Wow, that was so close to eating something.
So close to eating something.
Well, hopefully it didn't scare the critter off too much.
They bumped it. They may come back for seconds.
I can't get fishing to work here.
It looks like I'm just going to play the starvation game
and eating plants.
I really wanted to get some meat into me in my time out here,
rather than just playing the mental game
and seeing who can starve the best.
OK, I'm pretty sure these are water ribbons,
just really immature.
So, yeah, they look like they're getting flatter as they grow.
That's going to be our greens for today, plus...
Our leafy greens, anyway.
Hopefully being a leafy green kind of thing,
we get some vitamin C coming out of it as well.
OK, into the pot.
20 minutes at a simmer.
Whoa.
We'll start with a sip.
Go and get some of their leafier stuff.
The water tastes better than the water ribbon,
which is the greens.
Yeah, I'd say spinachy as well.
So, yeah, the water ribbon's given it a real spinachy taste.
Hopefully, it has all the vitamin C and good stuff of vinach...
Vinach? Spinach as well.
I don't know why...
..but when my wife and I decided that this would be a good idea...
..how did we not think about missing each other?
In 2007, after a broken marriage,
having a two-year-old son living with me
and becoming a Christian,
Paula should happen to walk into my church.
Go over and play with Russell. He needs to have some friends.
(GOATS BLEAT)
We actually started building our relationship
from going to the same Bible study.
Paula and I have Christianity
as the cornerstone of our relationship.
We're so close.
Anyone who's thinking about doing this,
you will miss your loved ones a lot.
It will be the hardest part. Harder than not eating.
Harder than eating little.
If I don't catch any critters,
then there'll be a few days that I can cope with very little food,
just plant only.
Who knows? Things could change.
We could be having wallaby once a week,
which lasts a whole week.
But if things don't change...
..I won't be able to stay out here much longer.
(KOOKABURRAS CALL)
Good morning, kookaburras.
OK, time to get up, hey?
Time to get up.
(YAWNS)
13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
(SIGHS) My God.
So good.
22 feels really special for me
because it was my mum's favourite number
and, you know, I've spent a lot of time out here thinking about her
and how she's shaped my life.
Just looking up at the clouds and...
..they always remind me of mum and how she told me to...
..watch them in the sky and just relax.
It's been such a precious gift, this time.
You know, people in life, they work, work, work, work, work,
and then they retire.
But, like, you know, people like my mum,
she never got to retire, and, like, she died at 46,
and that's just... It's too young.
Like, she always wanted to go to South America
and she never got there.
And she would've been the best grandma.
She was such a good mum.
Yeah, I guess... And ultimately, you know,
I just want to be the best mum that I can be for Juno.
My daughter's just such a beautiful gift
and I just feel so lucky to have her in my life.
I love my family.
It's a simple purpose, but it's so beautiful.
I think they're happy tears. (LAUGHS)
Yeah.
I'm just thinking through...
..the process of...
..how long do I stay out here?
What is it that I need?
Just trying to understand for me,
when is the right time to leave?
I got another fish.
Ah, I got another fish.
I've now had three days of catching fish at least every day.
At least one fish a day.
So I've got a system that can work
and I can procure food, which means I can stay here,
which is the game.
I can feel this absolute gear shift in my body
now that I have nutrients coming in.
I've been running on adrenaline for three weeks.
Ah, fish broth.
Oh.
(LAUGHS) Oh, that's good.
(BURPS) Oh, excuse me.
(BURPS) Ah.
Oh, and... (BURPS)
(LAUGHS) "Mind your manners."
Who gives a shit out here?
The fish?
Lady Larila?
Oh, there she is.
My God, she's so beautiful.
Hello, love.
Hi.
She totally looked at me then.
We seem to have an agreement, she and I.
She fishes the other side.
I fish this side. She doesn't come this side.
Stays in the middle or she stays to the far side,
which I think is quite polite.
It'd be nice to be able to point out the platypus to somebody else.
"Look, look, look, there she is."
"She's doing that thing where she turns in circles before she dives."
It'd be great to be able to point that out to someone.
I just like to share things.
You know? I like to share music and I like to share stories
and I like to share food.
Fish.
Fish. So sweet to eat.
I can't do the Gollum voice.
Sorry to disappoint you there.
Lee can. Lee can do the best...
Actually, Lee does the best voices.
Lee has this ability to make me laugh until I pee my pants.
And then once he's got me laughing that hard,
he just doesn't stop until I, "Stop, Stop."
Lee is my ex-husband, my business partner,
and he is Blaise's father.
And probably since Blaise died,
we have been through more as a couple
than most people do in their whole lives.
When our relationship changed
because I couldn't have kids any more
and he desperately wanted to be a dad again,
and it was just a simple capital R reality.
And we're best friends. Like, we still get on really well.
I absolutely adore his wife, Hannah.
I'm godmother to their eldest daughter, Taiga,
and I love them as a family.
Lee and I, we still co-facilitate programs.
Just because we broke up didn't mean we lost a friendship.
We support each other in many, many ways.
Oh, he'd love it out here.
Lee, you would be in your element.
Oh, my goodness.
You'd just be in your happy place, running around.
He'd be out trapping all the animals,
that's what he'd be doing.
Have all the traps going,
be out with his clubbing stick hunting in the night.
Me, I am just going to start with fish and move up from there.
Ah, it's always too hot. Ha, ha, ha, hoo.
Wait.
(LAUGHS)
Elsie's family are like...
I call them asbestos tongues
because they can eat food when it's so hot
and liquids when they're so hot,
but I almost need to have everything kind of lukewarm.
It kind of works well, though, with Juno,
'cause I can hold Juno and look after her
while Elsie and her family eat.
I ache for Juno. I ache for Elsie.
Yeah, what else is here for me?
Besides $250,000,
and I don't need that money to live.
I have everything I want at home.
I think that's where I'm at.
My purpose is back home being a mum.
That's my purpose.
OK, that's enough.
(BEEPING)
Hi, it's Kate.
I'm officially tapping out.
Yep.
OK. Thanks.
Oh, my God.
Yes.
Hello. How you going?
WOMAN: Good, how are you going?
I'm feeling very excited now, but very ready to leave.
Yeah.
Yeah, it just felt like something was missing.
There was no people to share it with and...
You know, we're pack animals and we are meant to live together
and share our thoughts and feelings and ideas.
And, yeah, it's hard to sit with that.
It was very hard for me.
I guess I made it a little bit harder for myself
in not wanting to hunt animals,
but that was something that I had to stay true to myself with.
I didn't want to change the way I interact with nature
and the way I see nature.
And to be able to come out here for 22 days
without any contact with my family is just...
I honestly don't know how I did it.
Like, it's something that I don't want to do again, 'cause it's hard
and I don't want to be that person that's not at home.
Like, I had a family 'cause I want to be there.
I am absolutely going back a different person.
My eyes are wide open now to how precious life is
and how precious our people are.
And I like to think my mum's sort of
watching over me in her own way.
She would've been so proud.
Far out.
Wish there was a bait shop around here.
A pie shop, a pizza shop.
Nothing...at all.
Just use the other to steer your boat.
I really just need to get that first eel up the top of the bank,
dead and guts.
It's just... It's hard to get going.
It's a little bit like a fire that's hard to start, you know?
Once you get it started it's alright,
but to get that flame going is difficult.
I need to think long and hard about this bait situation.
I just need to get my first bloody fish,
then I'm sorted for bait, and that will bring more fish.
Chain reaction once you get it going,
but I have not got it going yet.
I kind of feel like that could be the difference
of whether I win or lose is whether I can find worms.
It's as simple as that.
Ah, you beauty.
I just found a worm.
It's not huge, but seems once you've got a worm,
once you've got...
Oh, yes, there's another one.
Oh, yes, big fatty.
Oh, I like the big fatties.
That's a nice big one.
Another one. Oh, you beauty.
This is good.
This is good news because without it...
..I can have all the bloody lines and pulleys
and crap like that and they're useless.
Good strike rate so far, I think that's...
Oh, look at that big fatty.
You beauty.
Another little baby one.
Oh, yeah, two. And good ones too.
Look at those two. Woo, yeah.
This is great.
Well, I've definitely got enough worms for tonight.
That's good.
The worm has turned, outlook has changed,
which is good, 'cause it needed to change.
Well, I've scaled him and gutted him
and it's a boy fish,
since he's got spermy bits, and this...
I'm going to save this fish for tomorrow morning for breakfast,
but I'm going to eat the sperm now.
Mmm.
'Cause that is life force.
Pure, unadulterated, fresh life force.
Thank you, boy fish. He's a good one.
Don't know if I can even remember being sorted out for night-time.
I just got to break this drought, drought of no fish.
I kind of feel like
I am trying absolutely everything out here...
..without payoff.
But, I mean, that's...
That's what you have to do, right?
You have to try everything, absolutely everything.
And if nothing pays off...
..then just stick it out and starve till you get removed
and hope you're the last one.
But I don't want to do that.
I don't want to get starved out and removed.
I want to win. (LAUGHS)
So I've got to figure out this...
..food situation.
(SPLASH!)
What's that?
(GASPS)
Far out.
It's caught around something.
VOICEOVER: 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.
Yeah, I reckon there's something decent on that thing.
I just felt a bit of pressure on one of my lines.
I think there's an eel on it,
but I think it's caught around something.
Got my net ready.
Far out.
Jeez, I'm tempted to go for a bloody swim, you know?
Because I need this bloody eel, right?
I'm not buggering around any more. Like, I need this.
I can't afford to lose another.
So I've stripped down.
I've actually put my wet underpants on
that I dried today,
because I know they're probably going to get wet.
I'm going to wear my boots in
just because I don't know how rocky it is.
I don't want to get the hook in my foot,
you know, all that kinda gear.
Net is going to be right there.
I'm just going to clear a landing space
for this little thing.
Alright.
Let's do this quick and nasty.
Something just gave way.
Oh, hook's free.
Hey, hey!
OK, we've got him, we've got him, we've got him.
OK, I'm going to slow down a little bit.
The last time I was a little bit rushed.
Get in the net.
Come on.
(GASPS)
Stay there.
I'm not out of the woods yet, he might fall through the net.
Ah! See, his tail's going through the net.
Oh, shit. Shit, shit. Get up.
Oh, his head's going through the net.
Come on, you little bugger.
Alright.
Fucking lines got... Oh, here we go. Good.
Oh. Oh, shit. He's coming out.
He's coming out of the net. Oh.
Oh, you beauty. You bloody beauty.
You bloody beauty. (LAUGHS)
How good?
How bloody good?
Looks like a bloody snake. It's a decent size.
Check it out. Man, I so needed this eel.
That was bigger than the other one too.
That's great. So much...
Oh, man, I can't wait to eat that thing.
Yes.
So glad to be cooking a bloody fish.
Yeah, so what I'm going to do... Jesus, it's a fair bit of meat.
That is a solid chunk of meat.
So, yeah, it's three times fattier than trout.
Six times fattier than kangaroo.
That's what I need. I need the fat.
How good?
This food is going to be ultra appreciated.
Alright. OK.
I'm just going to keep my expectations low,
because I've boiled it.
I don't think you're supposed to boil eel,
but let's have a crack.
Man, that's fatty.
I can't recall eating anything fattier in my life.
Other than, like... It's just like...
It's like pork belly, but without the meat.
Just eating the fat.
I reckon it's going to keep the doc off my back
and I've just got to remind myself of that fact
and not be disgusted by the taste,
because I'm going to have to probably live off these things.
Wow, what an amazing fish.
I've never eaten anything like that my life.
Woo. Wow.
I reckon I might smoke the rest tomorrow morning.
That will give me something to look forward to in the morning.
Yeah, I definitely want to smoke that
because I think I'd vomit if I ate too much like that,
and I can't afford to vomit.
Alright, I'm going to go wash my hands.
This would have to be the best day so far.
Day 23. I've kicked a goal.
Does this seem familiar?
Were they here yesterday?
Did I have the same thing for lunch yesterday?
Well, yes, yes.
We've come to a turning point,
unless I find something out here soon.
But, yeah...
Tough going for animal protein out here, that's for sure.
Gets a bit depressing and down.
It brings in a bit of trepidation of what next.
So now is the time to finally head east,
along that coast behind us. Um...
..and see is there a fishing spot, is there a river?
Is there a spot that's good for eel?
It's really going to increase my chances of staying out here longer.
Well, the time has come finally.
We've got the fishing gear packed
and we're either going to find an awesome fishing spot
or we are going to know that...
..this is all we've got, so that's the plan.
This is very contrasting.
Let's keep going.
I'm going to have to try very hard not to burn too much energy
and just pace myself.
Winning is the ultimate goal.
The $250,000 prize would mean a lot to us.
We have a little school in the Congo
that is my wife's pet project.
he has a missionary background.
She actually grew up in the mission field
over in New Guinea
and we'd love to keep supporting that school over there.
So the $250,000 prize, that'll keep all the staff paid
for another year and a half out that way.
Oh, wow.
Love it.
That's exciting.
So many wallaby prints.
All around there's little hooks of their toes.
Wallaby toes.
Probably some more just there.
Oh, wow. This is really nice.
Dear God, thank you.
Beautiful, beautiful cove.
It is the nicest creek I've seen so far.
It's beautiful and a great fishing ground.
Lots of little bugs flying around there.
Lots of little wrens eating the bugs.
Ideally, it'd be great to be living here now.
The perfect fishing spot.
For the sake of two days of energy, maybe four,
to move camp and be able to keep going and going.
Even if I never catch a fish there are so many wallaby prints.
I'm leaning towards the move.
I just heard a splash.
Probably just a platypus.
How's that one? That one's loose.
That one's loose.
That one might not be loose.
Yep.
I think we've got a fish.
Got him.
Oh, you're a beauty.
Look at this one.
Holy guacamole.
And I'm so sorry and I am so grateful for your sacrifice.
Look at that fish. Look at that fish.
So wild to think that
just a few days ago I hadn't eaten anything.
Just excuse me for a minute because I've got to do this.
Yes!
I really feel like this land is just looking after me.
Oh.
Oh, my goodness. I mean, that fish is, like, food.
That's proper food.
Oh, wow.
It's a game changer.
It feels like I've been here forever
and it feels like I'm going to be here forever.
VOICEOVER: 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.
Alright, let's give it a crack.
It's stuck on the bottom.
Oh, and I just got it free.
Beauty. Up.
Up.
It's got an eel on it.
Shit, that's awesome.
You beauty.
You bloody beauty.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah, like a pro.
Cool. Well, I'm going to go hang this up.
Now I've actually got the problem I've got too much meat to eat
and, to be honest, I'm a little bit sick at the thought of eating it,
'cause it was just so fatty last night.
And I'm kind of nauseous still from the idea,
but I'm going to make myself a smoker.
Very high priority to make these eels palatable.
I have to eat these things.
Otherwise it jeopardises me in the competition, you know?
(EXHALES)
(WHISTLES)
Alright.
Alright, that's going to provide it some strength.
Alright, I'll leave those tags on it.
Great.
I'm going to have this with a funnel underneath it.
I can drop the eels down from the top, cover it,
and smoke them in there.
It's freaking great.
Here we go.
Fern leaves around.
Alright.
Ah...
(SCOFFS)
It's actually hard to describe how good it feels to see that set up.
It'd be great to play back your GPS each day
and know where you're wandering around.
The weather's starting to change.
I don't want to be out here much longer.
Home sweet home.
Such a beautiful, beautiful cove this morning.
What am I staying here for with nothing?
If I moved to the other camp, I would have had hope.
Here I have no hope.
But I can't underestimate it,
to start all my systems from scratch.
Shelter, water collection, trapping, fishing.
If one of them goes badly...
..it's pretty much the end.
But it's either sit here and starve it out
or have a crack at pushing through
past where the others are going to be.
But, you know, it's a one-way trip.
We do it once. Do it tough. Done.
So, really looking forward to it.
They have this thing in survival called the triangle of hope.
Hope, hope.
Hope, work...
Hope, plan, work, hope.
So we're at the plan.
We're going to do the work tomorrow.
We are moving.
I can win this.
I just need something to keep me going that little bit further.
Now that I've got enough food coming in...
..this is a very comfortable environment for me.
I can't wait to get home and see my family,
but it'll come and it'll be awesome the longer I stay out here.
Yeah, so I haven't looked at the family photo yet.
I'm kind of saving it for... if I need it.
I mean, my family's in my head anyway,
so I don't really need to look at a photo.
I'm saving it for a rainy day. (LAUGHS)
Not this rainy day.
£ I found paradise out here in the wild
£ Got the warm, warm sun in my eyes and I feel like a child
£ Time keeps melting on my tongue like snow
£ No-one here to show me where to go... £
I mean, technically I'm alone in terms of humans
and I definitely feel a lack of a village.
It would be nice to have a village, the hum of humans.
£ ..but every creature out here I've called my kin
£ That's more than enough until I see you again. £
I kind of feel like that should be done by now.
Oh, it looks like it's...
Looks cooked from the outside.
Well...
May as well start down here, I guess.
Yes.
That is magical. That is magical.
Oh, yeah.
(LAUGHS) That's unreal.
It's cooked perfectly.
You got to see this in colour. It's just amazing.
Look at that.
Yum. It's just, like, greasy and fatty.
It's cooked perfectly, the whole thing.
That's awesome.
So good.
I'm learning now.
Has to be fresh worms and I've learned how to get the fresh worms,
so fortunes have changed. (LAUGHS)
It just means so much.
I mean, it's not just the fact that I've eaten really nothing.
It's that...
..I'm playing for $250,000 here, people. (LAUGHS)
Have I done the right thing?
A sense of impending doom.
It's a huge investment.
Oh, my heart.
I definitely want to win this competition,
but I don't know how much longer I can last.
The calories in a fish aren't enough.
I need an animal.
I'm hungry.
Yes!
It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...
Yes!
..but it comes at a cost.
Oh!
Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2023