NARRATOR: The South Island of New Zealand.
It's an epic place.
Wet...
..it's cold...
..it's snowy.
If you don't respect the environment here, it will slap you hard.
SUZAN: I just need to bring some food in.
MAN: Look at that stonker!
(CHUCKLING)
MAN 2: Last night there was deer all around me.
That's freaking delicious.
I know how tough it's going to be.
Oh, my God, I miss them.
You got to feel safe.
Otherwise, you just die out here.
It doesn't feel as bad as it looks. It feels worse.
This shit just got real.
Jesus! I'm scared enough to have an emergency tap-out in my hand.
(PHONE RINGS)
MAN: Somebody help me!
(RINGING CONTINUES)
What is my limit?
I thought I was going to die, and it's not my time.
Being away from my family.
That's not normal for... (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
(PHONE BEEPS) I'm officially tapping out.
MAN: I don't trust my judgement,
I don't trust my physicality.
And I sort of don't trust my own psychology either.
I can't keep going.
CHANCE: Right before I got on this show,
I found out I was going to be a father.
Little big moments I'm not there for.
It's important to me now that I get home and take care of my family.
I'm very happy for you to continue. The numbers are all fine.
I want to finish on a high, so I'd like to pull the pin.
What's got me through all these years is being careful.
If I continue, I'd be putting myself at risk.
RICK: I used to ask myself what it is that I want to get out of this.
I think a lot of it I already have.
My head and my heart are in a good spot.
TAMIKA: What do I do?
Do I take mine, stay longer,
doing something I don't really want to do?
(SQUAWKING)
Yeah. There you go.
Killing's not part of me anymore.
And you thought I was going to tap.
$250,000 would make a big difference to our lives.
If you want to find out how far your limit is,
you got to go to the limit.
I love it!
Agh!
I'm 'hangry', basically.
I haven't been sleeping well for quite a while now. Oh, man.
I honestly think I need to rest,
but I'd rather go out guns blazing, you know?
Oh, shit.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
If I quit, I'm going to regret it.
I do so want to be the last person here.
Either win or they pull me because my body can't keep up.
I can't see myself giving up.
Day 54
and it just feels like the hardest day yet.
I'm just very tentatively thinking
that maybe something shifted a little bit.
My mental state is quite clear,
but my emotional state is so reactive.
I just get so overwhelmed...
..that I'm really keen to keep pushing as far as I can now.
If there's only one other person still out here,
I would just be handing them the $250,000
and going home without it.
And that just...just so upsetting.
So I'm here.
I still got fat on my body.
It's all about this now.
Right, I'm off to check out
um, for some more supplejack berries
and some shoots.
The forage gives my mind something to do, you know,
just get too bored if I just hang out at the beach fishing all the time.
It makes me feel more hopeful about staying out here for longer
because the forage is predictably reliable.
Look, a whole bunch.
A whole bunch of berries.
Da-da-da!
Just loveliness.
All fresh.
Very fresh.
I'll see you in three months, eh? Maybe four.
Yeah.
So it begins.
And I think my reasons changed for being here.
I came here because I thought it was exciting to see how I could go
with my years of experience in the outdoors.
Six.
I've come to berry land.
Lots and lots of Nero berries.
Hunting - it's not my superpower.
Looking possum-denish.
Didn't get enough protein.
No trout, no deer, no possum.
Not yet.
But growing food and understanding plants, that's my strength.
Bracken fiddleheads.
Are they not beautiful?
This looks promising. Beautiful sedge.
Yeah, that's got seed in it, so that's carbohydrate.
Smells good.
It smells like roasting sesame seed.
So good.
I think to be a human alone in the landscape
providing for your own food needs and shelter is the ultimate test.
And I know that I have the skills to do that...
..but I know there's fear in me.
My heart rate's going quite fast, I think.
Just had diarrhoea all night and I have no energy.
Just feeling miserable.
The whole game is a mental game.
Everything is about the psychology.
£ Sandstone cliffs
£ Are glowing purple
£ In the evening light
£ Calling me home
(DEEP VOICE) £ Calling me home. £
I started physically missing my pack,
missing the skin contact.
Get the psychology right and bring in a bit of food
and then you got it in the bag.
But getting the psychology right is not easy.
On that foraging expedition
I got all of that and this.
So I'm real happy with that.
I mean, maybe I can get by
on foraging for another week or two.
I would like to go home with the $250,000.
The possibility of being the last person standing
and bringing that home to the family.
And that's...that's big for us.
That would enable us to construct another waterhole
and have more water security moving forward with climate change,
because we have drought where we are.
And just moving into our old age, to have that financial security,
which we don't yet have.
I'd so like to be able to gift that to John.
At this point in the game that's why I'm here.
That's why I'm still here.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
Make no bones about it, that is why.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
KRZYSZTOF: OK, it's time for another night.
It's getting long, it's getting long.
Little bit by a little bit, right?
Pull it right up to the other knot.
Yeah, another day.
I think it's 53 or something.
You know, I just don't really care.
It's just every day is another day.
I've surprised myself I've made it this far.
I honestly thought that I'd get out here,
drop-shock would hit me and I'd be like,
"No, get me the hell out!"
But we're here and we're still going.
That leads us down to here.
Paradise Beach, where we got first dropped off.
It's nice out there.
Nice and sunny - it's a good day.
Well, guys, this is it.
BOTH: Bye, baby.
I'm gonna miss you so much.
Coming on this adventure, my plan was always to treat it like a holiday.
So long, farewell and amen.
Very much enjoy being out in the bush.
Might start work on the permanent shelter.
It's relaxing,
it's comfortable.
It's like my second home.
Beautiful.
Here, fishy, fishy!
Maybe they don't speak English.
How would I describe finding food?
Frustrating is probably an understatement.
You're kidding me?
No. It's another eel.
There you go. Off you go.
Oh, well, what can you do?
Yeah, the lack of food's definitely make things more challenging.
Not operating with as much energy as I normally do.
I'm really starting to feel it,
but it could be a hell of a lot worse.
I think my neurodiversity has been a definite advantage.
Allows me to, uh, think outside the box a lot of the time
and just come up with creative solutions to different problems.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 11 years old.
Since then, the word Asperger's
was thrown around a little bit as well.
I just need something to keep myself occupied,
stay out of a negative mindset.
My brain was my biggest superpower and my biggest Achilles heel.
I've been lying here for, what, the last three hours or so,
trying to fall asleep.
My brain is going a million miles an hour.
I don't have my system of switching off out here.
I've actually got quite a headache this morning.
Really, like, falling asleep again.
And it just means I'm sleeping in later as well.
I'm beyond tired. I'm exhausted.
Oh.
Bags under my eyes.
Holiday mode sort of finished.
I haven't been sleeping well for quite a while now,
so I'm just running on lack of sleep,
low energy, malnutrition, combination.
Yeah, I think I'm going to go into a take-it-easy mode
from this point out and just do things really, really chill
and see how long I can last.
It's not so much wanting to win,
I just want to see how long I can go because I'm not going to get
this opportunity again.
We are experiencing a once in a lifetime experience.
We'll see what the next few weeks bring, right?
Huh, next few weeks, next few months.
Next few years.
Anything is possibl-e.
Just slow down, take it easy.
It's, uh...
..early afternoon.
I was laying here on the side
and I felt my ribs sticking out of my skin.
Like, I'm scrawny now, man.
I'm fading, right.
I'm fading quickly and...
..it's frustrating feeling it.
But at the same time I feel I have invested so much time,
effort and money into this project.
I don't want to quit.
I've tried everything I know. I'm running out of ideas.
But if I quit now,
I've wasted 50 days.
I could have done something useful.
So...get up.
Time to get dressed,
put some hunting gear on.
I'm gonna collect some berries
and I might as well take my bow with me and go for a wander.
I feel pretty fatigued today,
but I need to get that food in me.
I really, really, really would like to get to 68 days.
That way I've stayed longer than season one.
This is one of the most daunting things I've ever done.
Things just got real.
I've got my bows and arrows all set up.
See what my land has to offer.
When I started this, I had this idea that fishing and hunting
would be my way to sustain myself.
(GRUNTS)
I have food.
It's something I'm comfortable with...
So freaking good.
..and I have done for a long time.
But Mother Nature always has a big finger in the game.
The last couple of days has been...
..the technical term is a shit show.
Hunting for deer.
It's just a lot harder than I thought.
Everything is damp.
Oh, look at that stonker!
I got the trout, but I can't make a fire,
I can't boil water, I can't eat.
Just fog, rain and shit.
The competition as such is nothing like I thought it would be.
He's so close now, man.
Just smell it.
Shit.
Trying to keep it up.
Don't have too much fat left.
Sort of feeling the odds is against you.
Oh!
You still just gonna keep going.
I've just physically watched two pairs of trout spawning,
so I'm going to take the risk,
walk over, grab the fish, walk back over.
Dammit.
Deeper than I can go.
Kill with a bow and arrow.
I honestly think I need to rest,
but I still obviously want to win this thing.
I'm going to continue fishing and hunting, trying to gather food,
do the best I can until I get sent home.
I want to prove to myself I can do it.
I want to have the pride of keeping my head high and say,
"I did the best I can, and in this case, it was enough."
But I'm going to walk slow and take my time.
Saw a couple of deer prints, which is good,
not too far from camp.
(SIGHS)
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) ..thinks...
..is that I feel a bit unstable today.
Like, I'm, uh, missing steps, and...
..I'm clumsy.
But...
..it is what it is.
(GRUNTS)
I feel bad, man.
I shouldn't be running around in the bush in my state,
to be honest.
So I think I'm gonna just go back to camp.
It's not worth it.
(PANTS SOFTLY)
(EXHALES SHARPLY)
It's gonna be punish.
Too much.
It's one step, one think.
One step, one think.
I'm not enjoying this at all.
It's getting hard.
(GRUNTS)
(RUSTLING)
ANDREAS: Today was an eye opener.
Yeah, walking...walking back and feeling the way I did
was the first time my logical side
and my emotional side said the same thing, and it was, "Go home."
(FIRE CRACKLES)
It struck a chord.
Like, I just walked home and they both went,
"You're done, mate. Go home."
Too much, too long.
Pushed it too far.
That's essentially it.
But here I am.
My view is nothing in life really comes easy.
And if you stop as soon as something gets hard,
then you tend not to get anywhere.
I expect this experience to be brutal at times.
A failure would be crumble for no reason and give up.
Unexpected low point, just giving up.
(DISTANT GRUNTING)
(WHISPERS) There's a possum outside.
(GRUNTING)
False alarm.
I thought it was just on the other side of the wall.
I'm gonna switch off.
And snooze and sleep and snooze and sleep all night.
And then we'll see how I feel in the morning.
Person who stays the longest, wins.
(WATER LAPS GENTLY)
Sorry for the inactivity.
I'm just...
..I need some time.
My lack of sleep has been getting progressively worse
and worse and worse.
I'm getting maybe one or two hours of sleep a night.
Yeah, things take longer than first anticipated out here.
But they're taking even longer now, operating at 40%.
Miss home.
Miss... (MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY) ..with Erin.
Miss coming home from work and doing a little better day.
Miss food.
Miss my bed and my pillow.
(SNIFFS)
I miss my family.
But we persevere on.
We'll get there.
I don't want to quit.
So I'm going to hang around until I get pulled
or Erin comes and gets me.
Gotta I make myself pretty for when Erin visits.
All I need is, like, one good night's sleep and I'll bounce back
and I should be OK.
Gee, I'm finding it hard to talk right now.
Just don't want to talk.
My mind...changes rapidly and unexpectedly.
I think one thing in the morning
and in the evening I'm thinking an entirely different thing.
So there's a great fluidity to this situation,
and how my mind moves through the day,
and how my emotions move through the day.
I could just keep on going and resting
until my body can't do this anymore.
But I think a large part of it
is I just don't want to keep doing this.
Ah, and I so missed John last night.
It's just this, like...oh!
(EXHALES SHARPLY)
I want to be close to him again.
And the land that we care for.
And the little dogs, Toby and Charlie.
Not really something I'd like to admit,
but it's the reality of my situation right here, right now.
I just want to go home.
But a big part of me wants to go home with $250,000,
not empty-handed.
Are there only two of us left?
And if that's the case, and it might not be the case...
..is that other person gonna tap today or tomorrow, you know?
Oh!
I just don't know what to do.
ANDREAS: I felt awfully bad.
Everything feels scrambled.
I'm still head spinning
and I'm still a bit clumsy.
I also got an elevated heart rate,
even laying down.
I can't do long excursions,
I can't physically exert myself.
I can no longer do what I do.
For me, survival from now on is starvation.
I've spent my whole life
teaching people how to feel better.
That's basically what I do.
I teach people how to
look after themselves and strengthen
their body, strengthen their mind.
And I've done the same thing to myself all my life.
I think physical and mental exercise
is to why I'm still here
so far into it.
Why am I out here voluntarily
thrashing myself?
So I feel probably as bad as I felt
in my whole life.
Being fit and healthy and strong has always been important to me.
How low do you go
and still get benefit out of it?
Every day counts,
every minute counts.
Pushed into...
..one more day.
There is no way in any shape or form
that I can sustain myself here any longer.
So what's...what's important in life, huh?
(SNIFFS)
57 days is enough?
Yeah.
(SNIFFS)
ANNOUNCER: Alone Australia powered by Kia.
Who will win the ultimate human endurance challenge
as the last remaining participants battle to survive in the rugged
New Zealand wilderness?
Only one will stand alone to win a prize worth $250,000.
Yeah!
(PHONE BEEPS)
MAN: (OVER PHONE) Andreas?
Hello, this is Andreas, and I'm officially tapping out.
(WATER SPLASHES)
Talk to me. What's happened?
You know what? I'm a competitive person.
I just want to win, but...
..this is as far as I could go.
Are you proud of yourself?
Not yet.
I hate quitting.
Being a competitive guy, I always saw this as go in and conquer and win.
But it's not.
Survival skills is important.
But then Mother Nature is going to have the last say anyway.
The thing I'm proud of is that if someone asks me,
could have you done any better?
Could you have stayed longer?
And I can definitely say, "No, I could not."
This is as far as I'm willing to risk my health and sanity.
I got to realise what's important to me in life.
It's to feel good,
to feel happy, to feel strong.
Eight weeks and one day - 57 days.
I've just shifted tack entirely.
I'm going to initiate a three-day fast,
and I'm going to hunker down in my sleeping bag,
conserve my energy, and I'm not going to focus on getting food at all.
I'm going to focus on my internal psychological nurturing.
Alright.
I just need to exercise some patience.
KRZYSZTOF: I have a bad feeling my time will be coming to an end soon.
Mentally I have indefinite days,
but, unfortunately, the brain and the body don't often see eye to eye.
My body's giving out.
Things are shutting down in order of least importance.
Yeah. Can't operate like this.
Everything's OK.
Except for the little sleep. Need more sleep.
SUZAN: Man, I just feel the anger coming up at me again and again.
I just can't get my jumper off and I get angry, you know?
The other people out here, or the one other person
or the other people,
they might just keep on pushing through for another month.
Do I endure another week of misery to possibly win $250,000?
I want to be patient, but I just...
I'm so, "Phoom-phoo-phoo!"
How do I slow my mind down?
You know, just dealing with my internal state,
it's just...a challenge.
The land here, thank you.
Thank you for supporting me for the last nine weeks
and holding me safe in this place.
Providing me with firewood and water,
beautiful birds.
Thank you for the food that I foraged from you.
And, land, I release you.
It's time to go.
It's not a question anymore to tap or not to tap.
It's really, uh...
I'm ready, I'm ready to go.
My body's ready to go.
Coming home tomorrow.
Starting my journey home, boys.
Home to the land of Vegemite sandwiches!
Oh, yeah, baby.
Oh, yeah!
I want my life back.
Hi, this is Suzan,
and I'm officially tapping out.
I'm going home.
MAN: How are you feeling?
I'm feeling really relieved to be starting the homeward journey.
Like, really happy to be doing that, yeah.
How sure are you about the decision you're making today?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely sure.
I gave it what I could give it, and I did the best I could, yeah.
I really did want to bring home the $250,000 to the family, you know,
and that was a real...a real drive.
But more than that,
disappointment is the happiness of moving towards home
to my own forest and to my own pack.
I knew it was going to be a tougher mental game than physical.
I knew that going in.
I went through incredible hunger.
I went through incredible frustration.
But I think the experience of being here has given me
a deeper appreciation of water,
food, shelter and companionship.
That's really all you need to experience joy.
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
I can't even look at the camera.
Makes me nauseous.
Well, another day.
I feel like absolute garbage.
Nausea is almost overwhelming.
Vision is blurred...
..but it's a beautiful blue sky day.
Another message before saying it's magic day.
I think today might be it.
Unfortunately.
I am...
..wreck-wreck-wreckety-wrecked.
Morning. Hello.
How are you today?
Ah.
I'm pretty good.
Glad to hear it. How about you?
Feeling like garbage, but I'm not going to quit.
And so you're going to have to pull me out.
So you're not going to quit? OK.
Alright, you just take your time.
Oh, sorry. One second. Take your time.
Oh.
Do you feel sick? Mm.
Excuse me. Yeah.
(VOMITS, SPITS)
Alright.
Sorry. I'm just not feeling well at all.
No, no.
You're not in great shape.
You know that.
We can't manage that here.
So, Krzysztof.
I'm sure you understand,
based on the symptoms that you're displaying,
it is no longer safe medically for you to continue in the competition.
Cool.
This, however, is not a medical extraction.
What is it?
ANNOUNCER: Alone Australia powered by Kia.
Who will win the ultimate human endurance challenge
as the last remaining participants battle to survive
in the rugged New Zealand wilderness?
Only one will stand alone to win a prize worth $250,000.
So, Krzysztof.
I'm sure you understand.
Based on the symptoms that you're displaying,
it is no longer safe medically for you to continue in the competition.
Cool.
This, however, is not a medical extraction.
What is it?
Erin's currently on her way here.
She's making her way to New Zealand.
And she was hoping to be the one to tell you
that you're the last person standing.
Really?
You've won.
Really?
Oh, wow.
Well, OK. That's...
Really?
Congratulations. Yeah.
You're the winner of Alone Australia season two.
Oh, wow.
I was not expecting that.
Cool.
You did it. Wow.
64 days.
Well, I wasn't going to quit.
Oh. It's awesome.
That's so cool.
Well, I'm getting all emotional now.
There's something that's just flown in both my eyes.
Wow.
I-I...
Wow.
Thank you.
That was the last news I was expecting to hear, so...
..that's pretty crazy.
Shall we get you home? Yeah, let's do that.
The thought of actually being the last person,
it was never in my mind.
Like, for me, just getting out here and having an opportunity
to do this experience was going to be the big win for me anyway.
But I would have kept pushing.
I would have been in a pretty rough shape,
but I would have kept pushing.
Time is finite.
You only get so much time in the world,
so you make the best of every opportunity.
Spent 64 days alone, but I never felt alone.
I got to camp, I got to build things.
I got to have a million-dollar view.
I've learned from the experience and I'm grateful for it.
Since coming off the land,
recovery has been actually going really, really well.
I still don't believe that I've won.
It's...it's crazy.
It was a little bit disappointing when I was out there
and Erin wasn't there to greet me, but it's probably for the best
'cause I had just vomited, and the last thing that I think
she'd appreciate is me kissing her with a vomit in my beard
and...and stuff, so...
Oh, fuck!
(BOTH LAUGH)
Aw!
You have disappeared.
Oh, baby.
Oh, my God, it's so good to see you.
I want to hear all the stories.
Hopefully you get to go out there as well
and I'll show you my shelter and everything.
I missed you so much.
I think it's starting to sink in. Yeah?
Yeah. You did it.
Apparently I did.
(LAUGHS)
I'm proud of you. Ah.
Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2024