Survival series Alone Australia returns Wednesday 27 March at 7.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand. This time, 10 Australian survivalists will be dropped into the wild terrain of New Zealand’s South Island (Aotearoa’s Te Waipounamu).
Andreas, 42
Personal Trainer & Subsistence Hunter, NSW
A Swedish-Australian subsistence hunter who enjoys mountain-biking on weekends, Andreas works full time as an elite personal trainer. For a former model living the inner-city life, it may surprise most to discover that Andreas supplies over 90% of the protein he and his partner consume through wild hunting and fishing. He butchers, processes and stores all parts of the animals he procures for his household’s food supply.
While a youth spent in Sweden honed his outdoor and fishing skills, Andreas’ hunting expertise was acquired after moving to Australia. He decided that bow hunting was his preferred method and has since spent years dedicating himself to becoming an educated and skilled ethical hunter.
Having grown up in Sweden, he is no stranger to cold weather, but the punishing rain and humidity of a cold rainforest environment is going to present a whole new challenge.
Chace, 27
Defence Force Combat Engineer, QLD
The youngest of the Alone cast, Chace’s bushcraft and survival skillset comes as an amalgamation of experiential skills from outdoor adventures on the land with family and trained skills obtained from instruction and practice through the military.
As a combat engineer, exploring and surveying unknown environments for strategic assessment are all part of Chace’s regular daily activity, further contributing to his ability to think tactically and pivot quickly – critical skills for adapting to the foreign land he’s about to be dropped into.
Chace is a capable and practised big game hunter who is confident about his ability to sustain himself through this experience. He learnt to hunt with a recurve bow early and he successfully hunts both big and small game.
Jack, 55
Tradesman & Wild Game Hunter, NSW
A dad with two grown daughters who are both recently independent, Jack can now finally, say yes to a big solo adventure with peace of mind, and he is looking forward to the opportunity to take part in what he considers the ultimate test of a lifetime’s worth of skills.
A Chilean-Australian self-employed tradesman, Jack has a wide range of transferable tricks from his workcraft that he’s hoping to put to the test as he improvises and innovates out in the wild.
Jack has been hunting and fishing alone since his family first moved to Australia when he was a child, but in recent years, he hasn’t done so without his trusty mate; Lea, his German short-haired pointer.
Jason, 36
Youth Worker and Jungai, NSW
Jason is a strongly connected and respected community leader. A youth worker, former rugby player and coach, he’s spent his entire adult life immersed in strength, support and resilience work – affording him some key foundational tools for the emotional and mental challenge the Alone experience can often present.
Jason grew up camping, hunting and fishing regularly with his dad from as early as he can remember. Early adulthood saw him connect with family and community on his mother’s country of Borroloola where he spends time learning from Elders and family members and practicing traditional methods of hunting, fishing and foraging. A proud Yanyuwa, Waanyi/Garawa man and Jungai, Jason hunts using a range of both modern and traditional hunting methods and equipment.
Currently settled in regional NSW with his wife and dogs, Jason has lived across Australia in regional and rural locations ranging from the hot, red dirt deserts of the Northern Territory to the cold alpine highlands of Tasmania.
Krzysztof, 39
Aquaculturalist, VIC
This Polish-Australian aquaculturalist is a jack of all trades – and master of quite a few. Raised in a Polish refugee family with a rich history of rebellion and resilience in his genes, Krzysztof has always enjoyed thinking outside of the box and cultivating niche interests, like stone, metal and leatherwork as well as medieval combat.
Krzysztof lives with his partner in a home that is largely self-sufficient; achieved through a series of first-try DIY projects, each well researched, studied and then executed. This project-obsessed gentle giant is eager to flex his crafting skills, his understanding of fish behaviour as well as his recurve bow hunting abilities.
Leanne, 41
World Heritage Aboriginal Programs Officer, VIC
Leanne’s love of the bush is a direct result of an upbringing spent largely in Barkandji practice living on Country and fishing and foraging with family. A proud Barkandji woman who works as a World Heritage Aboriginal Officer, she is passionate about her work and her community, preserving culture and artefacts and documenting archaeology and history.
A woman whose identity and movements have been occupied by motherhood for more than a decade now, Leanne wants this opportunity to test and reconnect with herself and to find clarity about what’s important and what lies ahead for her. She says, “this is my time to go out, explore, adventure and in a way… find myself again.” She makes no apology for having the prize money in her sights. Winning means an opportunity to buy land on her traditional Country.
Mike, 60
Resilience Coach, NSW
The eldest of the Alone cast, this former Waratahs player and rugby union coach turned his later focus to outdoor resilience coaching and mental toughness programming; running training workshops for boys, men and elite sporting teams.
A deer hunter living and working in a regional coastal town, this father of three adult children looks forward to putting his mind, body and skills to the test in the ultimate mental and physical challenge. Over the last 30 years, he has taken regular ‘reconnection time’ to immerse himself in nature and live self-sustainably off the land. Mike is at home in the outdoors and confident that his bow and arrow skills, coupled with his fishing skills will keep him well-nourished.
Rick, 58
Survival Educator & Former SAS Soldier, QLD
A master of survival, Rick knows better than most what it’s like to be in a tough situation. After joining the military at age 17, he later joined the SAS and spent over 8 years learning all forms of extreme survival, including snow and ice mountain warfare in caves and blizzards. He left the military to focus on his family, the unit he holds most valuable; his wife and two sons.
Rick’s a bushcraft survival educator, running a bushcraft and survival school that prioritises bringing fathers and sons together through learning and shared time together. He’s always had a strong interest in ethnobotany; the connection between native plants and their Indigenous cultural uses. He is particularly curious about the fire-lighting, nutritional, medicinal, and crafting qualities of plants.
Suzan, 54
Wilderness Adventure Guide, VIC
Suzan has loved the comfort of nature since childhood and has always endeavoured to spend more time out than in. Living off-grid with her husband and two dogs, Suzan is a wilderness adventure guide, a deep wilding facilitator and a novice filmmaker, having directed and featured in Suzy and the Simple Man; a documentary about our relationship with each other and nature.
For decades, Suzan has lived a nature-based existence by harvesting resources for her lifestyle from the land she lives on. With a broad skill set including hunting and gathering, scavenging, shelter-making and deep plant knowledge, she wants to explore the limits of her connection with the land.
Suzan is intrinsically capable and determined to prove that, even if lacking some of the physical strength of some competitors, older women have the life experience, patience and wisdom to survive and thrive beyond expectation.
Tamika, 51
Off-Gridder & Former Police Officer, QLD
The daughter of a bushman, hunting, fishing, camping and exploring were the way of life throughout Tamika’s childhood. Now an off-gridder, Tamika has lived sustainably for the past decade, growing or foraging half of the food consumed by her family.
She’s giving up the comfort of her wagon and taking on the Alone challenge with what feels like ten lifetime’s worth of skills gained from an eclectic cross section of occupations and experiences: former Australian bowhunting champion, police officer, scuba diving instructor, disability worker, national parks ranger, fly fishing rod maker, farmer, tattooist and over twenty years practicing permaculture and herbal medicine.
A plant-based chef and author, Tamika has been a vegetarian for over eight years, eating plant-based only for the past five. Hunting and killing an animal ‘that looks after it’s young’ will be the toughest test for Tamika – physically and emotionally – but she’s deliberated and resolved to pick up her bow and arrow one more time to wholly embrace the Alone experience.
Alone Australia is an A+E Media Group format and ITV Studios Australia production for SBS.