Since March 2022, I have had the immense privilege of being a guide for the Tasmanian Walking Company on the Overland Track, a place I truly consider to be the most magical on earth. The photo above was taken just before I descended off of Mt Ossa, Tasmania’s rooftop, for the final time in a while as I brought this chapter to a close (for now).
Sitting at Kia Ora hut that night, I looked at this photo and felt both awed and overwhelmed. I saw a deep comfort in myself, my guiding, and most importantly, in this place, on this Palawa land called lutruwita. This wilderness is now a form of home to me. At the same time, spending so much time in the ancient old growth forests, the expansive buttongrass plains, and the dramatic dolerite mountains, you sense that we are all merely guests here.
I feel incredible gratitude to all of those I met across my 16 journeys into the wilderness for sharing their laughs, lessons, hearts and joys with me. This is an experience that will live with me forever, and I will absolutely be back.
In Wildness — Talk
After finishing my Master’s at the end of 2021, I ran away from my desk (a pandemic refuge) to be a hiking guide in the Tasmanian wilderness on the six-day Overland Track. In the end I spent 103 days on the Overland Track across 16 trips in about 12 months.
Through my journeys in this parallel universe of Tasmanian pine trees as old as time, open buttongrass plains, vibrant fields of fungi, and cathedrals of dolerite, I am convinced this track is the most magical place on earth. In this talk we sauntered through a meta-Overland Track and I shared a few musings on the nature of Wildness, why I find value in it, and whether AI can ever find the same purpose and meaning in wild things as humans do.
Overland Gallery
A snapshot of my adventures on Tasmania’s extraordinary Overland Track — 85 photos shuffled fresh each time you visit.