After 76 days in the brutal Tasmanian wilderness, Eastern Bay of Plenty trapper Shay Williamson is now A$250,000 ($270,000) richer, claiming the coveted title of being the first Kiwi to win Alone: Australia.
Reflecting on his journey, he tells Mitchell Hageman about what kept him motivated when the going got tough, and how he plans to spend the life-changing cash prize.
Shay Williamson says he had two choices when dealing with the thoughts of being away from his family during the ultimate solo survival challenge: try and block them out completely or use them as motivation to continue.
He did the latter, and now he’s come back to them with A$250,000 ($270,000) and a heck of a lot of stories to tell after winning the third season of Alone: Australia.
“It worked really well for me because, the longer I was out there, the less likely I was [going to] tap out because it just felt wrong to tap out after being away for a couple of months and leaving my wife with the kids for all that time,” he tells the Herald.
“The family really helped me to just stay until I just physically couldn’t any more.”
Williamson was the quiet battler of the series, with other contestants slowly not passing medical checks and deciding that two months in the rugged Tasmanian bush was too much.
For all that time, viewers in New Zealand and Australia were on the edge of their seats watching self-recorded camera footage of the humble Kiwi battling the elements, including seeing him lose his shelter and struggle to forage food.
Near the end, he even managed to catch a pademelon (a small marsupial) with his bare hands and used that for sustenance.
“I knew I’d be there a long time, that never wavered,” he says. “It did worry me at times, whether it would be enough in the end or not, that was sort of the biggest thing.”
But viewers could breathe a sigh of relief when, after 76 days, a boat arrived carrying Williamson’s partner Abby, who launched into a hug, informing him he’d won.
By day 67, he’d already equalled the previous record set by season one winner Gina Chick.
“My family was definitely my biggest motivation out there,” he says, describing the experience as giving him a “new perspective on life”.
Williamson and Abby have two daughters, aged 4 and 2, and are expecting a third.
While the possum trapper by trade couldn’t pinpoint the hardest single day of his experience, he said the first three weeks were “pretty tough” with “lots of failures”.
“The body really slows down when you’re living on worms and bracken root, so yeah, just the fatigue and the failures one after the other for quite a long stretch there was pretty rough.”
The big question that everybody wonders is what you would do with that large cash prize? It’s a pretty simple answer from Williamson, who says he intends to pay off his mortgage, which was a “massive weight” off his shoulders.
“I’ve got enough gear,” he says when asked if he would treat himself to some new trapping equipment.
“I’m not really a gear-oriented person. Maybe if my truck starts playing up, I’ll have to buy a new one, but yeah, I’m not big on fancy gear, I just sort of make do with what I’ve got.”
While some people might have wanted to not look at a bush ever again after experiencing what Williamson went through, the passionate outdoorsman was right at home heading back into the Kiwi wilderness. This time though, he’s not alone.
“I spent a fair bit of time with the family when I got back,” he says.
“We went out and shot a few deer to fill the freezer up, and I’m doing other work where I don’t have to be away as much.
“I’m keen to spend a bit more time in the bush with the family as well to sort of share it with them a bit more.”
He’s also taken the family on a Tasmanian road trip since the end of the show, where they got to explore other sides of the island and its beauty.
“We saw snakes, and because it was summer, it was quite different. I think it’s a great place.”
Amassing an online following before the show for his “Keeping It Wild” YouTube channel, Williamson also says he’s keen to keep creating content and hopes it encourages people to explore the amazing opportunities that the Kiwi wilderness has to offer.
And his advice for anyone considering applying for Alone: Australia? Just give it a go.
“If you’re preparing for it, I’d just give the advice of going into the bush for a week. Don’t take food, don’t take any distractions, like a phone or even a book,” he says.
“A lot of people think they’d like being alone, but they go camping and they read a book, and it’s quite different when you’re actually alone with your thoughts and don’t have that distraction.
“It probably will be challenging, but at least then you’ll know what to expect and there won’t be so many surprises when you get out there.”
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.