How many decisions do you reckon you’ve made today? It's probably the conscious ones that come to mind. Do I wear the red shirt or blue top? 1 coffee or 6. Believe it or not, The Harvard Business Review states that adults can make around 35,000 decisions each day and many of those happen automatically and simultaneously. When we head out into the wild places we love, or find ourselves in environments with a higher level of risk, some of these decisions (conscious or otherwise) can have some pret...
Jul 23, 2025•58 min•Season 2Ep. 17
It was the ABC News that first alerted the outdoors community to Macca's big wall fall near Blackheath in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. With over 30 years climbing under his belt, including many first ascents and stories, some of which are the stuff of legend, he is one of the Blue Mountains climbing community's most well-known characters. Five years on from the accident, he joins me today with Sergeant Dal Atkinson, the team leader of Blue Mountains Police Rescue Squad, to speak about ...
May 15, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Dr Paul Luckin is an authority on human survivability. He’s a medical advisor to the Police Search and Rescue teams and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (that’s AMSA), providing time-frames for human survival during Search and Rescue operations. In part 2 of my conversation with Paul, we look deeper into demographics and practicalities of surviving in the wild. What should people do if in that situation and ask what can be done to help get these messages across....
Mar 07, 2025•38 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Dr Paul Luckin is an anaesthetist, with a very unique background. As an authority on human survivability he’s a medical advisor to the Police Search and Rescue teams and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (that’s AMSA), providing time-frames for human survival during Search and Rescue operations. He teaches the medical aspects of Search and Rescue, and is on the directing staff of the National Police Search and Rescue Managers Course. A humble and highly trained specialist clinician and ex...
Feb 02, 2025•42 min•Season 2Ep. 14
According to the World Health Organisation, roughly 1 to 2 people die from snakebite in Australia each year. The good news is this is significantly lower than the 1920’s when the Sydney Morning Herald reported about 13 people were dying each year. Today we hear from Joyce, who bucks modern statistics which tell us that 74% of victims are male, with an average age of 46, and interestingly, with around 54% of bites happened at home. She’s joined by her friend Frances and together, they share the s...
Dec 18, 2024•53 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Dr Kate Baecher is a clinical psychologist specialising in trauma in high-risk or complex environments. Behind all her training and experience serving with the military and working in civilian life supporting critical incidents, she is somebody deeply connected to nature, where the wild place is her happy place. She joins me today, and shares about the time she witnessed the death of another climber while on a mountaineering holiday to Mont Blanc, on the border of France and Italy… and how that ...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 12
My guest today has a long history of working and playing in some of the most rugged and remote parts of NSW. So, with a few days up his sleeve, a bit of research and the right kind of skills and experience behind him, he set off for another steep n’ deep trip through Kanangra Boyd National Park, bound for Katoomba on the traditional K2K route. WARNING: The K2K route is described online as a classic 3 day trip in the southern Blue Mountains. This description was written before the fires and flood...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 11
There’s something about the immense power of lightning that has fascinated cultures and people throughout the centuries. How it behaves, how it moves through the sky and the force and damage that it can bring. If news reports are anything to go by, it would be easy to think that being struck by lightning only happens to golfers or beach anglers. My guest today is neither of those and shares her story of being struck by lightning while leading an outdoor activity on a school camp. Checkout this r...
Jun 12, 2024•42 min•Season 2Ep. 10
At just under 2000m, Mt Bogong is the highest peak in Victoria. It looms over the small township of Mount Beauty, not too far from Falls Creek, and is a classic multiday trip for bushwalkers - who don’t mind over 1200 metres of vertical ascent - or in snow - for keen backcountry skiers. Sitting within what’s called the “Bogong Remote and Natural Area” of the Alpine National Park, it’s a place of great natural beauty, whatever the season, and for the well-prepared adventurer, a place of exception...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 9
There is so much more to Mike Atkinson (aka Outback Mike) than what we saw of his 64 days, toughing it out in the wilds of Tassie’s west coast, on the first season of SBS’ Alone Australia ( season 2 kicks off 27/3/23). He’s been having epic expedition style adventures since his first long hike at 11 years old with his family and building towards his first solo trip, skiing from Mt Kosciusko to Canberra, aged 17. Watching him on ALONE, I was drawn in by his problem solving and seemingly endless t...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 8
What better way to wrap up 2023 and season 1 of the Rescued Podcast, than by loading you up with fresh stories and podcasts for your Aussie Summer Christmas road trip listening. I'm delighted to introduce you to Ashley Saupe and her immense library of work on The Sharp End podcast. Download the Transcript here LINKS The Sharp End - Episode 53 // The Sleeper Wave (Hawaii) - https://www.thesharpendpodcast.com/episode-53 The Sharp End - Episode 76 // Live with Arc’teryx Athlete Adam Campbell (avala...
Dec 24, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In what must be the most basic of human fears, James woke up to find himself buried alive. Outside, the wind buffeted the Main Range, out past Mt Kosciusko, but all was quiet inside his cosy, white snow cave. In this episode of Rescued, we hear from James and his mate Dylan, as they talk about their two very different experiences of this epic backcountry adventure and how escape was just the beginning. Sincere thanks to James for sharing his very personal story. Thanks to sponsor Paddy Pallin Tr...
Dec 02, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 7
We venture into wild places to get away from it all. But when it comes to calling for help, letting someone know that we’re delayed or even just giving our loved ones peace of mind, we have to rely on satellite communication methods - because mobile phone coverage often doesn’t reach to where we want to go. In this episode, I speak with Linda Berryman from AMSA (that’s the Australian Maritime Safety Authority) in Canberra. We do a deep dive into Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), along with 2-way ...
Sep 29, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 6
We all know the importance of having solid first aid skills when we head off into the bush. A good remote area first aid course not only gives us the technical know-how of what to do in an emergency, but confidence to step in and act when someone suffers an injury. However, there’s something that first aid courses can’t really prepare us for that can leave us feeling vulnerable especially when travelling solo. In this episode, I hear from experienced bushwalker, cross-country skier, runner and a...
Sep 02, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Closer to Morocco than Madrid, the resort town of Nerja on Spain's southern coastline, draws visitors to its beaches, historic caves and mountainous national park that surrounds it. In this episode, experienced hiker Jane takes us high up into the Rio Chilla, a beautiful, clear water walk-in canyon that's popular with families and tourists with a name that translates as "Screaming River". It's a trip that should have taken about 4 hours. But as you'll hear, took much, much more. Well-prepared an...
Jun 23, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In 2020 over 3.7 million people from Australia and overseas visited the Blue Mountains - The most visited National Park in New South Wales. They're drawn to the dramatic clifftop views, deep valleys and diverse habitats that stretch over the 1 million hectares of this world Heritage sandstone plateaux, a landscape that is constantly being carved by water and reveals itself through waterfalls and canyons. Today, I have the honour of welcoming back to the podcast Matthew U’Brien, who in the last e...
May 02, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Matt U’Brien’s story is powerful. During his 17-year policing career (mostly within the Police Rescue Squad), he’s done literally hundreds of rescues and saved countless lives whilst risking his own. What’s unique about Matt, is that during this time he also found himself in the critical position of needing to be rescued himself. For this, and many more reasons, I’ve asked him to join me for a special double episode to share his experiences from both sides of the rescue coin. We talk about what ...
Apr 07, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 2
When we hear the whisper to step off the concrete, away from the built environment and into the bush, we step into a world and a place that speaks to the very heart of what it means to be alive. These places, away from the constraints and controls that are part of our day-to-day lives, connect us to a place that is proven to be fuel for our bodies and the salve for our souls. By walking away from the cement, we open ourselves up to the proven benefits to our mental, emotional, physical and spiri...
Apr 06, 2023•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
