Alyce Nehme has hiked across mountains, trekked to Everest Base Camp, and regularly finds herself alone in the West Australian wilderness.
But, after three weeks in the bitterly cold Arctic Circle, and with the fish refusing to take her brightly coloured (and handmade) lures, the Alone Australia contestant knew it was time to “listen to Mother Nature”.
Nehme, 36, has opened up on her experience on season four of the SBS reality survival show, detailing her challenges in the Finnish wilderness where she not only fought to stay alive, but also took on the full-time job of filming her experience.
The Aboriginal community engagement advisor, who also owns a company leading treks through the WA bush, “tapped out” in episode four after 19 days.
A hip injury troubled her, but ultimately it was the lack of food that proved the catalyst for her time on the show to come to a close.
Despite using her brightly dyed hair to craft a lure to fish – and having extensive angling experience back in Australia – “my land just didn’t want to give me a fish”.
“Ultimately, I felt it was wiser to listen to myself and to listen to Mother Nature,” she said.
“You can’t force these things. You can’t control the hand that you’re dealt. Nature always decides. Doesn’t matter what we want.
“So, I felt it was better for me to pull the plug when I knew my time was up, rather than wait for medical extraction.”
Nehme said only so much of the thousands of hours of footage could make it to air, which may give the impression to viewers that the experience was easier than it was.
“You are filming yourself all the time with multiple cameras in addition to genuinely trying to survive in a whole new landscape,” she said.
“You have to build a shelter, make a fire, find food to just have energy to keep doing all those things every day.
“It is very hard, I think the edit can sometimes make it look a little bit easier than it is.
“But I can tell you now, everybody from the first person he taps out to the winner all goes through similar struggles.”
Nehme came to adventure experiences later in life after losing her mother in a car accident 10 years ago.
The tragedy came after they travelled to Patagonia together and, in the years since, Nehme has climbed mountains across the world, including the Himalayas and a trek to the Everest Base Camp.
She said that was the inspiration for her hiking business in Perth, “because I want to give people the confidence and the skills to be able to have their own adventures and find peace and healing the way that nature gave to me”.
Nehme said going on Alone Australia on the 10-year anniversary of her mother’s death “felt like the ultimate way to honor her and honor the decade that I’d spent rebuilding myself and overcoming my grief through nature”.
“When I wasn’t tired and hungry, I had these moments of just sitting on my meditation rock and just looking at the beauty and awe of nature,” she said.
She said the experience reinforced the importance of the connection with nature and spending time in the wild.
Next up on Nehme’s bucket list are long-distance hikes including the Great Himalayan Trail, as well as the Pacific Crest Trail in the USA, but for now, she’s back in Perth, with some overnight hikes planned for spring, and reflecting on her “blessed opportunity” in Finland.
Two other West Australian contestants – Dougy and Jasper – remain on the show.
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