DiscoverWord on the ReefS2 E19: Modern Day Castaway: A Gruelling 50 Days Alone on the Reef
S2 E19: Modern Day Castaway: A Gruelling 50 Days Alone on the Reef

S2 E19: Modern Day Castaway: A Gruelling 50 Days Alone on the Reef

Update: 2025-07-12
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Meet Mike Atkinson — former military pilot turned solo adventurer, survival expert, and filmmaker. In one of the boldest voyages ever attempted, Mike hand-carved a dugout canoe and sailed it 1,500 kilometres up the Great Barrier Reef — from Townsville to the Torres Strait — using only traditional, handmade fishing and hunting tools. No engine. No GPS. No esky.

Surviving on stingray, dried kangaroo, and sheer determination, Mike faced crocodiles, storms, and solitude — all in a quest to reconnect with nature and spotlight the urgent need to protect the Reef and honour Indigenous knowledge.

This is more than a survival story — it’s a challenge to all of us to rethink how modern life is pulling us away from what truly matters. What Mike discovered out there will both shock and inspire you.

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S2 E19: Modern Day Castaway: A Gruelling 50 Days Alone on the Reef

S2 E19: Modern Day Castaway: A Gruelling 50 Days Alone on the Reef

Tanya Murphy