{"id":798551,"date":"2026-07-13T23:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/798551\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:36:19","slug":"wa-survivalist-jasper-harvey-heads-to-finland-for-season-four-of-sbss-hit-show-alone-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/798551\/","title":{"rendered":"WA survivalist Jasper Harvey heads to Finland for season four of SBS\u2019s hit show Alone Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jasper Harvey, a 24 year-old permaculture practitioner and educator from WA\u2019s South West, decided to apply for the latest season of the hit reality series Alone Australia, he had no idea just how far from home he\u2019d end up.<\/p>\n

This year, SBS transplanted 10 brave survivalists \u2014 Harvey amongst them \u2014 to the wild and spectacularly beautiful area of Sapmi in Finland.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a spectacular place. A place where bears, wolves and reindeer roam freely; where the northern lights shine across frozen subzero wilderness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a heck of a long way from Margaret River. And for Harvey, who had never seen snow or ice before \u2014 let alone had to live in it for weeks at a time \u2014 the Arctic Circle was quite the adjustment.<\/p>\n

He hit the ground running.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Before we left) we got a broad description of the kind of ecosystem we would be going into; roughly the \u2018biome\u2019, so the trees and the flora and fauna,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a pretty rough description of the temperatures and weather you might experience, and from there it was about doing as much research as you possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Harvey, who lives in a self-sufficient, off-grid community outside of Margaret River, it meant spending hours a day reading up about what to expect, though he still, at that point, didn\u2019t know he\u2019d end up in Finland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all about immersing myself into the research as much as I possibly could,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI basically was completely off work, and constantly researching every plant that I might find out there; trying to find as many uses for it as I could, and trying to drill myself to try and remember and practise all of the skills I was going to need out there so I could really go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe intrepid survivalists headed to Finland for this year\u2019s series. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

Harvey is one of three West Australian contestants who will battle it out this season, documenting their journeys into the brutal Arctic winter.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not going to be easy for them.<\/p>\n

As the official show notes explain, \u201cEach survivalist is a lone filmmaker \u2026 every frozen tear, every frost-nipped digit, and every hallucination born of the darkness is captured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an immersive, intimate look at the human spirit stripped to its most primal state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three previous seasons have seen contestants sent to Tasmania and New Zealand\u2019s South Island. Taking the show to Finland is a whole new ball game.<\/p>\n

At just 24, Harvey is the youngest competitor. As he explains, age was both an advantage and disadvantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learnt a lot and have really prioritised learning in my adult life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have really sought out mentors and educated myself as much as possible, and I think my knowledge base is pretty solid for this type of challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut also, if you are putting me out there at 40 or 50, I would obviously know a lot more than I do now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have more experience and knowledge, and knowledge of myself as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JasperCamera IconJasper Harvey had quite the task ahead of him, surviving alone in the Arctic Circle. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

He\u2019d also have a lot more meat on his bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say my metabolism was a definite disadvantage for sure,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven putting on weight for preparation (before the show started) was a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to hold that weight for very long, because my body just doesn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvey, who is a specialist in plant identification and foraging, knew he\u2019d have to think on his feet when he arrived.<\/p>\n

But despite the daunting task ahead of him, he says he felt no fear on that first, freezing night on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t at all scared of the environment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if I was tense out there, it was more about the planning side of things, and making sure I wasn\u2019t making silly mistakes, and jeopardising my chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those lone wolves and bears?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t at all scared by the environment, or the animals there,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have done a bit of spear fishing with sharks, and wild seals, and the idea of seeing a bear is nothing but exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about your body language, and being intelligent around how you react to it is really important \u2014 I really tried to be able to keep myself safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvey says his time on the show was formative \u2014 and he\u2019d do it all again in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience, as a whole, was amazing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the best things I have ever done in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful for all the hardships and the challenges, because I learnt so much about myself, and about the land.<\/p>\n

He hopes one day to return to the frozen wilderness he briefly called home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still really want to see a polar bear at some point,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I would love to go and camp and survive out there again; to go back to my same spot if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alone Australia starts July 15 on SBS on Demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jasper Harvey, a 24 year-old permaculture practitioner and educator from WA\u2019s South West, decided to apply for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-798551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}