Corinne Ooms says she knows she is in a privileged position. The second runner-up β and last woman standing β in the latest season of Alone Australia, Ooms says spending 70 days on her own in the Tasmanian wilderness is something few get to experience.
βWe are all so stressed and bogged down with work and emails and social media and everyone is low-key anxious and longing for that more natural, simpler way of life,β she says.
Speaking to this masthead via a video link from her car in Hobart during her lunch break, the food safety consultant says Alone was a rare opportunity to press pause and think about what she really wanted from life. As it turns out, what she wanted was a baby.
Corinne Ooms in her bushrangerβs cottage in Hobart. She made the guitar she is holding while on Alone.Credit: RΓ©mi Chauvin
β[Motherhood] was on my mind beforehand, but I am sure this is something most people are feeling: the past few years have been so hard to keep on top of life, with bills and mortgage repayments and work, so that you donβt really have a moment to slow down, reflect and connect with yourself and even connect with other people.β
As she began to lose weight during her time in the wilderness (contestants typically lose significant amounts of weight as they struggle to catch food in difficult conditions), Ooms also became concerned about her menstrual cycle, which was disrupted by the lack of food she was able to consume. It started to play on her mind.
βWhen youβre by yourself and you donβt have anyone to bounce ideas off, your brain does start spiralling,β she says. βI had moments of panic about lots of different things, and [my period] was one of them.
βI am in my late 30s and you hear all these things about women in their 20s struggling to conceive. I didnβt know if I would struggle to conceive, I wasnβt sure how fertile I was. I was thinking βwhat am I doing out here? Iβm leaving it so late, I really need to get a move onβ.β
She need not have worried. On returning to her home on the outskirts of Hobart, Oomsβ body quickly bounced back and she fell pregnant within a matter of weeks. A recent scan at 13 weeks revealed everything was as it should be. The baby is due mid-December.
Alone Australiaβs season three finalists: Winner Shay Williamson (left), Corinne Ooms and Murray βMuzzaβ James, who came second.Β Β
Preparation for motherhood
Ooms, 40, admits that Alone pushed her to her limits, teaching her that she was far more capable and adaptable than she realised. She says in some ways, it was the perfect preparation for motherhood.
βAfter this experience on Alone, I have gained a whole lot more confidence in myself as a person,β she says. βI surprised myself out there and I am confident I will keep surprising myself with challenges and the unexpected curveballs that will happen with motherhood.β
One of her concerns going into the challenge was her apprehension about killing an animal. While contestants can take 10 items with them, they have to build their own shelter and find their own food. Ooms thought she would be mostly relying on trout and eels from the lake for protein, as well as whatever she could forage. However, her biggest haul was a wallaby caught in a makeshift netting trap.
βI honestly thought the trap wouldnβt work and I wasnβt expecting to have to deal with it,β she says. βAnd yeah, it did work. It was all a blur, the whole experience [killing the wallaby] was an adrenaline rush blur. As with anything, the psychological build-up you have to the task is a lot worse than the reality. It is still a horrible thing.β
While she was dreading taking an animalβs life, she says she has been changed by it.
Ooms outside her home on the outskirts of Hobart. She says spending 70 days in the wilderness has changed her. Credit: RΓ©mi Chauvin
βSomething switched, so I am able to do it now,β she says. βI have been processing my own chickens β I donβt need my housemates to do it any more. It is still very hard, but I feel as someone who eats meat, going through that process of humanely, respectfully taking a life is part of it.β
Making a home
Ooms lives on a 10 acre (4ha) property just 15 minutes from Hobart. She has been renovating the cottage on the site, which was once owned by Tasmaniaβs best known bushranger, Martin Cash. She hopes it will be an ideal environment to raise a child.
βI have been spending my time there renovating it, doing up the garden, creating a little vegie patch,β she says. βYou donβt need much to have a little garden to supplement your lifestyle. I doubt I am ever going to be completely self-sufficient, but I think itβs important to have that connection with your food.β
Being in a financially stable position with a permanent roof over her head was also part of Oomβs decision to start a family.
βI have been gearing up for years to be financially secure and to be able to provide for that child. I didnβt want to be dependent financially on a man because you see all these break-ups or tense relationships in families due to finance.β
Ooms is preparing for the birth of her first child this year.Credit: Corinne Ooms
While being able to continue to provide for her child is crucial, Ooms says her experience in the wilderness showed her the importance of making time for herself. This included making a guitar to pass the time in the long evenings in the wild.
βI didnβt plan to create a guitar but when you have a lot of time on your hands and not a lot of distractions, it is incredible what you can create,β she says. βI just had music going constantly in my head and I needed to do something about it. It was driving me nuts.β
Quentin the quoll
Ooms was also driven to distraction by a regular visitor β a quoll she named Quentin who turned up in search of wallaby meat. Quolls are mostly carnivorous and are among a number of native species that participants are not allowed to kill.
βQuentin was a love/hate relationship,β she says. βHe got into bed with me several times because I was using my wallaby skin over myself to keep me warm. I thought he was coming into bed with me because he was a creep, but no, he would nibble on the wallaby skin. After a while, I just ignored him. He didnβt have access to my jerky and it didnβt really matter that he chewed on my wallaby skin.
βHe stole one of my socks and he chewed a hole through my glove β and thatβs the worst of it.β
As she reflects on her experience, Ooms recommends everyone spend time alone in the bush at least once in their lives.
βYou will probably be scared at first but push through that. Itβs one thing I think people are lacking in their lives, that space and time and connection with nature. But 70 days is a bit too much, I donβt recommend that.β
However, she is cognisant that the biggest, most demanding adventure still lies ahead.
βI am fully expecting motherhood to be a lot harder than my experience out there. The only difference is I donβt have a tap out button.β
Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.
