Survivalist and adventurer Mike Atkinson, better known as Outback Mike, with his homemade canoe the Salty Kangaroo in the Cooktown Discovery Festival village on 21 June. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
It was a mutual learning experience when renowned survivalist, adventurer, filmmaker and author Mike Atkinson took to the Cooktown Discovery Festival stage at the weekend.
Better known as Outback Mike, Atkinson had the crowd captivated with his stories or survival, bush skills and the homemade dugout canoe he sailed for more than 1,500 kilometres up the east coast of Cape York.
He told Cape York Weekly he enjoyed sharing his knowledge and gleaning new understandings from his interactions with festival patrons.
“A lot of people that live up here will have skills that I don’t have, you know, so it’s a two-way information flow,” he said after getting off the stage on Saturday.
“I might say a few things that they learn from, but I’m also listening to what they say; they’ve got more time up here.”
The former Alone Australia contestant added he used appearances like the Discovery Festival to learn more about differing views on survival, exploration, society and history.
“I’m just interested in the subjects, so, if someone’s got an alternative view, I’m really keen to hear it,” he explained.
“To understand, and you can’t really know about any of the problems we’ve got, unless you can see all the different angles.”
Atkinson concluded his duty as the festival’s special guest on Sunday night with a packed screening of his documentary, Modern-Day Castaway, at the Cooktown Events Centre.
