Tanya Heaslip

And there's such an insignificance to yourself as a person standing in that land and yet such a huge connection to what's greater than you.

I tend to amuse people when I'm out there because I can't walk two steps without wanting to take a photo or take in a scene or something because it's so majestic and astonishing and beautiful.

One scene after another unfolds before your eyes and you can't believe how beautiful and weirdly beautiful it is to someone who's grown up on the coast like me.

But to people who live there, it's just, I don't know, part of the warp and weft of everyday life.

Do you have to go away and come back to appreciate it or do you appreciate it as a kid growing up?

I loved it as a kid.

I didn't know it was unusual.

I just, I didn't, we were so isolated.

This was the 60s and 70s.

We didn't go anywhere and we only had two-way radio for communication with the outside world.

There was no television.

But it was definitely, it was then so imbued in me as this place where I felt strong and whole.

But when I went away and went to different places, I never felt that sense of wholeness and strength.

And it was going back there.

I was like, yes, my feet are back on this red earth.

I'm looking at those magnificent white gum trees that rise up into the blue sky.

There's a wholeness and a strength I feel when I'm back there.

Now, this isn't desert, but it is semi-arid.

What kind of wildlife are you constantly running into out there?

Oh, well, roos, constant kangaroos everywhere.