Report - I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Australia (2018)

[Paradox]

I don't watch any of that shit but that's an absolutely cracking report

 

[Dayshift]

...Continued from above

Here, cables running across the bridges from the studio/control room to camp areas (‘Croc Creek’ and ‘Snake Rock’) connect to a junction box and run off in various directions across the jungle floor. Walking around this area, I find it odd to catch glimpses of the cables and other technical equipment running through such a wild and natural habitat.

Cables from bridges

Junction box

Cables running through trees

Kit box in small hut amongst trees

I head down a series of wooden steps, where the path is so overgrown in parts that it can barely be considered a path. It always astonishes me just how quick nature can take over a place, and I find myself constantly dusting off cobwebs and miscellaneous bugs as I anxiously fight my way through the undergrowth. Through a series of walkways protected by acoustic screens, I encounter camera hides, fake rocks, and wooden outbuildings...:

One of many backstage walkways - this one not particularly overgrown due to it being fenced and covered

Access to Camera Hide 7. Left: basket drop counterweight to enable food etc. to be lowered into camp

Rock facades disguising camera hide

Inside Camera Hide 8

Medical hut

'Bush Telegraph' - external and internal

...before reaching the Snake Rock camp clearing itself:

Water pump

Clearing (note the camera hide in the 'rocks')

Camp beds under tarpaulin

I head back uphill and make my way onto what is surprisingly the main production road on this side of the site. The locals refer to the area close to here along the Queensland/New South Wales border as ‘Suicide Hill’, and I can see why. The road itself is relatively flat but is built along a steep incline - it's also narrow, rocky, and on the edge of a sheer drop. A sign reads ‘DEAD SLOW’, which someone has fittingly altered to read ‘DEAD OR SLOW RIP’, and I'm thankful that I'm on foot and not in a vehicle.

Top of road with turning circle

Bottom of road with warning sign

At the bottom of the road, I reach an area which was once the main part of the banana plantation but is now used for ‘bushtucker trials’:

'Hazardous waste landfill' trial

Clearing

'Frahm's Hole' German trial

Various trial sets

As I continue along this path, the trees gradually become less dense. Back in the semi-open, the fear of an animal attack is no longer playing on my mind as it had been for the whole time I was trekking through the overgrown jungle. I'd not been constricted by a snake or bitten by a deadly spider and felt that the chances of such were low now that I was out of the bush.

Then out of nowhere, a herd of wild boar appear from the forest beside the ‘Celebrity Cyclone’ trial clearing. I know that they can be fierce and sometimes deadly, so I slowly make my way towards the set of the ‘Fright House’ trial – in my head thinking of ways that I might be able to climb it if I needed a sure-fire way to escape the boars.

The pack walk towards me, but seem more curious by the sight of a human than at all vicious, so I respect their territory and we peacefully part ways.

Celebrity Cyclone and Fright House trials

One of the boars

Heading away from the friendly boars, I venture up ‘Zorb Hill’, which, as the name might suggest, is used for rolling the celebs down in plastic orbs for the entertainment of the British public. The top of the hill provides another rather beautiful view which I attempt to capture on camera but not quite to the same effect as viewing with the naked eye.

Bottom of Zorb Hill

At this point, I'm aching, sweating, tired, probably a bit dehydrated and covered in scratches, so accept this as my last photograph. There's undoubtedly more to see, but I'm still alive so decide to quit while I'm ahead and say to myself "I'm An Urban Explorer... Get Me Out Of Here!"

View from top of Zorb Hill

This was perhaps my most irresponsible adventure to date, yet also the most fulfilling. To many, I've travelled over 10,000 miles to go and look at some portacabins, scaffolding and bits of plywood – but to me, it's the ultimate achievement – the pièce de résistance of TV set exploration, if you will (I will).

Thanks for reading if you made it to this point and hope you enjoyed! Full set of photos here.

This looks absolutely awesome! I love I'm a celebrity. Really enjoyed reading your report.

 

[jellyfish]

Thats fekkin ace that is :-)