Help Adventures with Emilie Get Back on the Road ❤️

We made it to those ancient red mountains.

Our Navara is still off the road.

I’m Victoria, mum to 12-year-old Emilie, and together we’re Adventures with Emilie — a mother-daughter hiking team from New Zealand.

We bought a $13,000 Nissan Navara for several months of travelling around Australia. A week later, it suffered catastrophic engine failure on the Barkly Highway, stranding us in the remote Northern Territory.

That was early September. Since then, we’ve hitchhiked to Alice Springs, walked the Larapinta Trail out and back, and come back to the difficult business of figuring out what happens next.

As of 16 October, 106 people have donated $4,968 towards our $12,000 goal. Others have shared this fundraiser, offered lifts, practical help and encouragement.

Thank you so much.

The money raised is still safely set aside to help get us back on the road. With repairs looking prohibitively expensive, I’m now exploring putting it towards a replacement vehicle — a daunting prospect after what happened with the Navara.

The truck failed us. People didn’t.

One moment we were rolling west towards Alice Springs.

The next I was standing with my daughter beside a smoking truck on the baking-hot red roadside, hundreds of kilometres of outback stretching around us.

And then people stopped.

Damien and Katie pulled over with their little daughter and dog and shared their Starlink so we could call for help.

Jeremy and Sue stopped and stayed with us until the tow truck arrived. Jeremy even got his metal detector out and searched the red dirt for a gold nugget to help pay for our broken Nissan.

He found some old tin cans.

Worth a try.

Eventually Mark arrived with his tow truck and hauled us and our broken Navara out of the desert.

In those frightening first hours, complete strangers gave us their internet, their time, their company and their kindness.

I keep coming back to that now.

Then we shouldered our packs

For a full month, Emilie and I carried our lives on our backs, walking the Larapinta Trail out and back — more than 450km through the West MacDonnell Ranges.

We woke to birdsong, climbed rocky ridgelines and sought shade beside cool pools while the heat pressed down.

After the frightening uncertainty of the breakdown, it felt good to have something simple to do. Shoulder a pack. Wander through the wildflowers. Put the billy on for a cup of tea and gaze, in awe, at the scenery and all the life.

The worry about the Navara came with me, of course. But there were long stretches when my attention belonged to the country around us, and I could breathe again.

Why this adventure matters

When Emilie was seven, the two of us walked the 3,000km length of New Zealand on Te Araroa. It’s probably an understatement to say we do a lot of hiking.

We’ve since shared our adventures in books and stories, hoping other families might discover some of the strength and joy we’ve found outside.

This year we came to Australia to spend several months exploring this extraordinary country and walking some of its great trails. For me, coming back to the country where I grew up means a great deal.

It’s also been an incredibly difficult year. I’ve spent months navigating bureaucracy around my experiences of abuse in state care and the lasting effects of that trauma, including complex PTSD.

I wanted this journey to be about something different.

About walking until life becomes simple again.

About the joy and healing I’ve always found in wild places.

About raising a daughter who knows she is strong and capable.

For a month in those mountains, there was room for all of that.

Back to the paperwork

The Navara is now in Brisbane, where a mechanic confirmed the engine is seized. It remains off the road.

The Office of Fair Trading was unable to resolve the dispute with the dealer. I’ve now submitted an application to QCAT seeking a refund and consequential losses.

Gathering the evidence and learning how to represent myself has taken a lot out of me. Some days I’ve felt completely overwhelmed by how much there is to understand, and how much rests on me getting it right.

I’m proud of myself for getting this far. There’s no outcome yet, but the application is in.

Not sure what’s harder — a 30-day Larapinta yo-yo or trying to get justice after buying a lemon!

Getting back on the road

This fundraiser is towards the unexpected breakdown costs and getting us into a working vehicle again. That includes transport and mechanical assessment of the Navara, the additional transport and logistical costs caused by the breakdown, and helping fund a repair or replacement vehicle.

A replacement now looks more likely. I’m taking my time to work through the options, and I’ll keep you updated on what I decide and how the money is used.

If I recover costs that have also been covered by this fundraiser, I’ll be completely transparent with everyone who has supported us.

Perhaps accepting help is part of an adventure too.

Asking for help left me feeling exposed.

I’m used to figuring things out, making a plan, finding a way through. Standing beside a broken truck with my daughter, so far from anyone we knew, I couldn’t see what came next.

Then people stopped. And people kept helping.

If you’ve followed us since seven-year-old Emilie and I walked the length of New Zealand, read our books, shared our hut adventures, or simply stumbled across our story — thank you for being here.

If you’re able to contribute, even $5 or $10 helps. Sharing the fundraiser or passing on a useful vehicle lead could help too.

Being in Central Australia without a vehicle has made the road ahead harder to picture. I don’t have a neat ending to share with you yet.

But I haven’t forgotten the kindness that met us beside that hot stretch of highway, or every person who has reached towards us since.

Thank you ❤️

Victoria & Emilie

Adventures with Emilie