The Road to Patagonia “If we were stressed or impatient, the horses would sense that and become uncooperative and moody. If we were tired, then they would have been tired too. We were all going through it together. THE RIVERMOUTH CAFE smorgasboarder IT’S A STICK UP smorgasboarder.com.au Sticker packs available at the Smorgastore “After six months of living and sleeping alongside the horses, we knew their personalities down to a tee. They could be so funny, cheeky, defiant, and even dangerous. Blacky, our lead mare, almost killed me early in the trip with a double barrel kick aimed at my head. “I jumped backwards at the same rate her kick was coming towards my face, and everything went slow-motion in a full matrix moment. I saw her hoofs two inches from my nose as I flew through the air, before landing flat on my back, unharmed. That taught me a lot.” Near-death experiences aside, it was clear that by the end of the journey the odd bunch of travellers were like a herd – wherever one went, the rest followed. While the horses helped carry Matty, Heather, and their things, the couple ensured they were safe, fed, and cared for. Due to their unpredictable temperament and strange (but relatable) fear of surfboards, Heather was apprehensive of the horses at first, but agreed they were the highlight of the entire trip. “They shrunk our perspective, which feels dangerously insular in this age of data overload, when we’ve been told that the more information we have, the better. “The horses forced upon us a local dependency on the land above all else, but also on the communities we passed through, and each other. “We were constantly aware of swales in the landscape, as a tiny creek running through it might be our only water for the day.” Completely reliant on each other, far from the conveniences of modern life, and with no room for personal space, it’s certainly impressive that Matty and Heather handled the journey as well as they did. Although it wouldn’t have been easy, it was uplifting to see the pair have complete trust in one another throughout the film, even when things didn’t go as planned. Maintaining a healthy relationship is difficult enough, even without having to constantly film each other and live out of a tent for two and a half years. Matty said there were a lot of individuals who added something special to the doco, but without a doubt it was Heather’s tenacity that made it special. “She’d never even been dinked on a motorcycle before she sold her business and bought a 500cc bike in Mexico, rode into South America with me, and said yes to a relatively dangerous horse expedition. #59 // smorgasboarder // 52 “She let me film really intimate moments of her, she learned how to use a camera and interview people, and she put up with me through the thick of it.” The further Matty and Heather persevered, the more The Road to Patagonia’s identity began to take shape, as for every scene featuring lush rainforests and the vital connection between humanity and nature, there is another revealing kilometres of deforested, exploited land. It’s a confronting perspective, which only hits harder when the couple rides further south, passing through a myriad of seaside and mountain villages filled with people far more in tune with the earth and their ancestors than many of us would be used to.
Documentary by Matty Hannon #59 // smorgasboarder // 53