Foxtel series shows the hilarious thrills and spills of three Aussie blokes in the Alaskan wilderness

THREE Aussie blokes dived headfirst into the dangerous Alaskan wilderness with few plans and little preparation.

IT WAS one of the greatest things they ever did but it came dangerously close to being the worst.

Alo Baker and his two mates plunged themselves into the wild terrain of Alaska with dreams of adventure but no preparation, and hopes of TV stardom but no idea what they were doing.

They lived to tell the tale — though there were some close shaves. The comedy trio’s television series, Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska, is now airing on Foxtel, and chronicles the Aussie trio’s adventures and misadventures through the rugged US state and the eccentric characters — and not-so-friendly animals — they met along the way.

Baker, a Gold Coast-based radio announcer, and his mate Jonny Hibbard had previously visited Alaska on a gap year and loved it so much they decided to return, this time with “camera guy” Gimli McGloin in tow, and a wild plan of making a self-funded TV show.

“We figured we had to come up with any excuse we could to go back to that place because it’s mind blowing,” Baker told news.com.au.

Living the dream: Gimli McGloin, Jonny Hibbard and Alo Baker of Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska. Picture: Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska

“So we were like, let’s max out every credit card we’ve got, buy a camera, rock up and make a show, and hope someone will actually want to air it.”

They had a few things organised for their time in Alaska, such as four-wheel driving and a ride on a floatplane, but kind of “winged” the rest.

“We had so much stuff go wrong,” Baker said.

“Crashing the RV inside a tunnel and being stuck for hours, and blowing out a tyre and getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. At one point the sunroof fell off. We ran out of fuel at least twice in random places.

Their hardworking RV. Picture: Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska

“We once went around a corner and the microwave [inside the RV] fell and smashed and ripped all the electrical wiring out of the back of the van.

“Anything that could go wrong went wrong.”

There were plenty of thrills, such as their visit to Alaska’s North Pole, and lots of spills, such as when Gimli fell into rapids during a whitewater rafting trip.

And then there were the scary moments, many courtesy of the group’s hikes deep inside grizzly bear country.

Baker said they set off on these treks with only one can of bear spray between them, while locals were carrying military-grade machine guns should the worst happen — a sobering reminder of how little the Aussies knew of the danger they were stepping into.

In one of their close shaves, the guys came across a traumatised cyclist who’d just been confronted by two male adult grizzlies that mauled his bike.

“He said it had happened less than 10 minutes ago, and we freaked out because we had just been past minutes earlier, and there were two grizzlies so close to us and we had no protection,” Baker said.

“On top of that, a woman was mauled that same day on a neighbouring trail. We were pretty freaked out when we read about that later.”

But extreme moments like that, with plenty of light hearted stuff in between, was what the show was all about, Baker said.

Bears. Oh my. Picture: Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska

“Literally, it’s Aussie morons in Alaska doing everything wrong,” he said.

“And I think yeah, we could have been a bit more prepared. What happened if someone did get hurt?

“We were internationals without a phone, we couldn’t just call the hospital for help. But at the same time we were just young guys travelling and I think that’s what young guys do.”

But if they thought their adventures in Alaska were tough, the next challenge was massive — taking their hours of raw footage and turning it into something resembling a TV series.

Baker, the trio’s designated editor, didn’t know the first thing about editing.

Hibbard at North Pole, where it’s Christmas all year round. Picture: Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska

“I learnt how to edit off YouTube and it took me 10 months — I was coming home from work at five o’clock and figuring out how to edit it. It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

The trio’s big break came when Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska was aired in New Zealand. Perhaps it was the Kiwis’ irresistible urge to watch the misadventures of bunch of blokes from across the ditch, or maybe it was the fact an editing friend of Baker took pity on their amateur project and polished it up into something TV-ready.

But when the series aired on TVNZ it was a hit, quadrupling the usual ratings of its timeslot.

Not a bad place to set up for the night. Picture: Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska

And with the series now airing on Foxtel, Baker is thrilled he and his mates’ madcap adventures — and the spectacular state of Alaska — has found an audience.

“Maybe because it’s lighthearted and we’re not trying to sell people anything,” Baker said.

“At the end of the day it was a holiday with my mates and we had such a fun time. And we got to film it and we get to share it with people and in some ways how much better can it get?

“Although when I think back on some of the full-on situations we were in, I think wow, if mum watches this I’m screwed.”

Aussie Dreamlivers Alaska airs on channel A&E on Foxtel on Thursdays at 7.30pm AEDT starting October 5.