‘What was I thinking?’ How Matty’s US road trip took a surprise turn

Filmmaker Matty Hannon, 40, was riding a motorbike down the west coast of the Americas when he met Canadian permaculture farmer Heather Hillier, 36, at a surf break. Soon after, the tide turned on his solo road trip.

Heather Hillier and Matty Hannon: “When he invited me to come along on the rest of his trip,” says Heather, “I couldn’t not do it.” Credit: Toni Fuller

Matty: I met Heather in 2014 in British Columbia. I’d driven from Alaska on a motorbike and stopped at Vancouver Island for a surf. I saw these two girls with a truck, getting ready to go surfing. One of them was pulling on her wetsuit when she turned around, looked over her shoulder and gave me this massive smile. I can still picture how she was standing, and the light, and it just got me.

That night, I asked if they wanted to stay at my campsite, but they refused. I offered the next day, and they still refused. On the third day, I was given a big salmon and I asked the girls to come eat it with me, and they finally said yes. Heather told me about her business growing food in Vancouver, and I was so impressed. She also gave me a jar of her special sauce, which made everything taste amazing.

I left but, a few days later, I was missing her, so I emailed asking if she’d mind me dropping by her farm, on the pretext that I’d interview her for the film. [Matty’s documentary, The Road To Patagonia, releases in cinemas nationally on May 2.] I ended up staying a week, and that’s when I fell in love with her. We arranged to meet in Mexico four months later. I wasn’t sure she’d make it, but she did, driving all the way down in her truck with her special sauce. We spent three months in Baja, surfing and spearfishing. It was very passionate and wholesome. I’d grown up a punk rocker, and quite anarchistic. But Heather softened my cynicism and taught me that the world isn’t so black and white. When I asked if she wanted to join me on the rest of the trip, she said yes.

“We broke up. I was hit way harder than I expected by the sadness of it.”

Matty Hannon

It was a big learning curve for her. She’d never sat on a motorbike, and we were carrying surfboards, cooking gear and bags of rice. She was also learning to surf. We went through Central America, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In Chile, we sold the bikes and got horses, despite neither of us knowing anything about horses. I was okay, but she was scared of them. I also got more pushy about the filmmaking, but Heather had never used a camera. It got to the point where I was telling her what to do with the surfing, the horses and the filmmaking, which was, of course, a complete pain in the arse for her.

Towards the end of the trip, she went back to Canada and I wanted to go to Indonesia, so we broke up. I was hit way harder than I expected by the sadness of it. After a few weeks, I emailed her and said, “What would you think of me coming up?” And she said, “Yes!” I flew to meet her, and when I knocked on her door and saw her, I thought, “What was I thinking?”

We’ve been together ever since. In 2017, she came back to Australia with me. In 2021, she had our son, Colt, in an old converted grain shed in Byron Bay. To see her labour alone for 12 hours, without complaining, and deliver Colt in a water birth was hands down one of the most magical experiences of my life. We’ve got another baby due in June. I’m nervous, but I have Heather. She’s my best mate, my surf buddy, and my companion in everything, so I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Heather: In 2014, I went with a girlfriend to Vancouver Island for the weekend. We were in the car park checking the surf when this guy on a wacky motorbike came riding in. He was cute, very chiselled, and his hair was so blond, which is unusual for someone in the Pacific Northwest. Then we heard his accent and we were like, “What?”

We chatted in the surf, and he asked lots of questions about what I did. That night, he invited us to his campsite. We were doing our own thing, so we said no, but on the inside I was intrigued and wanted to spend more time with him. Shortly after I got back to Vancouver, he emailed me saying, “The route going south is eight minutes faster going past your place than the other way.” That was his excuse to come hang out. He ended up staying a week. After he left, we stayed in touch via email. I was trying to play it cool, though; I’d only email him if he emailed me.

“We were in the honeymoon phase, but it was tricky. I was always on edge riding the bike and chasing swells. I felt I had something to prove.”

Heather Hillier

Later that year, I went down to meet him in Mexico. We spent two months there, and I was totally swept away by him. When he invited me to come along on the rest of his trip, I couldn’t not do it.

We were in the honeymoon phase, but it was tricky. I was always on edge riding the bike and chasing swells. I felt I had something to prove. I scared myself, and there was a lot of frustration. I split my eyebrow open surfing in Puerto Escondido [in Mexico] and got 13 stitches. Filming was hard, too. Matty is a great teacher, but you want some creative licence. Once I’d built up some confidence, I’d say “I think this shot looks good!”, but Matty would be like, “No, I’m the director, do it like this!” One time, our horses almost went off a cliff. I was meant to be filming, but I didn’t record it all, and Matty freaked out. We had a huge argument.

One of Matty’s most amazing features is that he’s so determined. I can work hard, but I don’t have his follow-through. At the same time, being so one-track about it all made me feel sometimes as if we were just in a working relationship. I also started dreaming about what I’d had in my previous life. We were interviewing these people who were all talking about living locally in beautiful communities, and I’d left that behind. After six months, I was ready to go home.

I was so excited to be back home and really at ease, so I wasn’t missing Matty. But when I got his email asking if he could fly up to meet me, I was like, “Yes!” He stayed for six months. It was beautiful. We now live in Bellingen [on the NSW North Coast], which is stunning. I sometimes think it’d be good doing things like living in Indonesia or going back to Canada. Then I think, “Actually, I just want a homestead and a milking cow.” But we’re having another baby in June, so we have to slow down now, and spend some more time with the chickens, which is pretty good, too!

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