The Happy Camper: Dianne Whelan’s ‘500 Days in the Wild’ Documentary Is Incredible!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since the award-winning director and cinematographer Dianne Whelan was sitting on my front porch sipping mint tea and chatting to me how her journey across Canada was going so far.
Dianne stayed at my place for a few days while she waited for her bike to be fixed at a shop in downtown Peterborough, Ontario. During Dianne’s stay, she entertained my neighbours with adventure stories of filming in the outdoors. She inspired my pre-teen daughter with her spiritual insight towards nature, and her and I became soulmates by the time she continued on her six-year, 24,000-kilometre traverse of Canada’s land and water trail from sea to sea to sea.
Dianne initially thought it would take her 500 days to complete the journey—hence the title of her newly released film. She set out from St. John’s Newfoundland on July 1, 2015, hiking, biking, paddling, snowshoeing and skiing across the country. She ended her trip on August 1, 2021 in Victoria, BC—six years (1,862 days) later. By the time she visited me, Dianne had decided it was best to become the tortoise, not the hare.
“It’s kind of funny when I think about it now. When I left I actually had a daily schedule—and by day 10 I had not even completed what I thought I could do in one day. So I lit a small fire and burned the schedule. And I stopped measuring my journey by how many kilometres I did in a day. I joke with people and tell them that’s the day I dropped the rabbit suit.”
I did two more Whisky Fireside chats with Dianne throughout her journey. One was when she came to borrow a hot tent and stove for her winter snowshoeing trek between Blind River and Sault St. Marie. And again just after she completed her trip.
The film is currently on tour right now through Canada and the USA. I viewed it at home on Paramount+ Canada.
Just like Dianne’s character, this film is like no other. Yes, it has adventurous moments of paddling rapids, trudging across bug-infested portages, having a bear push her off camp in the remote Arctic and paddling the expansive waters of Lake Superior. But that’s not what the film is about. It’s a feature documentary that weaves intimate moments of reflection towards nature, of exceptional people and communities met along the way, and a time of hope towards how we will treat this sacred land of ours in the future.
Some of my favourite scenes are Dianne’s moments with the wildlife she encounters along the way: an injured bird she cares for along some roadway, a toad she lies down with amongst the forest floor, a butterfly that takes a ride on the gunwale of her canoe while she paddles Superior. I also love her skinny dip scene at the end of the Path of the Paddle Canoe Trail section—absolute wilderness freedom. And her kiss with Louisa Robertson, her paddling partner—now life partner—for the 4,000-kilometre section the Arctic. The most noteworthy, however, are the times Dianne meets with First Nations, where the elders teach her that their communities don’t measure poverty by your finances, they measure it by how alone you are.
The music is incredible as well… and it’s all Canadian, including Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and The Tragically Hip’s Looking for a Place to Happen.
Near the end of the film, Dianne reflects on her journey and pretty much summarizes the six-year trip she completed across this great country:
“Camped here last night. I’ve been spending the morning with this sweet little otter over there. Right after I smudged it just came to the surface of the water. Resonance. The more I sit with that idea—it’s not the words, it’s our hearts. It’s what we feel. Am I feeling fear? Am I feeling joy? Am I feeling love? Am I feeling disgust? I’m feeling awe… and wonder, to be able to sit in silent conversation.”
I can’t wait for Dianne’s book to come out about the same journey. It will definitely be a bestseller.
