Our Guides

Cassie has been walking, sleeping in and exploring untracked, remote landscapes since 1993. She has been working in incredibly remote sections of the Kimberley and Kakadu Escarpment since 2004, when she first started guiding trips for Willis's Walkabouts. She continues to guide as well as co-managing the office and logistics with Russell Willis.

Cassie enjoys supporting people to explore remote, untracked and magnificent landscapes while living simply and carrying everything they need for days to weeks at a time. She actively supports the group as a cohesive community while also looking for ways to offer people space and freedom to unwind from the demands of the modern world and engage with the natural environment in their own way.

She has been privileged to work in a number of cross-cultural environments learning from traditional custodians about their experiences, perspective and culture. She holds deep respect for elders and traditional care of the land both from the past, the present and emerging.

Cassie has attained a Bachelor in Natural Resource Management and Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Cert Four in Outdoor Recreation, Wilderness First Aid and Search and Rescue qualifications. This, combined with extensive time spent in untracked and ancient landscapes, 18 years experience guiding a diverse range of people, supports her in offering people a safe, yet adventurous and unforgettable experience that has people coming back again and again.

Her passion for ancient landscapes and depth of knowledge makes for a truly immersive experience. 

Sébastien was born an adventurer. He has crossed Australia 5 times on a pushbike over several years. He has traversed Tasmania solo on foot from North to South, rafting the Franklin River and walking along the South-West coast of Tasmania from Cape Sorell (Strahan) to Melaleuca. In the Kimberley his first expedition was crossing, on foot,  from the King Leopold Ranges to the Lower Falls of the Mitchell River National Park. 

 

His longest solo journey in total autonomy is 29 days, during this time he joined Mitchell's Lower Falls from King Cascade on the mouth of the Prince Regent River. He also explored the Charnley River caves and shelters on a long expedition that also took him to the Isdell and Calder rivers. 

 

For Willis’s Walkabout, he has led numerous tours in the Kimberley, as well as Kakadu, Litchfield, Karijini National Parks, New Caledonia and recently Patagonia. 

Sébastien is confident and comfortable in the wilderness, well organized and attentive to the environment. He is particularly attentive to the safety of his bushwalkers and regularly maintains his Remote First Aid qualifications. His French origins are experienced in his passionate cooking.

After undergraduate studies majoring in Botany, Merel completed her PhD in Ecology and Evolution in 2002, specializing in rare “beaked whales” (family Ziphiidae). She subsequently spent several years studying these enigmatic animals off the coast of eastern Canada before returning to Sydney, Australia in 2005 to continue her work on Southern Ocean cetaceans. After some years in the ivory towers of academia, she realised that her true passion lay in reconnecting people with nature. She subsequently moved to the Blue Mountains region west of Sydney and re-trained as a wilderness guide. There she became involved in rock climbing and canyoning, but ultimately focused on environmental education and trekking. She still continues to do scientific research as time allows and recently discovered a new beaked whale in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean (Dalebout et al. 2014). 

Since 2013, Merel has worked as a lecturer, zodiac driver, and guide on small expedition ships around the world, from the polar regions to the tropics. When based in Australia, she works primarily as a bushwalking guide, leading group trips and developing new self-guided walking adventures. She has also led international trekking trips in Madagascar and Ethiopia. Merel combines her enthusiasm and passion for the world’s wild places with a burning curiosity to know all she can about them. 

Andy loves the Top End bush and lives in Darwin and Jabiru, working part-time as a field officer for an Aboriginal language centre covering northern Kakadu National Park and West Arnhemland. He also is involved in environmental work and activism and sometimes leads walks for the Darwin Bushwalking Club. Previously he has worked as a bush teacher, trainer and land management facilitator, mainly in the Top End and Kimberley. Andy has been guiding on and off for Willis's Walkabouts since 2000.