0:00:02 > 0:00:11This programme contains scenes of Repetitive Flashing Images
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Two-thirds of Australia is as dry as a bone.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45Over 5 million square kilometres of rock, scrub, and sand.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50When Europeans came looking for farmland in the centre,
0:00:50 > 0:00:55just 150 years ago, they were dismayed by what they found.
0:00:55 > 0:01:02They wrote it off as the "dead centre", rejected it as a good-for-nothing wasteland.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09That couldn't be further from the truth.
0:01:12 > 0:01:19The continent's dry heartland is like nothing else on the planet, and it's full of life.
0:01:33 > 0:01:40But could the new Australians ever see this spectacular land and love it for what it really is?
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Although the centre is hot, much of it doesn't look like desert at all.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59The first European explorers were convinced they'd find pasture here.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10They found swathes of tall grass - surely the answer to their prayers.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17But spinifex is as tough as old boots.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21It's the only grass that can grow in the poorest and driest soils.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28The lack of native grazing animals should have tipped them off -
0:02:28 > 0:02:32not even kangaroos can chew on this stuff.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40But these grasslands were dotted with strange red mounds - a clue to what DID thrive here.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45There ARE grazers - billions of them.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48But the explorers couldn't see them.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Termites are the only animals that can stomach spinifex.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58The grasslands cover a quarter of the continent,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02so termites are one of the most powerful forces in Australia.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13They've turned a virtually inedible grass into their bread and butter.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15They have it all to themselves.
0:03:19 > 0:03:25By chewing it up with spit and soil, termites can even turn spinifex into walls that harden like brick.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43The result is a multi-storey complex that's both cool and secure, and not just for termites.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57At any one time, the mound is crawling with spiders, centipedes, geckos and skinks.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01The termites themselves are a living larder.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Most of the grassland's life-and-death struggles
0:04:18 > 0:04:21are played out along the mound's humid passageways.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29For the knob-tailed gecko, it's murder in the dark.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42But the centipede is no walkover.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Each mound is a world within a world.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Termites eat grass, centipedes eat termites, geckos eat centipedes.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02In the desert, termites make the world go round.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14In the grasslands outside the mounds, there are others waiting to pounce.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23Low-energy lizards have really struck it rich in this desert economy.
0:05:28 > 0:05:35They are virtually drought-proof - they can survive on far less food and water than mammals or birds.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38And so, there are millions of them.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Australia's desert wealth can be measured not in pasture,
0:05:42 > 0:05:47but in the phenomenal variety of lizards per acre.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52They have this unpredictable country licked.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Most lizards eat anything,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02but this one is picky.
0:06:08 > 0:06:14The thorny devil only eats little black ants - 1,000 a day - IF he can get into the groove.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22It's cleverer than it looks.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27Ants know the whiff of a dead comrade, so the devil never lets them smell its breath.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32It lifts its head to puff away the tell-tale formic acid fumes.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35The ants never catch on.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44The first Europeans thought all these animals were useless.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50And when they didn't find rich grazing land, they just saw emptiness - the never-never.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04So it was a big surprise when they found people making a living here.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14Aboriginal people have survived in the centre for over 40,000 years.
0:07:20 > 0:07:27They moved across the land, tapping into many different water sources, and living off bush tucker.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42They understood how to make the desert work for them.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55They also used fire, not just for cooking and warmth, but to manage the land.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08They still use fire-stick farming today to burn off the prickly spinifex
0:08:08 > 0:08:11and encourage edible plants to grow in its place.
0:08:16 > 0:08:23It's a controlled version of the wildfires that would have swept through the outback,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26even before these people arrived.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Most of the plants in the bush are dry and naturally packed with oils.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42They ignite readily, but they don't always die.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46And their seeds often survive a blaze.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57The scorched earth is a kick-start for new growth.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Bush tomatoes, yams and bush berries flourish.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06Strange as it may seem, many plants have evolved to live with fire, and so has the wildlife.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17The mala is a small desert marsupial that cannot breed
0:09:17 > 0:09:21without the succulent shoots that germinate after fire.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Bilbies also benefit from fire-stick farming.
0:09:33 > 0:09:39They look like down-under Bugs Bunnies, but they are marsupials too.
0:09:42 > 0:09:49They eat more or less anything, but after a blaze, the poor desert soil is fertilised by the ash.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54So there's a greater variety of plants and insects to sample.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Like the mala, they feed after dark to avoid dehydration.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04It's wickedly hot during the day, so some kind of shelter is vital.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12They have powerful front legs and claws to help with that.
0:10:16 > 0:10:22Two metres down is an air-conditioned retreat for the whole family.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26And it is also the safest place to be during a grass fire.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34In good years, after a burn, they can have four litters on the trot.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36So they can breed like rabbits.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48To survive in the outback, you need to understand how it ticks,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52something the Aboriginal people had learned from the life around them.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04To them, this landscape is steeped in meaning.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09Their journeys across the centre follow paths of memory and understanding,
0:11:09 > 0:11:14which often meet at sacred places, like Kata Tjuta and Uluru.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32To us, it's a photo opportunity.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38To them, it's a timeless place that describes the way they see the world.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Patterns of erosion on Uluru's surface tell the story
0:11:48 > 0:11:53of how the people are connected to their ancestors and to the land.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55They are intimate with it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02But for newcomers, the desert heart couldn't be more alien.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Frustrated Europeans battled to find a route across the continent.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16Having travelled thousands of kilometres over the flattest country in the world, they were disheartened
0:12:16 > 0:12:20to find a chain of mountains blocking their way.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28The McDonnell Ranges were once Himalayan-sized,
0:12:28 > 0:12:33but Australia is so old, they have crumbled and rusted into a geriatric spine.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51Even so, it was a challenge to find a way through.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57Unexpectedly, their search took them from desert to an inner sanctum of natural wonders.
0:13:03 > 0:13:0965 million years ago, Australia was covered in luxuriant forests, like these.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14This valley of red cabbage palms is the last of its kind.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21They were cradled here as the climate dried up,
0:13:21 > 0:13:26saved from drying out because the porous rocks around them hold water like a sponge.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Some of the trickle-fed pools never dry out.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41That's heaven in a place where it might not rain for years.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50Here, in the heart of the desert, explorers were amazed to find freshwater fish.
0:13:57 > 0:14:03The billabongs in the ranges are so isolated that some fish are found only in particular pools.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15This must have been a sight for sore eyes.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29Because of this permanent water, there are more bird species in Australia's deserts
0:14:29 > 0:14:32than in all of Britain.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44It's a particular life-saver for birds on a dry diet of seeds,
0:14:44 > 0:14:49such as budgies and zebra finches, who need frequent drinks.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56The finches pump the water up with their tongues.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59They need to be quick.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16They are forced to to play cat and mouse with local falcons.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02But it's the spectator that gets lucky.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Life is a gamble in the desert, and there are only a few deep, shady gorges that never dry out.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30That's where black-footed rock wallabies hole up in the crevices and caves.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41A sun-soaked ledge takes away the night chill.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Usually, they're not around in the day,
0:16:49 > 0:16:54but this is the breeding season, and life is getting a bit frenetic.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01The male is trying to winkle himself in behind the female.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15But she's determined to keep her back to the wall.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24To reach all the females, he needs mountain-goat precision, and wallaby spring-loading.
0:17:29 > 0:17:35They'd like to stay glued to the rock face, but most of their food is on the gully floor.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Rock wallabies are not much bigger than a cat.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Packs of dingoes work these gorges, so they need to watch out.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07As the day stokes up, they do the sensible thing and find some shade.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24In most other deserts of the world, rainfall follows a pattern, however scarce it might be.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28In Australia, it is totally and utterly erratic.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47The rain is usually too light to make a difference, but the mountains channel whatever does fall.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53Rivulets become creeks and then rivers. This is how a little goes a long way.
0:19:00 > 0:19:07The Fink River has been cutting its course out of the Central Ranges for nearly 300 million years.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It's thought to be one of the oldest rivers on Earth.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18It doesn't go to the sea, but heads further into the desert.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24Over a 700km route, it transforms the dry lands beyond the mountains.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Even as a ribbon of sand, it's beaded with precious waterholes.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47And long after water has vanished from the surface,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51an avenue of trees can tap into water hidden deep into the sand.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08Red-tailed black cockatoos are never far from the Fink.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12They flock along it, to wherever the food and water happen to be.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16The large trees are a real draw.
0:20:19 > 0:20:25It's in their shade that the cockatoos spend the hot afternoons socialising.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Red river gums offer multi-storey housing,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41with made-to-measure nest holes.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55These cockatoos are large parrots, so they need something roomy.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02It'll be a tight squeeze once mum is in there too.
0:21:17 > 0:21:24These intelligent birds can live for over 50 years, and they spend a whole year raising a single chick.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27It has a lot to learn.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33The outback is not a predictable place.
0:21:33 > 0:21:39In a long run of difficult years, cockatoos must fall back on past experience to find enough to eat.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51Aboriginal people also had to be resourceful, and they never stay too long in one place.
0:21:51 > 0:21:58The Fink was a natural highway, so not surprisingly, it also opened up the centre to newcomers.
0:22:03 > 0:22:09They arrived on imported camels and muscled in around the reliable water holes.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11The Aborigines fought the land grab.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14There were ugly conflicts.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25By the late 1800s, even the poorest range-land had been settled.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31But many cattle stations went bust after a few dry years.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33It's easy to get caught out.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37The centre can look more promising than it is.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Mulga country doesn't even seem like desert.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50It's a dense woodland of acacias, bloodwoods and ghost gums, rooted in the outwash of the Central Ranges.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Most woody shrubs are thirsty and demanding, but these tough plants have flourished,
0:22:59 > 0:23:04despite the poor, dry soils, and despite unwelcome invaders.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21In the 1880s, camel trains were the only way to cross the desert,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25but once roads had been built, the camels were abandoned.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35With no natural predators, they have made themselves at home.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41Australia is now the only country where one-humped camels live naturally in the wild.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58In the breeding season, males do their best to pull as many females as they can.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22The inflatable sac lining the roof of their mouths could only be a camel turn-on.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34But mostly, this display is for the males.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The biggest bull starts to throw his weight around.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Things can get really heavy.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33This upstart gets well and truly bounced.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Over half-a-million camels roam the centre now.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46They are no longer a curiosity.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48They are serious pests.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Despite their overwhelming presence,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58it's the little guys who run the place.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Every morning, a huge ground-level operation takes place.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Units of meat ants fan out to find overnight carnage.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18They'll butcher this dead grasshopper,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and then carry the body parts back to their bunker.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Meat ants outnumber everything at floor level.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38All other invertebrates are dead meat.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47Taken below ground, these bodies are an extra dose of fertility in the soil.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Ants give mulga trees the boost they need to grow in the desert.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Deep in shade is a nest of bulldog ants.
0:27:00 > 0:27:07There are over 1,000 different species of ants in Australia, and these are the ankle biters.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13Each one is 4cm of aggression - a creature of the underworld.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21But they aren't out for themselves.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Caring and sharing works best in the desert.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30Hunters bring back insects, even reptiles, which feed everyone inside.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40They've dug shafts two metres underground.
0:27:40 > 0:27:46The queen and her larvae are coddled in the deepest, coolest and best-protected chambers.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Teamwork is the ultimate buffer against extreme heat and drought.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The queen produces a constant supply of larvae.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11With squads of carers, fortress builders and food gatherers,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14these colonies are virtually immortal.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Beyond the influence of the ranges and the Fink River,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29this driest of continents presents the greatest challenge -
0:28:29 > 0:28:34the largest area of parallel sand-dunes in the world.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39The Simpson Desert would cover most of Britain.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47The early explorers miscalculated much of Australia's desert,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50but there is no mistaking the Simpson.
0:29:02 > 0:29:09The towering ridges were piled up 18,000 years ago by storm-force prevailing winds.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11It's still windy today.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23Aboriginal people avoided it, and when the first European reached it,
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Charles Sturt thought he stood at the gates of hell.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Europeans didn't cross it until just over 60 years ago.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44In 1939, a scientific expedition rode into the inferno.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54It was part field trip, part adventure -
0:29:54 > 0:29:58the white man's stamp on the last area of Australia to be explored.
0:29:58 > 0:30:05A final frontier, where it hits 50 degrees centigrade in summer, and where sandstorms can blow for days.
0:30:32 > 0:30:39The expedition never saw how animals cope in this fan oven, because most of them stay well-hidden.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47The main survival trick is to only come out at night.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55There are a surprising number of animals in the desert hardcore.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04One of the toughest is the mulgara.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14It doesn't even need to drink.
0:31:14 > 0:31:20Insects are 80% water, so it gets all the food and liquid it needs from its nocturnal hunts.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32Nor can they be fussy about what they eat.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35Mulgara will switch between anything -
0:31:35 > 0:31:39birds, lizards, insects, spiders, even other mammals.
0:31:39 > 0:31:44They store fat in their stubby tails to see them through lean times.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50No other country has so many feisty little desert carnivores.
0:31:50 > 0:31:57Even when a male makes a romantic advance, it's a ferocious affair that could last eight hours.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Although they mate every year, many litters die.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Sometimes, there's just not enough food.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39But mulgara can live for over six years.
0:32:39 > 0:32:45A few survive even the longest droughts, so at least some babies are likely to make it through.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56The Simpson Desert is hot, but it's not hell, even for little devils.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Under the sand dunes, it's cooler, and the temperature stays stable,
0:33:05 > 0:33:09a good place for thorny-devil eggs to incubate.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17Although the egg chamber is a bit gritty, it's safe, so they can take their time hatching out.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39It's just a halfway house.
0:33:39 > 0:33:45Once they've rested and their spikes have hardened up, the babies will dig their way out.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07Tunnelling up through half a metre of sand when you're thumb-sized must seem like the Great Escape.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38First, they get their bearings.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48They could easily overheat, so they look for shade.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Running on instinct seems to work in the end.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00And they find their first meal of ants.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16The Simpson Desert might seem like a life sentence to humans,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19but not to the free, roaming symbol of the outback.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32Red kangaroos are Australia's biggest native animal, standing taller than a man.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36But they live on sparse grasses and herbs.
0:35:37 > 0:35:45Five-metre bounds are an efficient way to cover lots of ground, in the search for scattered food and water.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Many roos die during severe droughts.
0:35:59 > 0:36:05But they get numbers back up during good times by becoming permanent breeding machines.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21At any one time, a female can have an embryo on hold inside her,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25a joey suckling on one type of milk in her pouch,
0:36:28 > 0:36:33and a young at foot, drinking a different type of milk from a separate nipple.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44With all this going on, the males are in a constant state of sexual tension.
0:37:15 > 0:37:22The only lose their drive in the very driest and hottest years when their testes quite literally dry up.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30This way, everyone saves energy.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Even though they're big, kangaroos don't need liquid every day.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43But where do they find a drink in a sun-baked land with little or no surface water?
0:37:48 > 0:37:53On the western edge of the Simpson Desert, there's an oasis.
0:37:56 > 0:38:03It's a series of natural springs that have forced up from underground.
0:38:03 > 0:38:09Aboriginal people knew where to find them, and which springs flowed, even in the worst droughts.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Australia's such a vast continent, that early explorers were convinced
0:38:15 > 0:38:19that they would find an inland body of water.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24When they first asked about the existence of these springs, the aboriginal people lied.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26This knowledge was gold dust.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45Each pool is like a desert spa, complete with exclusive clients.
0:38:45 > 0:38:51The hot-water vents stir up a cocktail of algae and other food, where some of the fish feed.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00These aren't called Dalhousie hardy-heads for nothing.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04They're swimming in water that's halfway to boiling point.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16The Dalhousie Springs, as they are now known,
0:39:16 > 0:39:20leak out from a much larger and more extraordinary natural wonder -
0:39:22 > 0:39:25one of the biggest underground reservoirs anywhere -
0:39:25 > 0:39:27the Great Artesian Basin.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Much of this water fell as heavy rain long ago out east.
0:39:33 > 0:39:39It has taken 2 million years to slowly seep down and through the porous underlying rock
0:39:39 > 0:39:41to the centre.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52It would be many decades
0:39:52 > 0:39:57before the colonists learned to pump this water up for their sheep and cattle stations.
0:39:57 > 0:40:03In the very early days, they pinned their hopes on rumours of an inland sea.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10This is what they found.
0:40:16 > 0:40:23From a distance, it looks like a snowfield, except that here, an ice cream would melt in seconds.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25It's a salt lake.
0:40:31 > 0:40:38Lake Eyre covers 9,000 square kilometres, and lies 15 metres below sea level.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40It's the very sump of Australia.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52A sea all right, but one of mud, covered with a blinding, heat-thickened salt crust.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08In 1840, when Edward John Eyre discovered it,
0:41:08 > 0:41:13he stared in horror at "one vast, low and dreary waste".
0:41:23 > 0:41:29Although the lake was named after him, his hopes of finding water were crushed.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42He called it Australia's Dead Heart, and the name stuck.
0:41:48 > 0:41:55Eyre, like most of the Europeans who came after him, never got to grips with Australia's desert centre.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59They had never experienced a place so random, so unforgiving.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05A place where it never rains, but it pours.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32You may have to wait over 10 years to see this.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40And every 30 years or so, it rains so hard, even Noah would be impressed.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Thousands of square kilometres of desert are awash.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56But as these epic floods drain away, something truly remarkable happens.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03None of this water will ever reach the sea.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08It flows inwards to the country's lowest point - Lake Eyre.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Edward Eyre had been in the right place at the wrong time,
0:43:20 > 0:43:25and missed one of Australia's most astonishing spectacles.
0:43:30 > 0:43:36It is not known whether birds on the coast - 1,500 kilometres away - can smell the water,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40or whether they sense a change in the atmosphere,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44but they arrive from all over Australia, and in their thousands.
0:43:52 > 0:43:58Pelicans head for the islands, where their nests will be safe from goannas and dingoes.
0:44:11 > 0:44:17By the time the last spaces are being filled, some chicks will have hatched already.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27But how do they know to breed here?
0:44:27 > 0:44:34If this desert sea only forms every three decades, how do they know what it has to offer?
0:44:40 > 0:44:48Pelicans are long-lived, and it is now believed that the wise old birds remember where to go.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56And they aren't the only ones to keep coming back.
0:45:08 > 0:45:15These waters are stuffed beyond imagination with fish, shrimps, mussels and yabbies.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19A population explosion, triggered by the floods.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22And it is all within easy reach.
0:45:29 > 0:45:35Pelicans operate like a fleet of trawlers, scooping their netted beaks through shoals of fish.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58Then, when their crops are full, they return to offload the catch back at the nest.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12This isn't just a family gathering, it's a pelican pick-up joint.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22Birds from different parts of Australia get together,
0:46:22 > 0:46:27and in this way, pelicans keep their genes well-mixed.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30There are around 50,000 pairs in this colony.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Some chicks are nearly as large as their parents.
0:46:34 > 0:46:40In their frenzy to eat, the big ones almost suffocate down their parents' gullets.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43They have to be shaken out.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01Pelicans will spend the best part of a year here, breeding to the bitter end.
0:47:01 > 0:47:07The chicks that hatch last may not have fledged by the time the fish run out.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Lake Eyre will evaporate into mere memory.
0:47:24 > 0:47:31Australia's desert heartland is dominated by this breathtaking cycle of drought and flood.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33It doesn't follow any rules.
0:47:33 > 0:47:39Which is why for over a century, most new settlers turned their backs on it.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47Only very recently did the centre become a place to visit.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52People have come to love its stark beauty and intriguing detail.
0:47:52 > 0:47:58With understanding has come respect, both for its nature and its people.
0:47:58 > 0:48:03It's now treasured as the very essence of Australia.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09The much-maligned centre has finally been taken to heart.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Next week, Wild Down Under takes to the sea,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25from the dazzling tropics to a wild Southern Ocean.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32Just like the land, Australia's seas are extraordinary and different.
0:48:34 > 0:48:41This is a journey around Australia's dramatic coastline, revealing the most spectacular seas on the planet.