0:00:02 > 0:00:05Coast is on its biggest expedition ever.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07I've arrived in Australia.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11It feels like this ancient land has been there done that
0:00:11 > 0:00:14and still has loads of energy for more.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Around every corner, every bay you go into there's something
0:00:18 > 0:00:23more spectacular, more fascinating, more immense.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25But the true marvel of the coast
0:00:25 > 0:00:28is its power to inspire the imagination,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32the endless possibilities it holds for those
0:00:32 > 0:00:37who know it, love it, and return again and again to rediscover it.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Australia's only island state, Tasmania,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57is defined by its coastline.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Separated from the mainland to the north by the formidable Bass Strait,
0:01:01 > 0:01:03to the east by the Tasman Sea,
0:01:03 > 0:01:07and rolling in uninterrupted all the way from Antarctica,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10the chilling vastness of the Great Southern Ocean.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Three Western empires put this island on the map.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23Dutchman Abel Tasman was the first European to step ashore in 1642.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Then came the French surveyors who made several expeditions here,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33but, of course, it was the British who claimed it,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36settling here in 1803.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41We've come here to explore how Tasmania's geographic isolation
0:01:41 > 0:01:45has steered its history and shaped the people
0:01:45 > 0:01:47along its south-eastern shores.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Brendan Moar journeys to remote rugged Tasman Island
0:01:52 > 0:01:55to understand the dramatic grip of lighthouse life
0:01:55 > 0:01:57on our coastal culture.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59This would have to be one of the most beautiful places
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I think I've ever seen... But you can feel the isolation.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Marine ecologist, Dr Emma Johnston dives into the battle
0:02:06 > 0:02:10between alien sea urchins and giant rock lobsters.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11Oi!
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Palaeontologist, Professor Tim Flannery,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18reveals Hobart's crucial role in Antarctic exploration.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21In the footsteps of Scott and Amundsen and Mawson.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23They were tiny, weren't they?
0:02:23 > 0:02:28Anthropologist, Dr Xanthe Mallett is grateful that fashion changes.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Oh, I do not fancy wearing this!
0:02:30 > 0:02:36And I discover the enormous effort to restore a grand dame of the sea.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39This is definitely in the once-in-a-lifetime category
0:02:39 > 0:02:40of opportunities.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46This is Coast Australia.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13On this journey, we explore a coastline
0:03:13 > 0:03:18that starts at Wineglass Bay, on the Freycinet Peninsula,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21continues on to Port Arthur, into Hobart,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and crosses over to Bruny Island in the south.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40The majesty of this coastal landscape and its flora and fauna
0:03:40 > 0:03:43cannot fail to inspire.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49but its natural beauty belies a dark past.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52From the European perspective, this island outpost was,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55from the outset, the realm of hard men.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04Given how perfect it looks today,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06it's hard to imagine the scene down there
0:04:06 > 0:04:09when the whaling industry was at its height.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13But when that bay was completely full of whales' blood
0:04:13 > 0:04:16lapping against that perfectly circular rim,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19it was said to resemble a wine glass full of claret.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24As if coloured by such a past,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28the rare pink granite, characteristic of the region,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31forms nearly 40km of pristine coastline.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38As we head south, the rock changes colour, but not the history.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42I'm heading to Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45the showpiece of Australia's convict past.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51In Britain, the initial fear of transportation was waning,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53so the British government had to up its game.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56What was needed was a new penal colony.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59A place who's very name would inspire fear and dread
0:04:59 > 0:05:01in all who heard it.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06The new Governor, George Arthur, was tasked with creating
0:05:06 > 0:05:09a sophisticated new penal system designed to become
0:05:09 > 0:05:14the ultimate deterrent for the Empire's most wayward malcontents.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17What he created...was this.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26From small beginnings as a convict timber-camp in 1830
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Port Arthur's settlement expanded into new industries
0:05:29 > 0:05:31of both hard and light labour,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and new methods of punishment
0:05:33 > 0:05:36to replace the bloody practice of flogging.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43By the time the last convict left in 1877,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47around 7,000 men had served time here.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50At Port Arthur, the creed was simple...
0:05:50 > 0:05:53To grind rogues into honest men.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Now, it sounds unpleasant, and I'm sure it was.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59What I want to understand, though, is just how successful
0:05:59 > 0:06:02they were at the business of reform through punishment.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08I'm meeting colonial historian, Dr Hamish Maxwell-Stewart,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11who has spent years studying this place,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and the people who worked their way through it.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Hamish, I have to say, on a day like today, this place looks beautiful.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20It's hard to imagine it as a place of suffering, punishment.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22It's gorgeous, isn't it?
0:06:22 > 0:06:25One of the interesting things is that the convicts that were here,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27at least some of them, said exactly the same thing.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31So they wrote in memoires about the strangeness of being a prisoner
0:06:31 > 0:06:35in a penal station, the worst sinkhole in the British Empire,
0:06:35 > 0:06:36in a location that was so beautiful.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41And what kind of prisoners ended up in this colony?
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Secondary offenders, largely, so these are people
0:06:44 > 0:06:48who had committed an offence in the colony, but not serious offences.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50So you did anything really bad you got topped.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The largest single group of people who came here were absconders,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58so convicts who ran away from other locations and also,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59really interestingly,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02some people who commit crimes that are so spectacular
0:07:02 > 0:07:05in the British Isles that they're singled out for special punishment.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07So who are these spectaculars?
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Well, if you threw a stone at George III, for example,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12that might get you here.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15That goes in the box marked "asking for trouble."
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Hamish is taking me into the penitentiary building,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24in which 484 desperate lives were once cramped.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29How have you gone about, you know, understanding this place?
0:07:29 > 0:07:33You know, how do you make sense of so much human misery?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Well, I think that's a really, really important question
0:07:35 > 0:07:37because all we've got here is walls,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40but one of the fascinating things about this site
0:07:40 > 0:07:43is the records for this place are just insane.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46You can actually track individuals through this place?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48We know the colour of their eyes.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51'Hamish has brought with him the very detailed records
0:07:51 > 0:07:54'of Scotsman William Irving, a 40-year-old fabric printer,
0:07:54 > 0:07:59'convicted for assault and sentenced to 21 years in the colonies.'
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Complexion, head, hair, whiskers.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08How many people are recorded like this...to this level of detail?
0:08:08 > 0:08:1072,000.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12- 72,000?- 72,000 prisoners.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14And you've got this level of detail
0:08:14 > 0:08:16down to the colour of their whiskers and whatever?
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Some of them we know species of the worm that infested their gut.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Of those 72,000 lives preserved in Tasmania's convict records,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29almost 10% spent time in these grounds.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35In 1850, a new building was opened at Port Arthur,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39modelled on the panopticon design developed in Britain and America.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Where once flogging was the ultimate penalty for unruly convicts,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45isolation was the new weapon.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Having being transported to Tasmania,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53how does William Irving end up in the complex of buildings
0:08:53 > 0:08:54at Port Arthur?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57It's a really sad story, see, he almost gets his freedom,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01but he can't get work and he ends up as a pauper/invalid.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03And one of the places that pauper/invalids were sent
0:09:03 > 0:09:05was Port Arthur.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07And he's in the invalids establishment
0:09:07 > 0:09:09where he's done for being absent without leave
0:09:09 > 0:09:11and he goes into this building.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13And this building here is...
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Well, you were in a panopticon, so an all-seeing prison.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And this point here is you know the heart of the panopticon,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23it's where the warden sat and he can see down every corridor.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28All of these cells are just single occupancy?
0:09:28 > 0:09:29Yes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32This is a claustrophobic space, isn't it?
0:09:32 > 0:09:35This is where a convict spent their time during the day,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39but if they had to go outside at all, they had to wear one of these.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40Why do you put that on?
0:09:40 > 0:09:42So if they did happen to be seen by another prisoner,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44the other prisoner couldn't recognize them.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So, no name, no face?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52- Just a number.- Gosh.
0:09:52 > 0:09:53This only half of it.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57When William Irving is in this building, he again messes up
0:09:57 > 0:10:02and he transitions into yet one more level below this.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Oh, this is the heart of darkness in here.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08It's a full-blown solitary confinement cell.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10And it would have been dark?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13It would have been pitch-dark, and you've got four doors in this one
0:10:13 > 0:10:15between you and the outside world.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17So, meter thick walls.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19- So it's sensory deprivation. - Absolutely.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28I'm struck by how strong the desire to escape this place
0:10:28 > 0:10:29would have been.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33But beyond the mental torture, the natural, physical boundaries
0:10:33 > 0:10:37have created a formidable challenge for the daring.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The only escape by land was 20km north,
0:10:40 > 0:10:44across the 30m wide neck called Eaglehawk.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47But even here, there was an even more fearsome,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and hungry, line of defence.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53I've come here to meet Port Arthur archaeologist, Dr Jodie Steele,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55to discover what the chances were
0:10:55 > 0:10:58of surviving a desperate attempt at freedom.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Who's your ferocious friend?
0:11:00 > 0:11:02He's part of the line of defence
0:11:02 > 0:11:04that protected the gateway to the penal peninsula.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05Um, but he didn't act alone.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08I've bought a little postcard from our collection
0:11:08 > 0:11:09for you to have a look at.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11- Oh, that's great, isn't it?- It is.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13A team of between 11 and 18 dogs, lined up between here
0:11:13 > 0:11:16all the way across this isthmus out into the bay.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17If you wanted to make a break for it,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21pretty much the ocean was your best bet but that meant swimming.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24But for all that, I presume men were trying to get out.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26There were a lot of people attempting it,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28but usually they wouldn't make it very far.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Everything about it is just a challenge for the convict, isn't it?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Oh, it would have been, and they were constantly wearing leg irons
0:11:34 > 0:11:36in the chain gang, and I've brought a pair to show you.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39So anyone who's out in the... in the environment,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41in the landscape has got their legs shackled?
0:11:41 > 0:11:43They were, yep.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44They were usually in gangs
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and they would have been wearing these heavy irons.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49And these are, these are the real deal?
0:11:49 > 0:11:50These aren't replicas?
0:11:50 > 0:11:52They are the real deal.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55And you can see they're slightly burrowed, in an oval shape,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58so they've had a fair amount of damage done to them
0:11:58 > 0:11:59to try and get them off.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Right so that's... Someone has sat on a beach somewhere
0:12:01 > 0:12:04and just thumped away at them with a rock or whatever.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Most likely a rock or whatever they could get their hands on.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11What about William Irving that I've been hearing about?
0:12:11 > 0:12:14At Port Arthur he just seems to disappear.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16A number of things could've happened to him.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Um, you can assume that he got out, made it to the mainland, um,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22might have changed his name and then lived happily ever after.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24But, unfortunately, not many of them did.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27We have records of the absconders ending up in the bush.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Several decades later people finding them still with their leg irons on,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32nothing but a skeleton.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35And I suppose any one of those could have been William Irving.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Any of them could have been.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43Old stories are aplenty here.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Born of a daunting coastline,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and living in the minds of those
0:12:48 > 0:12:51who watched over the ebb and flow of history's seafarers.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59Brendan Moar wants to know why at this very forbidding tip of Tasmania
0:12:59 > 0:13:02the memory of it all is worth preserving.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08In Australia today, all lighthouses are automated,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11but they remain as beacons of a bygone era,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15much-loved and cared for by small armies of devoted volunteers.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I'm on a mission to find out why lighthouses
0:13:22 > 0:13:26occupy such a romantic and dramatic place in our coastal culture.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29But before I can board my ride out, I've got to scrub down!
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I'm joining a working bee at the legendary Tasman Island Lighthouse.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37It stands in a particularly pristine environmental
0:13:37 > 0:13:40which means no bugs or weeds from the mainland.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Tasman Island..
0:13:55 > 0:13:59off the rugged south-eastern tip of the Tasman Peninsula,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02topped by that familiar sentinel of maritime safety.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05Oh, my God!
0:14:09 > 0:14:11This is a rare privilege.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13I'm joining a very dedicated group of volunteers
0:14:13 > 0:14:17who come here three times a year to maintain the Tasman Lighthouse
0:14:17 > 0:14:18and surrounding buildings.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21If anyone can explain the fascination with lighthouses,
0:14:21 > 0:14:22these guys can.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25- Good morning.- Good morning. Hope your boots are clean!
0:14:25 > 0:14:26They are very clean. You must be Carol.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29- I am. Welcome. Welcome to the island.- Great to meet you.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The Tasman Island lighthouse was opened in 1906.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36It was de-manned in 1977,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39and has run on automated solar power ever since.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42The homes too have stood empty since then.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46But why do the memories remain strong?
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Carol Jackson spent her childhood here.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50For a lighthouse kid
0:14:50 > 0:14:53it's different to being a keeper or a keeper's wife.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56As kids, Mum used to always say to us that, you know,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58we grew up with too much wind in our heads.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01So you have this freedom, you have an independence,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03you have a resilience.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08You had to make do. You had to make your own fun.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We didn't have TV. There were no shops. There were no doctors.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16You had a life that was pure and simple.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19With such strong family connections
0:15:19 > 0:15:22she formed The Friends of Tasman Island eight years ago
0:15:22 > 0:15:23to preserve its heritage,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27in partnership with the Parks and Wildlife Service.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Why is this important for anyone to do this?
0:15:29 > 0:15:31People love wild places.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34We have a...a motley crew each working bee.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38So some people are ex-keepers, or like myself, a keeper's kid,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42and know the history and love the history behind it.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44The stories behind the light station here.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Others are pharophiles.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49They just love anything to do with lighthouses.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54The volunteers arrived with a diverse range of skills to repair,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57paint and maintain the ageing buildings and gardens,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59which cop the full force of mother nature.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03This is a much bigger house.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Enormously important bit of maritime heritage
0:16:05 > 0:16:09in a stunning, spectacular spot, and they deserve to be preserved.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13There are four brick keepers' cottages
0:16:13 > 0:16:16and the remains of several other smaller buildings
0:16:16 > 0:16:20that dot the plateau that's just over 1.5km long by 1km wide.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25And here we are arriving at what we call the wim,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27the top of the haulage way.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28It's beyond stunning.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34This is the most extraordinary view...landscape...thing.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37It's amazing. It's just breathtaking.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39My back yard.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Your back yard? It's a helluva back yard.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Before helicopters, ships were used
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and it made for a hazardous landing.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51People and supplies could only travel up the steep tramway
0:16:51 > 0:16:55from the small wharf... All the way down there.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It's about 45 degrees most of the way down.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00But the last couple of hundred feet are one over one,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02so you're actually laying on the trolley
0:17:02 > 0:17:04but you're standing up almost, so...
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- That's me.- Oh, that's you there?
0:17:06 > 0:17:08- My mother.- That's your mum.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Yeah, and this is how we got on the island.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12Gosh.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15So, the basket would be dropped. So down on the landing.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18There was a flying fox shed and the flying fox
0:17:18 > 0:17:21would send the basket down and drop it into the boat.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23The boat would go back out.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27You'd clamber into the basket and then boat would come back on,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31hook you up onto the flying fox and you'd be battered
0:17:31 > 0:17:35back and forth until you got onto the landing.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Sheep, cattle, all the coal briquettes...
0:17:41 > 0:17:43everything came up this haulage way.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Were there ever any accidents?
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Oh, yes. There's been a couple of deaths on the haulage way.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53When the crane wasn't working on the landing,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57one of the workers there fell into the sea, never to be found again.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Memories that linger on in the rusted wheels
0:18:03 > 0:18:06and old homes that stand against the windswept landscape.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13It was a solitary life with just one purpose...
0:18:13 > 0:18:15to keep the light burning bright.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19As Tasman Island's last permanent keeper, Karl Rowbottom, tells me,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22it's always an emotional time when he returns.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Can you smell the kerosene?
0:18:25 > 0:18:26No.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Oh, I still can. The place was full of kerosene once.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Let's go up.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35This is the first landing, Brendan, and we're still going to keep going.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Right, Brendan. Come out and have bit of a look, mate.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41See what you reckon of this for a view.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Oh, wow! My God!
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- Yeah.- It's amazing.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50It didn't matter if anyone was sick or someone died,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52or some...some catastrophe happened.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54This light would have to go every night.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It would have to go and everyone was secondary to the light.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59The light was God around here.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02You're basically the last man standing.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05How does it feel for you lightkeeping is now
0:19:05 > 0:19:06a thing of the past?
0:19:06 > 0:19:10It's a sad thing that that history is gone from our society
0:19:10 > 0:19:14because they were men...men of a special calibre
0:19:14 > 0:19:17and so were their families to live out in these places.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20The day I had to leave here was the worst part.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21That really hurt.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24I think my heart died that day.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27I went back to the mainland. I couldn't settle there.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29I... Oh, I became a rebel...
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Wonder I didn't end up in jail, but anyway,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36it's funny as I was going down in basket for last time,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39I could feel my heart going down and down with it and, um...
0:19:39 > 0:19:42So that was a bit sad really and then when I saw John Davey,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44see that he's still relief keeping...
0:19:44 > 0:19:48um, went up in the basket and that's when I thought the job's gone.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Bit sad.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57This will have to be one of the most beautiful places
0:19:57 > 0:19:58I think I've ever seen.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00But you can feel the isolation.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05And to think of the people spending up to two years here,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07which was the maximum posting,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I have no idea how they did it.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I don't think I could do it.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16They're certainly made of sterner stuff that I am, that's for sure.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Memories and traditions are well preserved in Tasmania,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31particularly when it involves the sea.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I'm going to meet the people who have committed to cultivating
0:20:35 > 0:20:39a renaissance of Australia's wooden maritime culture.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43They have a really big get-together every two years
0:20:43 > 0:20:45to show off their precious vessels.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48It's called the Australian Wooden Boat Festival,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50and they've invited me along.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54I'm in Oyster Cove on a special day.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It's the ninth and last morning of a little boat raid
0:20:57 > 0:21:00called Tawe Nunnegah.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02- Ros.- Good morning.- How are you?
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Ros Barnett is a member of the Living Boat Trust,
0:21:05 > 0:21:10a community devoted to keeping Tasmania's maritime heritage alive.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Ros, what is Tawe Nunnegah?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16It's an expedition of small boats.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18It's a...a raid, we call it.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21And the idea is that's a lot of these boats are so small
0:21:21 > 0:21:24that they wouldn't be safe going alone so they go together in a group.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29How important is it to keep the boat-making skills alive?
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Oh, just incredibly important.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36And to build a boat, you need the knowledge, the skill, and the timber.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38So Tasmania's got the best boat-building timber.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41We've still got some of these precious people that really know
0:21:41 > 0:21:43how to build a boat really well,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and we've got these enthusiastic people that want to sail them.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48We're out there in boats.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Best water than you'll ever get anywhere else in the world
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and we're just having fun.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04With over ten nautical miles of water to travel before I jump ship,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08I'm happy not to be relying on oar-power.
0:22:08 > 0:22:09We get the good boat...
0:22:12 > 0:22:14..with coffee and everything.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I've scored a lift north on one of the biggest boats
0:22:17 > 0:22:19in the Tawe Nunnegah raid.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- How you doing?- Hi.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26It's a genuinely pleasing sight, isn't it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:30To see so many vessels on the water together. It's just lovely.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36But I'm trying to spot my date to the festival...
0:22:36 > 0:22:39An elegantly restored three-masted barque,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41the tallest ship of the fleet heading into to Hobart
0:22:41 > 0:22:43for the opening of the festival.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Ah-ha! I've clocked her.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I make my way onto the 140-year-old James Craig,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01to discover the extraordinary story of her salvage.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Thank you.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Take in the main...
0:23:08 > 0:23:10Bringing in the...
0:23:11 > 0:23:14'Alan Edenborough has been a member of the Sydney Heritage Fleet
0:23:14 > 0:23:18'since 1969, and fascinated by tall ships since a teenager.'
0:23:18 > 0:23:22So all this madness is yours.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Initially, yes, yes. A lot of people have helped since.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Built in England in 1874 she ploughed the world's oceans
0:23:30 > 0:23:31as a merchant ship.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Later reduced to transporting coal
0:23:34 > 0:23:38and abandoned in 1932 in Recherche Bay,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41this is what Allan discovered in 1972.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48How did... I've seen the photograph of the...of the rusting hulk.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Well, somebody told us in Sydney.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52They said, "We want one tall ship to Sydney,"
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and I was silly enough to take up the challenge
0:23:54 > 0:23:55to see if we could find one.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57So how did you finally come across...?
0:23:57 > 0:24:00I found a little magazine which, uh, had written an article from
0:24:00 > 0:24:04a Sydney sailor who'd been down to Hobart, and he'd seen the hull.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I said, "That's the best looking wreck I've seen."
0:24:06 > 0:24:07And the rest is history.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09- That was the best looking wreck. - Absolutely.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12And when you saw that hulk in that tragic condition,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15you knew that this was achievable?
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Not immediately, but we did two surveys.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19We went down and we spent, uh,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22a total of about two weeks on board the ship.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Living on board this hulk.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26We go down to the keel, and once we got to the keel
0:24:26 > 0:24:28we realised that she was salvageable.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31The frames and the ship and the fabric of the ship was intact.
0:24:31 > 0:24:32That that's the critical thing.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35I must admit we had to pour about two bottles of scotch
0:24:35 > 0:24:37down the surveyor's throat before he'd sign the letter
0:24:37 > 0:24:40to say it could be salvaged, but he was a nice chap.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44And then it was a 20-year slog to get it back into working condition.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49She is one of only four barques from the 19th century
0:24:49 > 0:24:51still sailing anywhere in the world.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54A true masterpiece of restoration,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58a 30-year labour of love for those devoted to her.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I'm going up to that little white deck up there.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Absolutely thrilled.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30It is a bit good up here.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33How often does a person get the chance to look out at Hobart,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37from this far up the mast of the James Craig.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40This is definitely in the once-in-a-lifetime category
0:25:40 > 0:25:41of opportunities.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Since the early 1960s, Hobart's Tasman Bridge
0:25:59 > 0:26:03has been the vital link between the city and its eastern suburbs.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06But, on a calm night in 1975,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10fate shattered the peace and quiet of a sleeping city.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14A wayward bulk load carrier struck the bridge and sank,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17bringing down pylons and concrete spans.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Seven crew were killed and five motorists died
0:26:20 > 0:26:23when their vehicles plunged 60m from the top.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27The city was left with a bridge to nowhere for almost three years.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Hobart has never forgotten its night of adversity,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and today, it builds bridges of a different kind.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42This is the heart of Australia's enduring exploration of Antarctica.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Palaeontologist, Professor Tim Flannery,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49discovers a heroic blend of science and adventure.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54There are more Antarctic scientists here than anywhere else in the world
0:26:54 > 0:26:59because Hobart's the gateway to the Southern Ocean and beyond.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04So I want to discover what a modern day expedition to the ice involves.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06And to do that, you really have to understand
0:27:06 > 0:27:09what happened in the past and you simply can't disregard
0:27:09 > 0:27:12the greatest Antarctica story of them all.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17It begins when a raggedy, exhausted man
0:27:17 > 0:27:20walks into this city hotel fresh off the boat
0:27:20 > 0:27:22after an 18-month expedition.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Just over a century ago, a disreputable looking figure
0:27:27 > 0:27:30made his way into this rather grand hotel lobby.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33The duty clerk mistook him for a tramp and gave him an inferior room
0:27:33 > 0:27:35at the back of the hotel.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36But the following day,
0:27:36 > 0:27:40that man would be recognised as a great international hero.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44He was Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48And here he is after a well deserved shave and shower.
0:27:48 > 0:27:55He had just travelled 5,250km from his triumph to Hobart.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56The papers proclaimed,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00"The hero Amundsen had conquered the South Pole."
0:28:00 > 0:28:01The race was over.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04His long time rival, Robert Scott, had died trying.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10And back then, the voyage out must have been a hazardous one.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14But scientists are still going south and they're discovering great things,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17and I'm really keen to learn what the journey's like today.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19I'm returning port-side to meet
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Australian Antarctic Division Chief Scientist, Dr Nick Gales.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26So, tell me was it really all a race to the Poles?
0:28:26 > 0:28:27Well, back then it really was.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29That was where the attention of the whole globe was.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32They were the they were the rock stars of the age.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Just like I and people of my generation and older
0:28:34 > 0:28:37remember the lunar landing and where they were.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40That was the scale of attention and it was a huge race
0:28:40 > 0:28:42to get the first person into the South Pole
0:28:42 > 0:28:44of this great unknown land.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48And one of them was this great Tasmanian, um, Lewey Vanacky,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51who came down here in the late 19th century with his family,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55and went down as part of the very first expedition ever
0:28:55 > 0:28:56to over winter in Antarctica.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59And he went down as a scientist, so he was starting to measure
0:28:59 > 0:29:01a whole lot of the science that was fascinating to him,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and to the scientists that followed him,
0:29:04 > 0:29:05like Edgeworth David and Mawson.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07So, Mawson was a geologist, wasn't he?
0:29:07 > 0:29:10He was a great geologist but he was more than that.
0:29:10 > 0:29:11He really was a renaissance man,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15if you like, because he recognised the importance of the science
0:29:15 > 0:29:17in Antarctica above and beyond everything else.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19And like the science that he was doing back then,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22is that still the sort of thing that's ongoing today,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23or has he nature of it all changed?
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Well, we do things very differently now
0:29:25 > 0:29:28because we have all these wonderful new tools to do our science,
0:29:28 > 0:29:29but the drivers were the same.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33What happens in the Southern Ocean? What happens with the ice cap?
0:29:33 > 0:29:35It's the engine room of global climate.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37So it's relevant to us all.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Modern day expeditions to the ice
0:29:42 > 0:29:45remain physically and mentally challenging for everyone.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48I'm fortunate to be here just at the right time to witness
0:29:48 > 0:29:53Australia's all-purpose Antarctic flagship, preparing to head south.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00The Aurora Australis is Australia's only icebreaker.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07Since 1990, she's been transporting faculties of scientists
0:30:07 > 0:30:10to Australia's three bases in Antarctica
0:30:10 > 0:30:12to examine the ice continent.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18On board, is Dr Tas Van Ommen,
0:30:18 > 0:30:23an Antarctic Division scientist who specialises in ice cores.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25So, how old is the oldest ice down there?
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Well, we've got good reason to believe that the oldest ice
0:30:28 > 0:30:31is probably over a million years old and there are some real puzzles
0:30:31 > 0:30:34that we want to access one day by getting that old ice.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37But, for the moment, we're satisfied trying to build up
0:30:37 > 0:30:39our network of younger ice records, as well.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Antarctic has 18,000 km of coast
0:30:49 > 0:30:52and most of it's actually hidden beneath ice.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56And the exact configuration of that ice-water interface
0:30:56 > 0:30:59is so important for determining how the ice responds
0:30:59 > 0:31:01in a warming climate.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04In a sense, you could say the coast of Antarctica hold the key
0:31:04 > 0:31:07to the changing coast to the rest of the planet.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11When you're down there on the ice,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14do you ever think about the heroic age of exploration
0:31:14 > 0:31:18and the conditions Mawson and those other explorers faced down there?
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Yeah, I do. And I marvel at the fact they went into the unknown,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23whereas we're going into something that we've got some experience
0:31:23 > 0:31:24and knowledge about.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29And they achieved such amazing things with such basic equipment.
0:31:29 > 0:31:30BOAT HORN HONKS
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- Bridge, fore and aft, let go. - Copy that, let go, over.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Bridge to aft, letting go all lines.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40BOAT HORN HONKS
0:31:42 > 0:31:43Thank you.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56The boat just moves so gracefully and slowly
0:31:56 > 0:31:59as it comes down the Derwind here.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02It's more like a ballet than anything I would have expected.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I wish I was heading south with them, but it's time for me
0:32:08 > 0:32:11to bid bon voyage to the Aurora Australis
0:32:11 > 0:32:14for her 96th journey to Antarctica.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23And there she goes, a veteran polar explorer in the footsteps
0:32:23 > 0:32:25of Scott, Amundsen, and Mawson.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35While those heroic explorers venture south,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39there were pioneers of a different hue further north.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Freycinet Peninsula is famously frequented by visitors
0:32:48 > 0:32:50in search of its wildlife.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56I'm heading to the site of particularly large nature fest
0:32:56 > 0:32:58over 100 years ago.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02These naturalists, as they were known,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05were forerunners in Tasmania's now famous green movement.
0:33:07 > 0:33:13In Easter 1910, Coles Bay became the base for the naturalists' field camp
0:33:13 > 0:33:16after nearly 100 naturalists, men and women,
0:33:16 > 0:33:18sailed here from Hobart.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21I'm going to meet local historian Maureen Martin Ferris,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23to see what all the fuss was about.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28They really were very interested in studying some of the botany,
0:33:28 > 0:33:33some of the beautiful granite, and also the marine animals
0:33:33 > 0:33:38because they were botanists, you had zoologists.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42- One of them, of course, was Errol Flynn's father.- Really?
0:33:42 > 0:33:44- He was a zoologist.- Gosh, right. OK.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And he actually wrote a wonderful report,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and in the report it says that they actually discovered
0:33:50 > 0:33:5660 new Tasmanian species and 25 Australian species.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59So here's some of them and you can see them in their wonderful...
0:33:59 > 0:34:01the women in their hats and their long gowns.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03I'm so relieved that it's the kind of naturalists
0:34:03 > 0:34:05that study wildlife and not the naturalists
0:34:05 > 0:34:07that play naked table tennis.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Well, actually, that's what I imagined they were like.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- And you can see...yes.- And this is this bay here?- Yes, it is.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Oh, that's the is that the headland there?
0:34:14 > 0:34:16That's the headland. You can see it right there.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Oh, right. Fantastic.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20What always gets me about these photos
0:34:20 > 0:34:22is the way that nobody's dressed for the beach.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25No, none of them. They're all dressed as if they were going down town.
0:34:25 > 0:34:26Yeah. Look at that.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30They look as if they've arrived in the primordial jungle there,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32with tents dotted about.
0:34:32 > 0:34:33Such simple kit as well,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I mean, they were just canvases is thrown over ropes.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Perhaps the greatest legacy of those early naturalists
0:34:41 > 0:34:44was the creation of Tasmania's first national park,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49here in 1916 to protect Freycinet's natural beauty for generations.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56Preserving nature is a fine thing, but what if nature changes?
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Further south, the tide is turning.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Australia's east ocean current has been delivering
0:35:03 > 0:35:05some uninvited visitors to the area,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08turning it into an underwater battlefield.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13Marine ecologist, Dr Emma Johnston is diving into the fight
0:35:13 > 0:35:16to pick the winners from the losers.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19What's the relationship between this and this?
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Both are featured on expensive menus around the world.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27But one is an unwelcome visitor, and the other one wants to eat it.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30I'm here to find out what's gone wrong in the neighbourhood.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36Traditionally, the peaceful waters of Dunalley
0:35:36 > 0:35:40have had a thriving marine ecosystem producing loads of seafood.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42But that's now under threat,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45since the East Australian Current has been bringing warmer waters
0:35:45 > 0:35:49from the north, and with it, armies of long spined urchins.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51G'day!
0:35:51 > 0:35:55'Marine ecologist, Dr Scott Ling, from the University of Tasmania,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58'has promised to take me to the battle ground.'
0:36:02 > 0:36:05We're travelling to North Bay where these invasive urchins
0:36:05 > 0:36:09are eating their way through the native sea kelp at an alarming rate,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13leaving the sea beds increasingly barren and unproductive.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15I'm keen to see the evidence,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and discover the creative solutions that might just save them.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21OK, we'll head down to eight and then swim across until we hit the...
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Swim across and then we'll we should see a lot of the kelp bed
0:36:24 > 0:36:28through here, and then some of the barren areas will start to emerge.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30- There you go. Set to go.- Thank you.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Generally, we've got a fairly healthy kelp bed system here.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54This is showing the first signs of these urchins
0:36:54 > 0:36:55overgrazing the system.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59The barren patches that are really just starting to form.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Look at that! Beautiful.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17They're just like little eating machines, aren't they?
0:37:17 > 0:37:19- That's right.- Munching away.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21If you look at how long these spines are here,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23really good protection from any lobster that's trying to eat them.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30So purple! It looks black under the water. Pretty bright.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36You can see their five teeth. His mouth's opening up there slightly.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39These are the... This is what's doing all the damage to the kelp.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42See their teeth are extremely hard.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44And, um, they use a rasping type action
0:37:44 > 0:37:47to strip the rock clear of all the algae.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Like a plague of marine locusts,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55the prickly invaders are eating the sea bed bare.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58The evidence of their destruction is overwhelming.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00But, no more!
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Enter the local hero... the Tasmanian rock lobster.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Here we have the southern rock lobster.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11This is obviously a larger specimen.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It's these larger specimens that are able to prey on things
0:38:14 > 0:38:15like sea urchins.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Obviously you've got all those protective spines.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20It takes quite a large predator to be able to deal with that
0:38:20 > 0:38:22and roll the urchin over and eat it...
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Ah! Oi!
0:38:25 > 0:38:26..on the underside.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29With the support of local fishermen, Scott and his team
0:38:29 > 0:38:34are returning to this area the once over-fished giant rock lobsters,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37to take on their opponent.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Heading back to shore, Scott is going to show me
0:38:39 > 0:38:43some rare and exclusive footage of an urchin kill.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45OK, so if you have a look here,
0:38:45 > 0:38:48we've got some infrared remote monitoring of a sea urchin.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51- Is that the urchin?- That's the urchin there. This is at night.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54You can see spines are quite relaxed until the lobster turns up.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57And then the lobster goes about trying to grapple the urchin.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00It rolls it and starts attacking the urchin through the weaker underside
0:39:00 > 0:39:03where there's less protection from the spines.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04So, is it working?
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Yeah, well, certainly it was a bit of a surprise as to how well
0:39:07 > 0:39:09the lobsters actually took up residence
0:39:09 > 0:39:10on these sea urchin barrens.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14So what we're looking at here is, um...
0:39:14 > 0:39:18first of all, there's really obvious yellowy coloured structure.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20That's the...the roe or the gonad.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22So that's the eggs, and for a lobster he cracks open an urchin
0:39:22 > 0:39:25and the first thing he goes for is the roe.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28You've got a lot more calories in there than anything else.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30I'm not sure whether you want to try some, but why not?
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Oh, gosh. Really? Fresh?
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- Yeah. Give it a go. Give it a go. Fresh.- OK.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Taste like the ocean?
0:39:41 > 0:39:43That is delicious.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46That's like ocean butter.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49But a small platoon of lobsters is no guarantee
0:39:49 > 0:39:52against a battalion of voracious urchins.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00So, I wonder whether our growing taste for urchin roe
0:40:00 > 0:40:04may become another defence against the spiny invaders.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08On the final leg of my investigation,
0:40:08 > 0:40:14I'm returning to Dunalley Bay to meet diver and entrepreneur Dave Allen.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Wow, that looks like a huge haul.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19How much have you got here?
0:40:19 > 0:40:20Oh, probably 3/4 of a tonne.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23How much roe do you get out of, say, 3/4 of a tonne?
0:40:23 > 0:40:24About 80kg of roe.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28And that's the premium product.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33And at peak of the season that can bring as much as 400 a kilo
0:40:33 > 0:40:35in the Japanese market.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Can we eat our way out of this problem?
0:40:37 > 0:40:40Um...I think it's been proven most of the way
0:40:40 > 0:40:42through the northern hemisphere,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44the only way to control a sea urchin problem
0:40:44 > 0:40:47is with a commercially viable industry.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54So, with a serve of science and industry,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58we may not only rejuvenate an ailing ecosystem
0:40:58 > 0:41:02but also sustain a peaceful and profitable underwater neighbourhood.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10For decades, Bruny Island's small community has enjoyed
0:41:10 > 0:41:13a peaceful and exquisite environment.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22But as anthropologist, Dr Xanthe Mallet discovers, 200 years ago,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26the island's fortunes were built upon a grim and bloody business.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36I'm walking along what's called the Neck,
0:41:36 > 0:41:38which links north Bruny Island behind me,
0:41:38 > 0:41:40and south Bruny Island in front of me.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45To the west, the tranquil waters of Great Bay,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and to the east, the sweeping indigo arc of Adventure Bay,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52naturally sheltered against the Tasman Sea.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Adventure Bay is an idyllic setting,
0:41:55 > 0:42:01sought out by nature loving tourists, proud locals, and urban escapees.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04But I'm here on a very different journey
0:42:04 > 0:42:07to find out why this bay was flushed red with blood.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Soon after colonisation in 1803, Tasmanians discovered
0:42:15 > 0:42:19a vast whale population in Adventure Bay during the winter months.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24And so, the hunt for whale oil began here in 1826.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27The oil had a huge market in Britain where it fuelled
0:42:27 > 0:42:30the country's street lamps and factory lighting.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Everyone wanted to be in on the game and the slaughter.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39I'm heading to the remains of a whaling station
0:42:39 > 0:42:41at the bay's eastern most tip.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47In its day, about 150 whalers were stationed here.
0:42:47 > 0:42:48Good morning.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52'Maritime archaeologist, Michael Nash, has studied the whaling rush,
0:42:52 > 0:42:56'and says the bay is the perfect inlet for the harpooning of whales.'
0:42:56 > 0:43:00In the winter months, they'd come in here to calve and to breed.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Um, it's nice and shallow, it's a pretty protected bay.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05It's very big, sort of straight access to the ocean out there.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Why are they called Southern Right Whale?
0:43:08 > 0:43:11- Um, well, it's because they were the right whale to hunt.- Oh, really?
0:43:11 > 0:43:13Yeah, because where they located themselves.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17They were easy to access. They were fairly big rotund animals.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19Had a lot of blubber on them.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22They were reasonably slow at that time of year,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25and also the carcass floated when it when they were killed,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27so they could tow them back into here.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29When a whale was spotted,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31it just wasn't the boats from one station going out to get it.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33There was maybe four or five stations
0:43:33 > 0:43:35and they're all competing because
0:43:35 > 0:43:39the one that actually harpooned it first, had the claim on the whale.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41So, once they'd actually harpooned it.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43The whale would tow the boat around for a while,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46get exhausted and then they'd come in here to lance.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49- Did people die doing this?- Oh, they did and I mean occasionally.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Not a huge number but, you know, boats got upset, you know,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55and the bad weather, or the whales, or the whale line
0:43:55 > 0:43:59as it was going out would get caught around someone's leg or something.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01It was a dangerous occupation.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04They'd bring the carcass about 50 yards off shore
0:44:04 > 0:44:10and set up a basically a platform where they cut the blubber off.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12They'd draw it up with a block and tackle
0:44:12 > 0:44:14and they'd roll the whale, basically.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17They'd draw the whole whale up and then kind of peel it like an orange?
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Yeah, they do.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22One of the characteristics of these sites is we get these,
0:44:22 > 0:44:23what we call, blubber bricks.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26So they have this really thick residue.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28They used to use the scraps of blubber
0:44:28 > 0:44:29to actually put back into the fire.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32So it gave off this really greasy residue,
0:44:32 > 0:44:34which actually sticks to the bricks.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36If it leaves this black stuff when you burn it...
0:44:36 > 0:44:40when they were making the actual oil it would have been giving off
0:44:40 > 0:44:41a black smoke, then?
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Oh, it would have been disgusting.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45You know it would have been this big, thick, greasy thing.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And they actually reckon with the whaling ships, especially,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50even if you couldn't see the ships,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52you could actually smell them from a couple of miles away.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59And this was what it was all about... whale oil.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02An average 15m whale could yield about 8,000 litres.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06So, what happened, why did it all stop?
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Basically because the whale numbers just declined
0:45:08 > 0:45:12so dramatically from over overfishing.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15They dropped, ah, the 1840s to the 1850s there was virtually
0:45:15 > 0:45:18no whales being caught here.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21In a sense, it was an industry that burned brightly
0:45:21 > 0:45:23but consumed itself over a couple of decades.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28So, what remains of that time?
0:45:29 > 0:45:31Hello.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34'On the final stop of my journey, I'm meeting Margaret Wise,
0:45:34 > 0:45:36'a descendent of Adventure Bay whalers,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39'and she's got a couple of interesting artefacts
0:45:39 > 0:45:40'she wants to show me.'
0:45:40 > 0:45:44And this is a pair of whale's teeth.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46The sailors would etch pictures...
0:45:46 > 0:45:48'This is Scrimshaw.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52'The intricate design and etching was no mean feat given the pitch
0:45:52 > 0:45:54'and yaw of ocean waves.'
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Very fine detail.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00There was another product that we obtained from the whale
0:46:00 > 0:46:04that was part of women's fashion and this was the baleen,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08from the mouth of the whale through which they sieved.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10It's fairly firm and thin
0:46:10 > 0:46:15and became very, very useful in inserting
0:46:15 > 0:46:18into a lady's corset.
0:46:20 > 0:46:26And in the early days this is a corset that ladies used to wear.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30- Right.- To keep their waists trim, taut, and terrific.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33- Shall we give it a go? - Would you like to?
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Not having much faith that's going to fit, but...
0:46:36 > 0:46:38The lace is at the back.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41They were tiny weren't they?
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Well...
0:46:43 > 0:46:46I think we need to bring it down just a little.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49I don't think this going to go around me.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52No, they had such tiny, tiny waists.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Oh, I do not fancy wearing this.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57I'm sure it would have been much bigger
0:46:57 > 0:46:59had I had to wear one in those days.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02- Oh, can we take it off now?- Yeah.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06Fortunately, fashion changes, as did the fate of whaling.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Commercial whaling was banned in 1986.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15At its peak between 1835 and 1839,
0:47:15 > 0:47:20about 12,000 right whales were taken in Australian waters.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25Today, worldwide, they number just 8,000.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28150 years after the whaling stopped,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31do you think we'll ever see whales back in Adventure Bay?
0:47:31 > 0:47:36Earlier this year we had at least eight whales at one time
0:47:36 > 0:47:38in Adventure Bay.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41And we believe that one of them calved as well.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46So, the evidence is showing that each year there are more and more
0:47:46 > 0:47:49whales obvious to us out in the bay,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and I didn't think that I would ever live to see the day
0:47:52 > 0:47:54when so many whales were there.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56But, yes, they're coming back.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01I call that...forgiveness.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10Our journey through Tasmania is at an end for now.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13This island may have begun its colonial life
0:48:13 > 0:48:16as a severe penal corner of the British empire,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20but even the convicts recognised the paradox of doing time
0:48:20 > 0:48:21in a patch of Eden.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Next time, Dr Xanthe Mallet discovers an abandoned fort
0:48:27 > 0:48:30that had the job of protecting the nation.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Professor Tim Flannery explores Fraser Island,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37a world-famous sanctuary, but is it edible?
0:48:37 > 0:48:39It's like tasting history, really.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Dr Emma Johnston finds that to save the dugong,
0:48:42 > 0:48:44you have to capture it first.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46What we're looking for is when they pop up
0:48:46 > 0:48:48and their nose pops out of the water.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Brendan Moar reveals the true history
0:48:51 > 0:48:53of the great Australian prawn.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56This is a strange and unsettling place.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59And I investigate an outpost for outcasts.