0:00:03 > 0:00:06Coast is on its biggest expedition ever.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10After exploring the coastline of Britain and Europe
0:00:10 > 0:00:11for almost a decade,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I've landed on the vast island continent
0:00:15 > 0:00:17that is Australia.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19The air's clearer.
0:00:19 > 0:00:20The light's brighter.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22The colours are sharper.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29It's a land that boasts over 60,000 kilometres of coastline.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33On this journey,
0:00:33 > 0:00:34we're revealing new stories
0:00:34 > 0:00:36and revelling in the history,
0:00:36 > 0:00:37the geography,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39and the people
0:00:39 > 0:00:43who connect us with perhaps the most spectacular coastline on Earth.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04This is Victoria's fabled Shipwreck Coast.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06The remains of over 600 vessels lie scattered
0:01:06 > 0:01:09across the sea bed out there.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It's an elemental coastline,
0:01:11 > 0:01:12hewn by winds,
0:01:12 > 0:01:14strong ocean currents
0:01:14 > 0:01:16and powerful waves.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20For millions of years,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24these shores have been under attack from a fearsome foe -
0:01:24 > 0:01:26the mighty Southern Ocean.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30And here's where it comes ashore...
0:01:30 > 0:01:33with a force that impacts on the landscape
0:01:33 > 0:01:34and on the people.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39We're off on a journey along a coast of contrasts -
0:01:39 > 0:01:40from historic wrecks
0:01:40 > 0:01:43to stories of heartbreak and ingenuity.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49On our trip, we'll explore astonishing feats of engineering
0:01:49 > 0:01:52and uncover places of incredible beauty
0:01:52 > 0:01:55that are bristling with danger.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Anthropologist Dr Xanthe Mallett
0:01:58 > 0:01:59unravels the mystery
0:01:59 > 0:02:03behind a tragic shipwreck that marked the end of an era...
0:02:04 > 0:02:06It's amazing that after so much time
0:02:06 > 0:02:09we can come down here and see it.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12..Brendan Moar finds out first-hand
0:02:12 > 0:02:14about the incredible risks it took
0:02:14 > 0:02:17to build the worlds biggest war memorial -
0:02:17 > 0:02:18the Great Ocean Road...
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Ah, this is an incredible view
0:02:20 > 0:02:22but it is kind of terrifying.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26..palaeontologist Professor Tim Flannery
0:02:26 > 0:02:29tracks down proof of a truly massive predator...
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Hey, come on...! Look at that!
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Can you believe it?
0:02:33 > 0:02:35That is the tinniest find...
0:02:35 > 0:02:38..and I discover the crucial role this lighthouse played
0:02:38 > 0:02:40in the birth of a nation.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42This is known as a landfall light.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44So what this is saying is like -
0:02:44 > 0:02:47"Hello! Hello! This is Cape Otway. I'm here. You've arrived.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49This is Coast Australia.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Our route covers a coastline that stretches from Flinders,
0:03:17 > 0:03:18on the Mornington Peninsula
0:03:18 > 0:03:20through the beach suburbs of Melbourne,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22along the Great Ocean Road
0:03:22 > 0:03:24past Cape Otway
0:03:24 > 0:03:25onto Port Campbell in the west.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33We start our expedition at the top of Port Phillip Bay.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35That's where you'll find one of the world's great cities -
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Melbourne.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42It's a place renowned for its urban design and art scene.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46But before we set off on our journey,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I thought I'd better have a cheeky wee dip
0:03:49 > 0:03:53at one of the city's more historic visual attractions.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Oh!
0:03:57 > 0:03:59That's British cold!
0:04:07 > 0:04:08Oh!
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Of all Australia's capital cities, Melbourne -
0:04:13 > 0:04:16often dubbed the most European -
0:04:16 > 0:04:19is not famous for its beach life.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23But, ironically, Melbournians enjoy more metropolitan beach space
0:04:23 > 0:04:25than any other city dwellers.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29But as you can see from this photo,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31hitting the beach in 1879
0:04:31 > 0:04:33was a vastly different proposition.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40And for decades, beach attire meant far less flesh was on display.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45So with the bathers came beach boxes designed to preserve their modesty.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Today there are about 1,800 left across Port Phillip Bay.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Look at these, aren't they brilliant?
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Must admit, this very much reminds me of beaches back home.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Every one a little work of art. Morning!
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Morning! Good morning.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08Bye-bye.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13'But what are they being used for, and by whom?'
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Hi, John. Hi. How are you doing? Very well, thanks.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Suzie. Hi. How are you? Nice to meet you.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Can I use your facilities? Of course. You're welcome.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Just get changed. There's a potty in there if you want that, as well.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27Thank you very much! That's all right.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29'This box belongs to John Rundle,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33'a former president of the Brighton Box Bathing Association.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36'He's owned it for over 20 years.'
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Oh, that's better! Thank you very much.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40That's all right.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44How much of a Melbourne tradition are they?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Oh, they've always been here.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48They go back to about the 1870s.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51We think the idea was copied from England,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53where they had the bathing boxes on wheels
0:05:53 > 0:05:55and they had a similar thing here.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Was this taken on this beach?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59We believe these were taken on the beach.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Eventually, things became a little bit more liberal
0:06:04 > 0:06:09and the boxes just got left up on the beach as changing sheds.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Did you get to know your neighbours just as you
0:06:15 > 0:06:17would in a house in an ordinary street?
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Definitely. Everybody here knows each other.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24It's, um, a very tightly knit community.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27It's also a rather exclusive community.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Even though these huts have no power or water
0:06:30 > 0:06:34and you're not allowed to stay overnight, they're not cheap.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39In 2011, one sold for $260,000!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Today there are 85 huts here.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Through the years a number have been washed away by storms,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50but somehow, I get the feeling
0:06:50 > 0:06:54that this now colourful Victorian tradition will be an enduring one.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00As you leave the sheltered embrace of Port Phillip Bay and head west,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04you hit one of the most impressive and perilous
0:07:04 > 0:07:06stretches of coastline in the world -
0:07:06 > 0:07:08the Shipwreck Coast.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12In years gone by, it would strike fear into the hearts
0:07:12 > 0:07:16of those trying to navigate its hazardous waters.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Tragically for some,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20this jagged shore would be their first,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23and last sight of Australia.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Anthropologist Dr Xanthe Mallett
0:07:26 > 0:07:30is investigating why the Shipwreck Coast's most famous victim
0:07:30 > 0:07:33perished so close to safety.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40This shoreline has extracted a terrible human toll over the years.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43If you look out at the whole coastline,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45you can almost feel the menace.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48It's like these sheer cliffs are claws reaching out
0:07:48 > 0:07:50to draw the ships in.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54I've come here to try and find out
0:07:54 > 0:07:55why the ill-fated clipper Loch Ard
0:07:55 > 0:07:59came to grief here 13 weeks after she'd set off from England
0:07:59 > 0:08:02in March, 1878.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05In the early hours of June 1st, she was less than a day
0:08:05 > 0:08:07from her destination - Melbourne.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13But the ship was running well off course in a thick sea mist
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and just out here, a lethal natural trap was lying in wait.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Instead of following her intended course, the Loch Ard,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24carrying 54 passengers and crew
0:08:24 > 0:08:27was well north and headed directly for the coast.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32To find out how this happened and exactly why the Loch Ard sank,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34I've come to Port Campbell.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39I'm hitching a ride with local diver and expert on the Loch Ard's
0:08:39 > 0:08:41last voyage, Gary Barclay.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Good morning. Morning. Hello.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47How are you? Welcome to Port Campbell.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Good to meet you. Come on board the boat.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50Thank you very much.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Today, conditions are perfect -
0:08:54 > 0:08:57a far cry from the night the Loch Ard emerged from the mist
0:08:57 > 0:09:00to find itself heading for disaster.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Seeing the sheer cliffs ahead, the captain, William Gibb,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06frantically tried to save his ship.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10First, he tried to stop the Loch Ard
0:09:10 > 0:09:12and push its bow back out to sea.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13He threw some anchors
0:09:13 > 0:09:15once he realised he was heading straight for land.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17He thought if those anchors held,
0:09:17 > 0:09:18he could wait for better conditions,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20then sail back out to sea and away he'd go.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Those conditions didn't come.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23The strong southerly wind
0:09:23 > 0:09:26was pushing the boat backwards towards the land.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Gibb released the anchors.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29The bow swung to the west
0:09:29 > 0:09:33and the captain made a last ditch effort to escape...
0:09:35 > 0:09:36He tried to do a manoeuvre
0:09:36 > 0:09:38where he'd done a complete circle of the bay,
0:09:38 > 0:09:39and tried to come back out.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42As he was passing this point, just in front of this island here,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45he hit the submerged reef, which is just below the water here.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54So, literally, it's just here?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56It's just here beside us, yeah.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03To discover more, we've got to examine the wreck.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21The wreck of the Loch Ard was only found in 1967,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23almost 90 years after she went down.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28It's just amazing - seeing it like this, in situ,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31after hearing the story is just incredible.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36What we're seeing here is the hull of the ship
0:10:36 > 0:10:38wedged up against Muttonbird Island.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43This really gives you an idea of the peril that they were in
0:10:43 > 0:10:46when you can see literally the ship touching the island.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52The wreck's been protected since 1976,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56but it's clear to see where looters blasted a hole in the hull
0:10:56 > 0:10:58in search of artefacts.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01But some cargo remains
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and it's believed these heavy railway lines interfered
0:11:04 > 0:11:07with the ship's compass and pushed it off course.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12It was carrying a massive amount of steel and stuff like that
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and that could've played with some of the instruments,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18caused a problem, and that may have been why he came so close to land
0:11:18 > 0:11:20before he realised.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This heavy cargo would also have made the Loch Ard
0:11:23 > 0:11:26an unwieldy beast to handle once it got in trouble.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Tragically, the ship was one of the last sail-powered clippers
0:11:30 > 0:11:33carrying passengers from the United Kingdom to Australia.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Under steam, it almost certainly would've managed to escape
0:11:38 > 0:11:40the clutches of the coastline.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44That was just phenomenal getting to see...the wreck down there
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and how close it is to the island. They had no chance did they? No.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53But this is only half the story.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56What happened as the Loch Ard foundered is truly remarkable.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Desperately trying to man a lifeboat,
0:11:59 > 0:12:0318-year-old apprentice Tom Pearce was washed into the water.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Clinging to the lifeboat, he was miraculously pushed through
0:12:07 > 0:12:09a narrow gorge and onto this beach.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16'Rex Mathieson's dived on numerous wrecks along the coast
0:12:16 > 0:12:18'and studied the Loch Ard extensively.'
0:12:18 > 0:12:21He was actually washed in here.
0:12:21 > 0:12:22In the upturned lifeboat.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25So through this little opening that we see now?
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I mean, it's a beautiful day but then it was cold,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30it was dark... Completely different!
0:12:30 > 0:12:32It's the first of June!
0:12:32 > 0:12:34And in winter - which is the southern hemisphere -
0:12:34 > 0:12:36you can't see anything until about
0:12:36 > 0:12:38seven or eight o'clock in the morning
0:12:38 > 0:12:41and this is at four or five o'clock in the morning. Wow.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43After he'd rested for a little while, he came out -
0:12:43 > 0:12:45it was daylight.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And that's when he heard the cries of help from Eva Carmichael,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51this young 18-year-old Irish lass.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53She'd been in the water for four or five hours!
0:12:53 > 0:12:56How she survived in a nightie, I don't know.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Is that all she was wearing? That's all she was wearing.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01It took Tom about an hour to rescue Eva.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Somehow he then found the energy
0:13:03 > 0:13:06to scramble out of the gorge.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10Look he's only a young guy - five foot, four-and-a-half inches tall,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14and the...the strength and fortitude that he had is damned amazing!
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Even more incredibly, the pair had come ashore
0:13:18 > 0:13:21near the only dwelling for miles - Glenample Station.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24A set of hoof prints led Tom
0:13:24 > 0:13:26to two of the station's riders
0:13:26 > 0:13:28and the pair were saved.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Tom and Eva were the only survivors.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36Today, the gorge bears the name Loch Ard in memory of a wreck
0:13:36 > 0:13:40that, for me, truly symbolises tragedy and heroism
0:13:40 > 0:13:44along with both good and ill fortune.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The coastline near Lorne is an often inhospitable shore.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54and one that continually challenged the skill and nerve
0:13:54 > 0:13:57of those who wanted to settle on its fringes.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Brendan's on a mission to unearth the risks that had to be taken
0:14:04 > 0:14:08to create one of Australia's most incredible feats of engineering.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I don't reckon there are many experiences that beat this.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19It's just mile after mile after mile of smooth driving
0:14:19 > 0:14:21through incredible scenery.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35But 100 years ago, reaching the isolated towns
0:14:35 > 0:14:38scattered along this coast was no easy task,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41particularly if you weren't keen to take to these
0:14:41 > 0:14:43notoriously treacherous seas.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Basically, you had one option -
0:14:47 > 0:14:51travelling along awful bush tracks like this one.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53But that was all about to change.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58In 1918, World War I was drawing to a close.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02Over 400,000 Australian men had enlisted to fight
0:15:02 > 0:15:03for their country.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09More than 60,000 would make the ultimate sacrifice.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11Back in Victoria,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15one man had a plan to honour the dead and wounded diggers,
0:15:15 > 0:15:16and provide work for those
0:15:16 > 0:15:18who would make it home.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22He was Howard Hitchcock, the mayor of Geelong...
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and he wanted to build a road.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27But not just any road -
0:15:27 > 0:15:29one that would cling to the coastline.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33In many places it would be cut out of sheer cliff faces.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35So he set up a trust,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37and started fundraising.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39In 1919, the work began.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43But the job ahead would be incredibly demanding.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47I'm meeting historian Iain Grant to explore the reasons why.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50G'day, Iain. Brendan, how are you?
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Very, very good. Great to meet you.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Thank you. So this is the Great Ocean Road?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56This is the Great Ocean Road.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59So they had the men, they had the money, they had the resources.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Yes. And so what did they actually use to build the thing?
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Well, things like a pick and a shovel...
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Oh! ..and hard work.
0:16:07 > 0:16:08HARD work?
0:16:08 > 0:16:13It was just physical, physical slog all day.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Punch after punch after grunt after grunt.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Living under canvas,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19the men toiled five and a half days a week,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21in all conditions.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Many had left the trenches of World War I...for this.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29If it was hot, they worked, if it was cold, they worked.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33If it was raining cats and dogs, they still worked.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35What were the safety conditions like? Safety?
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Yeah? Hee-hee-hee!
0:16:38 > 0:16:40OK, Brendan. We'll get you in a harness first.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43'Well, to fully experience what the diggers went through
0:16:43 > 0:16:46'I guess I've got to have a crack at the way they worked.'
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Man, oh, man!
0:16:51 > 0:16:53I can't believe they had to do this.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59So what they had to do is, they scrambled down the hillside
0:16:59 > 0:17:01with a rope attached to them and to a tree.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04And once they were here, they'd start to make a foothold
0:17:04 > 0:17:06into the side of the cliff,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and then from that, they would continue their way
0:17:09 > 0:17:11into the hillside, just making a V.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13I can't even believe...
0:17:13 > 0:17:15that this is the way they did it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Ah, this is an incredible view...!
0:17:18 > 0:17:19But it is kind of terrifying.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Now I'm just faking this.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And I mean faking it. Whoa.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And it gives me a real appreciation for what they did.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49The work progressed steadily, and in 1922,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52the first section - between Lorne and Eastern View -
0:17:52 > 0:17:54opened, complete with a toll.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00Each passenger cost extra and as we know, everyone hates paying a toll.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03So, in order to save a bit of cash,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06sometimes they would stop the car just before the toll gate,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09one of the passengers would get out, walk along the beach,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and try and join them on the other side.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13There was just one problem.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Hey! What do you think you're up to, you lousy rotten sod?!
0:18:17 > 0:18:18Trying to dodge the toll up there!
0:18:18 > 0:18:20All right, I've got to get a deener
0:18:20 > 0:18:24out of you! Sneaking along here with a suitcase....!
0:18:24 > 0:18:26You didn't expect me coming down, catching you, did you?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28No, I did not! It's Doug, isn't it?
0:18:28 > 0:18:30Yes. Doug. Brendan.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34'Doug Stirling had first-hand experience with the toll dodgers,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37'and their fate at the hands of the notorious and much-feared
0:18:37 > 0:18:39'toll collector, Mrs Wright.'
0:18:39 > 0:18:41We used to play here as kids.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43And with the Wright kids,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and if they saw anybody of the likes of you
0:18:46 > 0:18:49walking along the beach with a suitcase,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51they'd know what was up and they'd go up and tell Mum.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Was she a scary lady? Oh, was she ever?!
0:18:53 > 0:18:56You wouldn't want to tangle with her. No way!
0:18:56 > 0:18:58So what's that bag on your shoulder there, Doug?
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Oh, that's the actual toll bag.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03That's what they collected the toll in. I see!
0:19:03 > 0:19:05You can even see Great Ocean Road
0:19:05 > 0:19:08is scratched into the front of the bag there.
0:19:08 > 0:19:09And what's this? A-ha!
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Now that's the lady herself.
0:19:12 > 0:19:13This is Mrs Wright.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14Nobody got past her.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15HE CHUCKLES
0:19:18 > 0:19:20A bit like an encounter with Mrs Wright,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22the new road wasn't for the faint-hearted.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Was it a dangerous road, though?
0:19:26 > 0:19:28People THOUGHT it was dangerous because they were frightened.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Because they could see the sea way down below them there,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33beckoning them to come, you know.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Come over the side.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37There were quite a few went over the road
0:19:37 > 0:19:40but they were pushed over for insurance.
0:19:40 > 0:19:41They didn't... They were!
0:19:41 > 0:19:43They didn't...they didn't go over by accident.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45That happened a fair bit.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48In 1936, the road was fully handed over to the state
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and the tolls removed.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54CONTEMPORARY RECORDING: 'I have very much pleasure to open the toll gate
0:19:54 > 0:19:56'and declare the road a public highway
0:19:56 > 0:19:59'as a gift from the Great Ocean Road Trust.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Today, the Great Ocean Road stretches 243 kilometres
0:20:05 > 0:20:08from Allansford near Warrnambool to Torquay
0:20:08 > 0:20:13and in 2011, it was added to the Australian National Heritage List,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15in recognition of its iconic status.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Above all, though, it remains a premium
0:20:21 > 0:20:22Australian touring experience,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26thanks to the diggers of World War I.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33For the next stop on our journey, I'm back on the shores of Melbourne.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38But there's nothing genteel about my destination this time.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I've come to a suburb with a rather chequered past,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and a little-known connection with Hollywood!
0:20:49 > 0:20:50St Kilda.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51During the 1800s,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54this place was a welcome retreat from inner Melbourne,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58where sewage and waste from houses and stables
0:20:58 > 0:21:00emptied into open drains.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05This was just a quick 15 minute tram ride from the city centre.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07It became the preferred suburb of the rich,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and they built their houses on the surrounding hills
0:21:10 > 0:21:11and down on the waterfront.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Everybody else came here just to promenade
0:21:13 > 0:21:15and peacock and people-watch.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19But the Great Depression of the 1890s transformed
0:21:19 > 0:21:22both St Kilda and the mansions of the rich,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26which were turned into brothels, theatres and guesthouses.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31That changing status coincided
0:21:31 > 0:21:35with the rise of boardwalk carnival culture that had sprung up
0:21:35 > 0:21:39in the USA, with the likes of New York's Coney Island.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45An American entrepreneur and film fanatic, JD Williams
0:21:45 > 0:21:48wanted to recreate that experience here
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and in 1912 he opened Luna Park.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56This rare footage
0:21:56 > 0:21:59of what is now the oldest continuously operating
0:21:59 > 0:22:01roller coaster in the world
0:22:01 > 0:22:03was filmed by Williams himself.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07A year after Luna Park opened,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Williams returned to Hollywood
0:22:09 > 0:22:11and set up the film distribution company
0:22:11 > 0:22:14that would later become Warner Brothers.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20In this photo, he can be seen with Charlie Chaplin,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22the biggest movie star of the day.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28St Kilda's Luna Park is no longer
0:22:28 > 0:22:31the cultural game changer it once was.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33But don't worry,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35this fun park is a stayer.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Apart from breaks for restoration
0:22:37 > 0:22:38it's never closed,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41maybe because it lets us take a step back
0:22:41 > 0:22:43to a simpler time.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47And it's fun!
0:22:50 > 0:22:51Honestly(!)
0:22:55 > 0:22:56I could ride this thing for hours,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59but I need to say farewell to this city
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and we have to move on.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Follow the curve of Port Phillip Bay south
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and you'll find yourself on the Mornington Peninsula.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Nestled across on its eastern side facing the ocean
0:23:13 > 0:23:17is a town named after the great explorer Matthew Flinders.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23Marine ecologist Dr Emma Johnston is on an expedition herself
0:23:23 > 0:23:27to uncover the secrets hidden beneath the town's pier
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and their link to a tragic piece of history.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33In 2002, the Victorian government
0:23:33 > 0:23:37wanted to choose a new marine emblem for the state
0:23:37 > 0:23:39so it organised a public vote.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Over 24,000 votes were cast
0:23:42 > 0:23:44and there was one clear winner -
0:23:44 > 0:23:47the little chap in this beautiful photograph,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49the weedy seadragon.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53These beautiful creatures are rare,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56and in my years of diving I've never seen one.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02'It really would be a thrill
0:24:02 > 0:24:05'to examine the weedy seadragon close up - they fascinate me! -
0:24:05 > 0:24:09'so I've tracked down marine researcher
0:24:09 > 0:24:12'Richard Wylie who took that award-winning photo.'
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Well, one of the favourite spots for weedy seadragons
0:24:16 > 0:24:18is near pier pilings,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21so let's hope there's a few hanging round here.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26With the light filtering down under the pier,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28there's an almost ethereal quality
0:24:28 > 0:24:30to the water here
0:24:30 > 0:24:32that's actually rather beautiful.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37The dragons are masters of disguise -
0:24:37 > 0:24:40almost impossible to find.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45'But not long into our dive,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48'in amongst all the weed...'
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Oh, my gosh! It's absolutely beautiful!
0:24:50 > 0:24:53I think it might be the most beautiful creature
0:24:53 > 0:24:55I've seen underwater.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58They're like brilliant little critters, aren't they?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01It doesn't seem to be scared by me, at all.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05They tend to spend quite a lot of their time
0:25:05 > 0:25:08just hanging around the one spot. They don't move very far.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11They're actually spend most of their time just drifting.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15In fact, an adult seadragon may only move about 100 metres
0:25:15 > 0:25:18through their whole life.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Are you going to be able to get some good shots of it?
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I think I can.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25'Today however, the conditions mean
0:25:25 > 0:25:28'there'll be no award winners snapped in my presence.'
0:25:32 > 0:25:35But I reckon just seeing the weedy seadragon was reward enough.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And these little creatures
0:25:39 > 0:25:42have had a fan club for over a century,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45well before Richard snapped them on this state-of-the-art technology.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51'Back on dry land, marine educator Harry Breidahl
0:25:51 > 0:25:55'is about to show me the proof that the elusive seadragon
0:25:55 > 0:25:58'was first documented by an extraordinary artist
0:25:58 > 0:26:03'with an extraordinary story, 130 years ago.'
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Wow!
0:26:05 > 0:26:07What a BEAUTIFUL drawing!
0:26:07 > 0:26:09It is one of my absolute favourites.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14I think I fell in love with it many years ago.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18It's just a fantastic example of how art and science
0:26:18 > 0:26:20come together in a picture.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23If you look at the next one.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Oh! That's a local lobster. Even more detail! It is.
0:26:26 > 0:26:27Wow!
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And I just... I'm amazed at the illustrator's ability
0:26:31 > 0:26:33to show that detail.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37And who did these pictures?
0:26:37 > 0:26:39A wonderful gentlemen called Ludwig Becker.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45German-born Ludwig Becker was a genuinely fascinating chap,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47who'd arrived in Australia in 1851.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54A skilled artist, he was also a keen astronomer and geologist.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57He was like sort of a gentleman naturalist of the age.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01He turned his hand to anything and was good at it.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04His talents were such that in 1860
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Becker joined the Burke and Wills expedition,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11which aimed to travel from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Once under way, however, it quickly became clear
0:27:16 > 0:27:18that expedition leader Robert Burke
0:27:18 > 0:27:22felt Becker's scientific activities were holding things up.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Six weeks into the trip, he took action.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30If you read some of his diaries... That's a bit of his diary? Yep.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33October, 1860.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36"Mr Burke told us that from today we had to walk inch for inch
0:27:36 > 0:27:39"all the way up to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41"To me he said, 'From this time you have
0:27:41 > 0:27:44"'to give up your scientific investigations,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46"'but to work like the rest of the men.'" Oh.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Becker struggled on but, sadly, seven months later,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53he succumbed to scurvy and dysentery.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58It was a heart-breaking end
0:27:58 > 0:28:00for a truly talented man.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02But his work is still being exhibited -
0:28:02 > 0:28:04proof of his ability to capture
0:28:04 > 0:28:06the essence of the region's wildlife,
0:28:06 > 0:28:12wildlife which continues to inspire Becker's modern day contemporaries.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19The next step of our journey
0:28:19 > 0:28:21takes us to Cape Otway.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23This is where the Southern Ocean
0:28:23 > 0:28:26hits the southern shores of the Australian mainland.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29The waves here are funnelled into what is still one of the most
0:28:29 > 0:28:32hazardous shipping lanes in the world,
0:28:32 > 0:28:33and for early immigrants,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36running the gauntlet here could be a terrifying experience.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41I'm on a mission to discover how one building
0:28:41 > 0:28:43that was constructed in the nick of time,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46helped in the creation of a new colony.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54You might think it'd be difficult
0:28:54 > 0:28:56to hide a 240-kilometre-wide strip of ocean.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01But for the first 10 years of colonial settlement in Australia,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05that's exactly what Bass Strait managed to do.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11The Bass Strait is the body of water that separates Tasmania
0:29:11 > 0:29:13from mainland Australia.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16But while some explorers suspected its existence,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18until 1798,
0:29:18 > 0:29:22no-one could be sure that Van Diemen's Land,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24as it was known then, was actually an island.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31That year, the strait was discovered by Matthew Flinders and George Bass.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Now ships on their way to Melbourne and Sydney
0:29:33 > 0:29:36no longer had to pass underneath Tasmania,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38but could take a short cut
0:29:38 > 0:29:42that shaved a week off their journey from Britain.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45But just finding the gap between the mainland and King Island,
0:29:45 > 0:29:4788 kilometres offshore from here,
0:29:47 > 0:29:49was no easy task.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Sailing through here became known as
0:29:53 > 0:29:56"threading the eye of the needle".
0:29:57 > 0:30:00The new route was also treacherous,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and from the moment it was discovered,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05the strait proved a graveyard to shipping.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09But...a saviour was at hand.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14'But exactly what persuaded the authorities
0:30:14 > 0:30:18'to build this lighthouse?
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'I've joined Paul Thompson, manager of the Cape Otway light
0:30:21 > 0:30:22'to learn more.'
0:30:22 > 0:30:26It was really when 1845 comes along and 399 people lost their life
0:30:26 > 0:30:29off the ship the Cataraqui
0:30:29 > 0:30:31crashing into the western coast of King Island.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35And it was really that Australia needed a population to come here,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37to emigrate, that the authorities thought,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39"Right, we need a lighthouse here at Cape Otway,
0:30:39 > 0:30:40"let's find the money to build it."
0:30:40 > 0:30:45I usually think of lighthouses as being a warning, you know, keep off,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49but it sounds as though Cape Otway lighthouse is saying,
0:30:49 > 0:30:51"Come here!"
0:30:51 > 0:30:52This is known as a landfall light.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56So what this is saying is, "Hello! Hello! This is Cape Otway. I'm here.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58"You've arrived. You've made it to Australia. Well done."
0:30:58 > 0:31:00It's not telling you to avoid a reef
0:31:00 > 0:31:03it's saying "Keep me in sight." Yeah, "This way. Come through here."
0:31:03 > 0:31:06And it was known as "the beacon of hope".
0:31:06 > 0:31:07Immigrants coming to Australia.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10They'd been sailing for two, three - maybe up to four months -
0:31:10 > 0:31:12without seeing any land, and when they see that beacon.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16that Cape Otway light station, "Oh, thank goodness, we've arrived."
0:31:16 > 0:31:17"We've made safe passage.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20"We have the entrance, the guiding light into Australia."
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Two years after the lighthouse was completed,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24gold was discovered in Victoria,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and the volume of passing traffic rocketed.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30That was the huge time.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31The population explosion in Victoria
0:31:31 > 0:31:33and you would have looked out on this ocean
0:31:33 > 0:31:35and you'd have seen big clipper ships -
0:31:35 > 0:31:3860, 70, up to 80 ships a day - passing through Bass Strait.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Wow! Really! So, it was an amazingly busy highway.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43Gosh, it was built just in time! Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48"Whenever I smell salt water,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52"I know I'm not far from one of the works of my ancestors."
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Those words were penned by the Scottish novelist
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Robert Louis Stevenson, in 1880.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01But he might just as well have been writing about this
0:32:01 > 0:32:03lighthouse station half a world away.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Robert's own father was one of four generations of
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Lighthouse Stevensons, as they were known -
0:32:13 > 0:32:17engineering men who built every lighthouse in Scotland.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21The Cape Otway light is based on those Scottish lighthouses,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23built without any mortar,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25but rather interlocking stones -
0:32:25 > 0:32:27an inherently stronger design.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31Such was the salvation this lighthouse offered,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33it's been suggested by some
0:32:33 > 0:32:37that without the Cape Otway Light Station the colony in NSW
0:32:37 > 0:32:40and the birth of Victoria might not have come to pass!
0:32:41 > 0:32:44You up there, Pat? Yeah. mate. Come on up!
0:32:44 > 0:32:49From 1987 to '91, Pat Howell was the proud custodian of the light,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52and its traditions.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54There was enormous amount of shipping -
0:32:54 > 0:32:57an enormous amount of lives were in your hands.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00And that's got handed down too through the...
0:33:00 > 0:33:03through the decades, I guess - down and down and down -
0:33:03 > 0:33:06and even at the end you were still dedicated,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08you still, you know, come up here.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11You still polish the damn thing.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Because Cape Otway was a beacon, it needed a very bright light.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20This Fresnel lens, made of heavy lead crystal
0:33:20 > 0:33:23concentrated a one million candlepower beam
0:33:23 > 0:33:26that could be seen almost 50 kilometres away.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34It weighs 2.5 tonnes and in today's money is worth about $5 million!
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Are there any of the practices and traditions
0:33:38 > 0:33:40of the very first lighthouse keepers
0:33:40 > 0:33:44that you still maintained in your time?
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Yeah. Actually, the dedication was the same!
0:33:47 > 0:33:48Because it was handed down.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51As you become a keeper you just had certain things
0:33:51 > 0:33:54that you were taught that the keeper that taught you had been taught.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56You done the cleaning of a Friday,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58because they'd done that 200 years ago.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00You still come up here when it was electric.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Matter-of-fact, when it was automated and I didn't have to come up,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06I'd still come up and walk around the balcony -
0:34:06 > 0:34:09look at sea, and put Bass Strait to sleep, if you like.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Just make sure everything was right out there.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14You couldn't see any ships or smaller vessels in strife.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17And then go back up and watch the footy or something.
0:34:19 > 0:34:20As ships reached Cape Otway,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23news of their safe passage would be passed on.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27It was here, that passing ships
0:34:27 > 0:34:30laden with their human and commercial cargo,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33reported safe arrival in Australia -
0:34:33 > 0:34:35the first anyone would have heard from them
0:34:35 > 0:34:37after lonely months at sea.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40And that information was relayed back to London
0:34:40 > 0:34:42from telegraph machines like this one.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46But as the populations of Sydney and Melbourne grew,
0:34:46 > 0:34:49the most important message getting back to the motherland,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53via Cape Otway, was a simple one.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56"The growth of a brave new world is well under way."
0:35:07 > 0:35:09At almost 2,000 square kilometres,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12Port Phillip Bay is the largest sea water bay
0:35:12 > 0:35:14in the southern hemisphere.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16It's basically a huge shallow pan
0:35:16 > 0:35:19with a maximum depth of 24 metres.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21Virtually unaffected by tide
0:35:21 > 0:35:23or geographical features,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27this bay is one of the world's best waterways for sailing.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Andrew MacDougall is the world's leading designer of a unique
0:35:32 > 0:35:34sailing craft - the moth.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36At the last Moth World Championships
0:35:36 > 0:35:38his design took the top six places
0:35:38 > 0:35:41and it's a class he's passionate about,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43mainly because of the freedom it offers designers.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48The moth class is a class like no other -
0:35:48 > 0:35:51it's the only class in the world that has no real restrictions.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53And you can do anything.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57The very first moth was actually
0:35:57 > 0:35:59built in 1928 in Inverloch
0:35:59 > 0:36:01only about 100 kilometres from here.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05In the last 85 years, it's undergone numerous design changes
0:36:05 > 0:36:08but it was only ten years ago
0:36:08 > 0:36:11that these craft started flying on foils.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14The moth would have to be
0:36:14 > 0:36:16the fastest dinghy on the planet,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18by a long way.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22The record is 32 knots which is just on 60K.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26It's just simply ridiculously fast.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Everything goes quiet. Everything is smooth.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29It's indescribable.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Andrew's boat may be futuristic,
0:36:33 > 0:36:35but he sails it within touching distance
0:36:35 > 0:36:38of an unusual reminder of Australia's maritime past.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43This is the wreck of the Cerberus -
0:36:43 > 0:36:47the first naval ship constructed for the defence of Australia in 1869,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50and one with a colourful history.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Two crews mutinied on its delivery trip from England,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57and it was the first warship to pass through the Suez Canal.
0:36:58 > 0:36:59But once it got here,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02the Cerberus never fired a shot in anger
0:37:02 > 0:37:05and it never left Port Phillip Bay.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08In 1926, it was sunk as a breakwater.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Today, it provides a spectacular backdrop to a boat
0:37:12 > 0:37:15at the cutting edge of design and performance.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Travel just a few kilometres along the shoreline
0:37:32 > 0:37:33from the wreck of the Cerberus
0:37:33 > 0:37:36and you'll find yourself at a beach-side suburb where
0:37:36 > 0:37:39the first Australian impressionists drew their inspiration.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42And it's not hard to see why.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49But palaeontologist Professor Tim Flannery hasn't come here to paint
0:37:49 > 0:37:52he's come in search of prehistoric monsters.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55This is Beaumaris,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59and if I'd been here five million years ago these waters would've been
0:37:59 > 0:38:01really shark infested.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05'I'm meeting Victorian palaeontologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09'His passion is investigating the evolution of aquatic vertebrates
0:38:09 > 0:38:12'and this is virtually his back yard.'
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Hi, Erich. Oh, g'day, Tim. How are things? Yeah, good.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19So, Erich, what's so special about this place?
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Well, Tim, at Beaumaris, just underneath the surface of the water,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25we've got fossils of lots of extinct animals
0:38:25 > 0:38:27but also animals still alive today.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30OK. And what were they like? How big were they?
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Well, for example, there was a shark the length of a city bus.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35There was a penguin as tall as a man.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39And there was even extinct killer sperm whales.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41'Well, I want to get my hands on some hard evidence that these
0:38:41 > 0:38:44'incredible creatures actually existed.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46'It's time for a fossil hunt.'
0:38:46 > 0:38:49All right, mate. Now look I've got the secret weapon here just in case
0:38:49 > 0:38:52we find the big fella. Oh, I can't believe it.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54I should have done that! It is an unfair advantage.
0:38:57 > 0:38:58Five to six million years ago,
0:38:58 > 0:39:02the climate here was two to three degrees warmer.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08There was a diversity of species simply not seen here today.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11This really was the lost Serengeti of the seas.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20I'm just hoping I've found better proof of that than Erich!
0:39:20 > 0:39:21Look at this. I've got a good swag here.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25The old swag bag came in useful. You actually found something?
0:39:25 > 0:39:27I did. Look, there's a lump of whalebone. Oh, yeah.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Yep, so it is. Very nice.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33And a beautiful fossil oyster. Oh, right. Quite a large one. Yeah!
0:39:33 > 0:39:35That's a nice thing to get.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38And a rib of a dolphin or something like that. Fantastic. Quite nice.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41But Erich's come up with something exceptional.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Come on...! Look at that.
0:39:44 > 0:39:45Can you believe it?
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Look that is the tinniest find ever!
0:39:48 > 0:39:49Oh, I see!
0:39:49 > 0:39:52I see its got a museum number on there.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55All right, all right....! OK, you're right, I didn't find that now,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58but that is a tooth of the giant extinct shark Megalodon.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Aren't they magnificent things!
0:40:00 > 0:40:02It is. That is extraordinary.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06Erich's trickery aside, this massive tooth is real.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10The Megalodon did swim in what would ultimately become
0:40:10 > 0:40:14Port Phillip Bay up until about one and a half million years ago.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19And this pumped-up great white was a true terror of the seas.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24But I want to know just how big it was.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26So we're going to compare it with its direct descendant
0:40:26 > 0:40:28the great white.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Three...four...five...
0:40:30 > 0:40:32You're going to give it six? ..six!
0:40:32 > 0:40:34That's a huge great white, isn't it?
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Most are three to five metres.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt at six? Yep.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42And six metres is an exceptional specimen by today's standards.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45But the great white's a mere baby compared to the Megalodon.
0:40:45 > 0:40:4716 metres!
0:40:47 > 0:40:49That's a whale-sized predatory shark.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51That is extraordinary.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Certainly is.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57And this monstrous predator had a mouth to match.
0:41:00 > 0:41:01At full gape, Tim...
0:41:01 > 0:41:03My goodness, look at that!
0:41:03 > 0:41:05..that's going to be able to swallow you and I
0:41:05 > 0:41:07straight down the hatch almost.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10It wouldn't need to chew. No. We'd just be going down the well.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11Exactly.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16If our earliest human ancestors had felt like taking a dip,
0:41:16 > 0:41:17they could have encountered a creature
0:41:17 > 0:41:20that could exert the most powerful bite in history.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27But why did it, and the other giant creatures around here,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30disappear from the waters of Beaumaris?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32What actually happened to cause that extinction?
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Well, the key here is food.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Take away a bounty of food resources
0:41:36 > 0:41:38that can support giant sharks
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and that amounts to a big change in environment.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43And I think that's the key - climatic changes,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45changes in ocean currents and temperature
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and also decreases in production of the food these animals fed on
0:41:49 > 0:41:52led to the end of that lost world.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Right, so less productive environment, less food...
0:41:55 > 0:41:58The things that eat the most food, go extinct. Exactly.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02And so today what we're left with in southern Australia
0:42:02 > 0:42:04is really but a shadow of the former glory
0:42:04 > 0:42:06of the mega fauna of Beaumaris.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Our trip now takes us beyond the confines of Port Phillip Bay,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14to a coastline of wild weather,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16waves and beaches.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Across Australia, there are over 11,000 beaches,
0:42:20 > 0:42:22but here in Victoria,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25there's one that's renowned for both the quality of its surf
0:42:25 > 0:42:28and its role in Australian surfing history.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30It's called Bells Beach
0:42:30 > 0:42:34and Miriam Corowa has tracked down someone who can unravel its secrets.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40It's not hard to see the surf here is something special,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43but to find out just why the waves here are so good,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46I'm meeting geomorphologist Dale Appleton.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49He's both an expert on the local land and sea formations
0:42:49 > 0:42:52and a keen surfer.
0:42:52 > 0:42:53What's happening here at Bells Beach
0:42:53 > 0:42:55to make these waves the way they are?
0:42:55 > 0:42:58The secret, Miriam, is pretty simple.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00It's two things. It's the bathymetry -
0:43:00 > 0:43:03the shape of the underwater sea bed out here,
0:43:03 > 0:43:04and, of course, the waves.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06I mean, look at the waves.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09So it's the swell
0:43:09 > 0:43:12and also what's going on underneath the water that's the secret?
0:43:12 > 0:43:14That's right, the mix of the both.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17And if you have a look over here at Bells headland, behind us here,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21you can see that angle driving down - that's solid limestone.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24That limestone exists as a beautiful shelf
0:43:24 > 0:43:26that goes right the way out to sea.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29It's a constant slope out like this.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31I couldn't imagine an engineer
0:43:31 > 0:43:33that could've done a better job, I would say.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Bells perfection has led it to play a key role
0:43:36 > 0:43:38in the development of surfing here.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45In 1962, it hosted its first competition.
0:43:45 > 0:43:5011 years later, a $2,500 prize fund
0:43:50 > 0:43:53made it Australia's first professional event.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Each year the world's top surfers converge on this spot
0:43:57 > 0:44:01and vie for the right to ring the bell on the winner's trophy.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10'But year upon year,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13'the consistency and quality of the waves here
0:44:13 > 0:44:15'continue to delight pros
0:44:15 > 0:44:17'and amateurs alike.'
0:44:17 > 0:44:20What's it like for you when you're out surfing those waves?
0:44:20 > 0:44:23I well remember the first wave I ever caught out there,
0:44:23 > 0:44:25when I took the bottom turn
0:44:25 > 0:44:28and I looked along the face and went - whoa!
0:44:29 > 0:44:32It's like roaring along the side of a block of flats that go for ever.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35Yeah, it's great!
0:44:35 > 0:44:40This beach has inspired passion and progress in equal measure.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44But it's only when you see these waves with your own eyes that
0:44:44 > 0:44:48you really appreciate how the elements, the earth and the sea
0:44:48 > 0:44:53have all worked together to produce a genuine surfing masterpiece.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59We're getting towards the end of our journey now
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and we may have saved the best till last.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04Because this is, without a doubt,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07one of the most spectacular sights in Australia.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12But it's a sight that can change before your very eyes.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16I've come here to see how an Australian icon
0:45:16 > 0:45:18is both vanishing...
0:45:18 > 0:45:20and being re-built at the same time!
0:45:23 > 0:45:26This is Port Campbell National Park.
0:45:29 > 0:45:30For millions of years,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34coastal erosion working on the softer deposits in the bottom layers
0:45:34 > 0:45:36of the limestone here,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38has carved out hollows in the cliffs.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45Over time, those hollows became caves
0:45:45 > 0:45:47and the caves became arches.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53During the last 6,000 years or so - and that's a blink of time,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56given that the Port Campbell limestone is pegged at
0:45:56 > 0:46:00between 15 and 20 million years old - the arches collapse,
0:46:00 > 0:46:05leaving behind these spectacular, almost sculpted features
0:46:05 > 0:46:07known as sea stacks.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10Every year over a million people come to see what are now
0:46:10 > 0:46:12called the Twelve Apostles.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17Although when Victorian tourism officials gave them that name in 1922
0:46:17 > 0:46:20there were only nine stacks standing.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Today, just seven remain.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27In 2005, this apostle tumbled into the sea.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Four years later, another followed suit.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35It's anyone's guess which one will leave us next.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40But don't worry about the apostles.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43There will always be more - monumental forces
0:46:43 > 0:46:46are still at work borrowing, ferreting,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49finding the paths of least resistance,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53so that these cliffs are always being reworked and re-sculpted.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Just give it a few centuries, or even millennia.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08But there's really only one way to fully appreciate
0:47:08 > 0:47:11this magnificent construct of nature.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Given that this is the Shipwreck Coast,
0:47:26 > 0:47:30it's probably safer to see it from the air than from the sea!
0:47:35 > 0:47:36I'm leaving this journey,
0:47:36 > 0:47:39and the company of the seven remaining apostles.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43I just wonder how many will be here when I return?
0:47:50 > 0:47:52This is undoubtedly a coastline marked
0:47:52 > 0:47:54by triumph and tragedy
0:47:54 > 0:47:56and by wild weather and waves.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06Next time, Coast travels to the Northern Territory...
0:48:08 > 0:48:12..and there will be blood as Dr Emma Johnston discovers...
0:48:12 > 0:48:14We've got the croc blood!
0:48:14 > 0:48:18..Professor Tim Flannery unearths an uncomfortable truth...
0:48:18 > 0:48:19It was this country
0:48:19 > 0:48:22that defeated the greatest empire the world's ever seen -
0:48:22 > 0:48:23the British Empire.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27..Dr Xanthe Mallett confronts a floating wall of death...
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Do you reckon that's anchored to the bottom then?
0:48:30 > 0:48:31Absolutely.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33..and I investigate a siege.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38The attack has gone down in history as Australia's Pearl Harbor.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41But for now, it's goodbye.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I've got to fly!