0:00:18 > 0:00:22We're in South Australia where the icy winds and towering grey waves
0:00:22 > 0:00:25of the great Southern Ocean crash into this island continent.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30We're here to examine the stories that shaped its history.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Of those long since passed and those who live here now,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38drawn by an intangible connection to this dramatic and timeless coast.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Joining me on this journey,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Professor Emma Johnston dives deep into ancient coastal caves.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50So, we just swam through a 5 million-year-old Gothic cathedral?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52- That's right, yeah. - Absolutely stunning.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55A close encounter for Professor Tim Flannery.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59For the Europeans of 200 years ago, this coastline here
0:00:59 > 0:01:01was about as unknown as the dark side of the moon.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Dr Alice Garner gets a taste of the gold rush.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This is California all over again.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12While I take to the air to search and destroy.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Can we go and attack a submarine now?
0:01:14 > 0:01:15LAUGHTER
0:01:15 > 0:01:18This is Coast Australia.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52In Coast's first trip to South Australia
0:01:52 > 0:01:56we journey from Port Adelaide, around Kangaroo Island,
0:01:56 > 0:01:57down through the Coorong,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59to the Limestone Coast.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Historically, its distance from Europe shaped Australia's destiny.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Now the future of this island continent is tied to Asia.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14And with 60,000km of coastline,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18the tyranny of distance is a boon and a curse.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29It's a challenge that requires sophisticated eyes and ears.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Not so much on the land but on the sea and in the air
0:02:32 > 0:02:34and that's where I'm going to investigate.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39In South Australia,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43the Royal Australian Air Force has two roles to play.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46One, defence. And the other, rescue.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Key to their success is the Orion P-3.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Capable of flying 3,600 nautical miles in a single mission
0:02:54 > 0:02:58it's recognised as the best maritime surveillance plane in the world.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Today, I get to go up in one of these magnificent machines,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06giving me a glimpse of the colossal responsibility
0:03:06 > 0:03:08that is Australia's coastal defence.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12That's us, then. Ready for the off.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19Where can I plug this in?
0:03:32 > 0:03:35For a maritime nation like Australia,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37attack by submarine is a real threat.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40First up in today's training exercise
0:03:40 > 0:03:43is a drill to locate underwater invaders
0:03:43 > 0:03:47using the Orion's state-of-the-art sonar and radar.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51So, the idea is that somewhere in this area there's a submarine
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and you need to know where it is and what it's doing?
0:03:53 > 0:03:57That's right. So we're using radar, primarily, to find
0:03:57 > 0:04:01where the submarine is, track it and hopefully achieve a mission kill.
0:04:01 > 0:04:02OK.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06'Once deployed, the Orions operate well below
0:04:06 > 0:04:09'the standard cruising altitude of 35,000ft.'
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- Are we the double white circle? - That's right.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13So, this circle here - there's a line coming off,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15which is the way that we're pointing
0:04:15 > 0:04:18and the pilot's operating. That's quite a low level.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20What do you call low level?
0:04:20 > 0:04:24A really low level is about 100ft and that's quite sporting.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27- I would do that operationally. - Will we do that today?
0:04:27 > 0:04:29- Perhaps, yeah, hopefully. Definitely.- Great.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37The squadron's motto is, "Shepherd or destroy."
0:04:37 > 0:04:40So, along with torpedoes to sink the enemy, the Orions carry
0:04:40 > 0:04:43critical gear for search and rescue missions.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47101ft of wingspan, we're only 100ft above the waves,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50so somewhere out there the wingtip is just above the water.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53The sea is close enough to touch.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58To mark the position of survivors,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01smoke canisters are fired into the sea.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Yep, there's the smoke. Clear as day, trailing from right to left.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09So that would be marking the position of someone or something
0:05:09 > 0:05:11in the water, the smoke makes it easy to find again.
0:05:15 > 0:05:1860 seconds. Clear to open the door, stand by the drop.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22In a highly co-ordinated manoeuvre, the crew open the cabin door.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Door open.
0:05:27 > 0:05:28Drop now.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32And throw out a specially packaged life raft and supplies.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36- BOTH:- Door's closed.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Back in surveillance mode, these firing tubes
0:05:43 > 0:05:45double as launchers for sonobuoys,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49sensitive listening devices that work in tandem with the radar.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Stand by buoy. Buoy away, now.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55Two buoys.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58So, as soon as one of those is in the water you can eavesdrop
0:05:58 > 0:06:00on whatever's going on on the vessel that it's beside?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Sort of. We're listening to all the mechanical noises,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05pumps of engines and propellers, all that sort of stuff.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08From that we can determine what sort of vessel it is
0:06:08 > 0:06:09and how fast it's going.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Copy, radar, check.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Our vessel of interest,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16pilot's intentions will be to do a recon on this content.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17'Along with submarine hunting,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'the crew monitors surface vessels, as well...'
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Stand by.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26'..tagging suspected vessels with a specialised long-range camera.'
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Did those ships know that you were coming?
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- Had you given them advance warning?- No.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33As a matter of routine you just go
0:06:33 > 0:06:37- and have a look at vessels that are in Australian waters?- Absolutely.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38- Just see what they're doing?- Yep.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41They could be a vessel that's polluting or suspected of polluting,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43things like that are obviously quite important
0:06:43 > 0:06:46cos you don't want pollution in the waters around here, obviously.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52As a pilot, how do you rate this aircraft?
0:06:52 > 0:06:53I think it's fantastic.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- Why?- Just beautiful aircraft to fly.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Far as a pilot goes, this is back down to basics, you know,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02this is raw flying which you just don't get a lot of.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04'As if to prove his point,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06'Crew Captain Daniel Evans blindsides me...'
0:07:06 > 0:07:09You're in a nice position, I'm going to hand over to you.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12So, when I say handing over, I'm going to get you to take the yoke.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15'..and hands over control of the aircraft to me.'
0:07:15 > 0:07:17- Am I now flying this plane?- You are.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19It's holding itself level at the moment so you can turn it
0:07:19 > 0:07:21left and right, it's just like driving a car.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23To the right.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- So, this is not a trick, this is me doing this?- No,
0:07:26 > 0:07:27this is you doing it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Wow. I wasn't expecting to be in charge of something like this today.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34DANIEL CHUCKLES
0:07:34 > 0:07:37You're sure this is legal? Can we go and attack a submarine now?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39HE LAUGHS
0:07:39 > 0:07:40If there are any around.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45- I'm just going to take over again. - That's fantastic, OK.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Just release the yoke.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51And then, right, so, I've got control of the aircraft again.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55- Amazing.- Good fun? - Well, I've never done that before.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56Not many people have.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Well, when I got out of bed this morning I was not expecting to spend
0:08:06 > 0:08:11part of the day at the controls of a fully tooled-up military aircraft.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14So, there you go. A definite first. And there's another thing.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17These aircraft are coming to the end of many long years
0:08:17 > 0:08:19of distinguished service.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20But when the day comes,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23and they finally go over the hill into history
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and fly no more, I'll be able to say that,
0:08:26 > 0:08:31if only for a few moments, I, too, once flew an Orion.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Were it not for a remarkable coincidence,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53the towns and landmark along the rugged coast of South Australia
0:08:53 > 0:08:55might not bear the names they do today.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03In 1802, just off the coast here,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06two of the world's greatest navigators met by chance.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13At that time, their respective empires, France and England,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15were fighting the Napoleonic Wars.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19But this encounter was peaceful and even cooperative.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Professor Tim Flannery is setting out to investigate why.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26In early April 1802,
0:09:26 > 0:09:28this was still unexplored country.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30But the great navigator Matthew Flinders
0:09:30 > 0:09:33was fast approaching from the west.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36He was the man that gave Australia its name. While from the east
0:09:36 > 0:09:40there was a grand French expedition led by Captain Nicolas Baudin,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43the greatest scientific exploring expedition of the 19th century.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47The two were destined to meet just out there,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50in a place that's been known ever since as Encounter Bay.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53I'm here to meet an old mate, Adam Wynn,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and we've got a bit of a deal going about hats.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Unbeknownst to one another, both Flinders
0:10:01 > 0:10:05and Baudin were exploring Australia's coast at the same time.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09It was the race to chart Terra Australis.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13At stake, a claim to this vast island continent
0:10:13 > 0:10:15and all its many resources.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20Monsieur la Captain.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22HE GREETS HIM IN FRENCH
0:10:22 > 0:10:26'His hat may look like French Captain Baudin's,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28'but my mate Adam Wynn is as Aussie as they come.'
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- It's fantastic to see you again, Adam.- Nice to see you.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34It's so wonderful. It's been so long. I know, 200 years,
0:10:34 > 0:10:35I can't believe it went so quickly.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39'Adam's a talented winemaker with a penchant for history.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:44So, Adam, this is Encounter Bay. Why have you brought me here?
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Well, this is where an extraordinary meeting took place
0:10:47 > 0:10:50over 200 years ago between Flinders and Baudin,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- rivals, from rival countries.- Was it right here, do you think, or...?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55It was just about at this spot.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58There was probably no two groups of people further from home,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00when you think about it, and it would be like the Russians
0:11:00 > 0:11:04bumping into the Americans on Mars. "What are you guys doing here?"
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Just complete surprise and, of course,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09at the time, the two countries were at war.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12In the golden age of exploration,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15charts and navigational knowledge were currency.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Highly-prized technology, that was the intel of the day.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21But instead of killing one another,
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Flinders and Baudin chose, rather, to exchange information courteously.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Flinders, of course, had already charted a great area
0:11:29 > 0:11:32from the start of the bight to where we are now.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Baudin had charted unknown land from near the Victorian border
0:11:36 > 0:11:38to where we are now, and they compared notes.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42And it must have come as a bit of a disappointment to Baudin, really,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44because he was charged with charting
0:11:44 > 0:11:45the area that Flinders had just visited.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49- Yes, so, you can just see on these maps.- Ah, yes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52These maps, Adam, are of particular importance, aren't they?
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Very much so, the information was vital for
0:11:55 > 0:11:56so many things at that time.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59The ships at those times plied the seas with fairly limited
0:11:59 > 0:12:02navigational aids and often foundered,
0:12:02 > 0:12:03often were lost, you know,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05at huge expense to the merchants involved.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07So the more accurate the charts,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09the more easy was your flow of commerce
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and the wealthier you became as a nation.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Imagine if Baudin had got there first and a stake had been made
0:12:15 > 0:12:18on the colony, what do you think South Australia would be like today?
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Well, it's fascinating to contemplate, isn't it?
0:12:21 > 0:12:23South Australia could have been the Quebec of Australia.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26What a huge difference that would have made to our history.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30- What an intriguing thought, a French South Australia.- Yes.- Marvellous.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33- Vive la difference! - Vive la difference, mon Capitan.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Flinders and Baudin reached a gentleman's agreement to respect
0:12:46 > 0:12:50the place names each had assigned to the territories they chartered.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57Flash forward six years and Baudin is dead of tuberculosis,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Flinders, captured by the French, is detained in Mauritius -
0:13:01 > 0:13:03their agreement broken.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08All because Francois Peron and Louis de Freycinet,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11two surviving members of Baudin's team,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14neglected to mention the agreement back in France
0:13:14 > 0:13:16and replaced Flinders' English names
0:13:16 > 0:13:18with French ones on their map.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22But France lost the Napoleonic Wars
0:13:22 > 0:13:24and in 1836,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26the British Empire proclaimed
0:13:26 > 0:13:28South Australia as a colony.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Flinders' English names prevailed.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35But because of that chance meeting and gentleman's agreement,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38South Australia today has more French place names than
0:13:38 > 0:13:40anywhere else on the continent.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Flinders and Baudin would never meet again
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and Flinders died the very day that his great work,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51A Voyage To Terra Australis, was finally published,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55but the great tragedy of the expedition, I think, lies right here.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59This is the Murray river-mouth and Flinders had been specifically
0:13:59 > 0:14:04tasked by Sir Joseph Banks to find the great inland river of Australia.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06He never saw the river-mouth,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10neither did Baudin and so the chance for even further greatness
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and exploration slipped from their grasp.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29The mighty Murray is Australia's longest river.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Over 2,500 kilometres,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34it's the gateway to three states,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36traversing New South Wales,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Victoria, and South Australia.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But the shifting sands of the Murray mouth make this channel
0:14:43 > 0:14:45impractical for shipping.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52And even newly-invented, flat-bottomed paddle steamers
0:14:52 > 0:14:54found the crossing extremely treacherous.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00So here, the last bend before the river reaches the sea,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03was selected as the place where the riverboats would unload
0:15:03 > 0:15:05the cargoes, mostly bales of wool,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08for transfer onto the ocean-going ships
0:15:08 > 0:15:10out of Port Elliot and later Victor Harbour.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14And a new era of commerce had begun.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Heading east from the Murray Mouth,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28the coastline sweeps south along a 130km-long stretch
0:15:28 > 0:15:32of desolate beach-fronted dunes and salt water lagoons.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39This is the Coorong - one of Australia's largest wetlands,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43immortalised in the classic feature film Storm Boy.
0:15:50 > 0:15:51Based on the novel
0:15:51 > 0:15:54by South Australian author Colin Thiele,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Storm Boy is a moving and evocative tale
0:15:57 > 0:15:59that Brendan Moar remembers well.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Storm Boy was released in 1976,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05and I remember first seeing it when I was seven years old.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I will never forget that infinite stretch of coastline,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13those menacing, scary storm clouds and that sense of isolation.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18It was the complete opposite of the stereotypical sun-bronzed Aussie.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20This was a reflective, brooding coast.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27The film charts the special bond between an isolated young boy
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and the pelicans that breed here.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Want to see what Mr Percival can do?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43This is my first visit to the Coorong,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47and I wanted to see for myself what it is about this place
0:16:47 > 0:16:49that inspired both the book and the film.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Storm Boy was photographed by Geoff Burton.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00'He's one of Australia's most renowned cinematographers,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04'and this moody film launched his international career.'
0:17:04 > 0:17:07How important was the Coorong as a character in the film?
0:17:07 > 0:17:10It's important in a story that is as wide-ranging
0:17:10 > 0:17:13as the length of the events that occur in Storm Boy
0:17:13 > 0:17:16to be able to see this landscape as threatening.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17But at the same time,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20using that same landscape in the context of beauty.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And, yet, it's the same pile of sand and the same bushes
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and the same sky above.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Did you have any idea when you were making the film
0:17:28 > 0:17:33you were effectively making an ode to this beautiful environment?
0:17:33 > 0:17:37There was a period when there was a serious water shortage
0:17:37 > 0:17:38in the Murray.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40The pelicans were the first to go.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42It looked as though at that stage
0:17:42 > 0:17:44the Coorong was under serious threat.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49I thought, "Storm Boy may end up being evidence of an environment
0:17:49 > 0:17:51"that will no longer exist.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55"This could be the best the Coorong is ever going to look in history."
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Fortunately, the rains came and the whole thing was averted,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and water flowed down the Murray as it does.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Almost overnight, the pelicans came back and rookery was re-established.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The Coorong pelicans hold spiritual significance
0:18:12 > 0:18:16for the local Aboriginal people, who claim them as a totem.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Storm Boy. You run like a black fella.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Like the wind.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The relationship between young Mike and Fingerbone Bill,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29played by legendary indigenous actor David Gulpilil,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31is another ground-breaking aspect of Storm Boy.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36He was a man who had spiritual ownership of this land.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38His story is the pelican's story.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40That, sort of, concept had never been put
0:18:40 > 0:18:42to Australian audiences before.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50The film changed perspectives on the natural world,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55and this was the 1970s, way before the environment became a hot topic.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Capturing this ethereal costal landscape on film
0:18:58 > 0:19:02was a triumph for Australia's blossoming screen industry,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and, of course, its principal star - the Coorong.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17Storm Boy captured this coastline in fiction.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19100km west of here in Adelaide,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23there's a real life maritime history waiting to be preserved.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27While the colonies of New South Wales and Tasmania
0:19:27 > 0:19:30were established as convict settlements,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33in 1836, the founders of South Australia
0:19:33 > 0:19:35proclaimed a different vision.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38They imagined a colony of religious and political freedom,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42and all of it supported by business and pastoral investment.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47So unlike the rest of the continent,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52South Australia would be built not by convicts but by free men.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Advertisements were placed in the British press
0:19:55 > 0:19:57to attract the great and the good.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00"Free emigration to Port Adelaide, South Australia.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04"Married agricultural labourers, shepherds, blacksmiths
0:20:04 > 0:20:07"wheelwrights, sawyers, tailors, shoe-makers, brick-makers,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11"builders, and all persons engaged in useful occupations
0:20:11 > 0:20:13"may obtain a free passage."
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Strangely, they don't mention archaeologists.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21But even if the travel costs were covered,
0:20:21 > 0:20:26free settlers could hardly be expected to sail on convict barques.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30So in 1862, a group of wealthy Adelaide merchants
0:20:30 > 0:20:32commissioned a more enticing vessel.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Built in Sunderland and aptly named the City Of Adelaide,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42she was a three-masted composite clipper, and the first of her kind.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Peter, how are you? - Hi. Good to see you.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Good to see you, and to see the City Of Adelaide.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Isn't it magnificent?
0:20:52 > 0:20:55You do get that sudden sense, that shock
0:20:55 > 0:20:57of how big a construction she is.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59'Maritime enthusiast Peter Christopher
0:20:59 > 0:21:02'is committed to preserving this iconic remnant
0:21:02 > 0:21:05'of South Australia's maritime history.'
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Genealogists have calculated
0:21:07 > 0:21:10that about a quarter of a million people in Australia today
0:21:10 > 0:21:13can trace their heritage back to this actual vessel.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15From a technical point of view, then,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19what is a composite clipper and why is it important?
0:21:19 > 0:21:24Prior to this ship being built, ships were made wholly of wood.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The construction of this had an iron frame with wood over that.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31That meant the ship was much more streamlined,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33it could actually travel much faster.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Between 1864 and 1886,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40the City Of Adelaide made 23 round trips,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44carrying British and European migrants to South Australia,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47returning to Britain with copper, wool and wheat.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49This ship was so fast it was capable of cutting
0:21:49 > 0:21:52a month off the journey to Australia.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54A month off a journey that was how long anyway?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Some of the early ships took four, four-and-a-half months.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58This ship could do it in under three.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01That's like a quantum leap.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07Superseded only by the age of steam, the City's sailing ended in 1893,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11and she languished in a Glasgow dock for almost 100 years,
0:22:11 > 0:22:12before finally sinking.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Raised, she was doomed to decay in a Scottish backwater
0:22:16 > 0:22:21until Peter championed a lengthy and expensive rescue mission.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Peter, I have to ask - why go to all this effort for her?
0:22:25 > 0:22:27In terms of maritime history,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30this is one of the ten or so most iconic ships in the world.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32So this is the mother ship for Adelaide.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34It's very much the mother ship, yeah.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37It's a grand old lady.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42It took 14 years and 4 million
0:22:42 > 0:22:45before the hull of this regal, old clipper
0:22:45 > 0:22:48could finally be hoisted on to a purpose-built steel cradle
0:22:48 > 0:22:52and transported by heavy-lift carrier back to Port Adelaide
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and the city she helped build.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58It's almost an uncomfortable feeling
0:22:58 > 0:23:02being up against a ship's hull like this.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04It ought to be in the water.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07You're also reminded all the time that it was the work of people.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Every inch of this would have been touched at some point
0:23:10 > 0:23:13as people either built it or maintained it
0:23:13 > 0:23:15or put on the copper cladding.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16I don't know.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19You can hear the voices, because it represents the people
0:23:19 > 0:23:23who built her and the people who were carried inside her.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25You get a sense of them.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Pam Whittle is a descendent, a very special one.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34This is the first time she's seen the City here in Adelaide.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- Hi, Pam, how are you? - Hello, Neil! Good to see you.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Lovely to see you too.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42How do you feel seeing this grand lady
0:23:42 > 0:23:44for the first time in Australia?
0:23:44 > 0:23:50I'm feeling absolutely amazed, very emotional.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- Mm-hmm.- And...
0:23:52 > 0:23:55I just feel it's almost a dream.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Pam's great-grandfather, David Bruce,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02commissioned the building of this majestic old clipper.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05This ship wouldn't exist without your ancestor.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06I don't think it would have.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08'In pride of place in photo albums
0:24:08 > 0:24:12'are shots of her and her husband in Glasgow
0:24:12 > 0:24:15'where, in the '80s, the City Of Adelaide served
0:24:15 > 0:24:17'as a naval officer's club.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21'Pam had the rare opportunity to spend a couple of nights on board.'
0:24:23 > 0:24:25I can't get over the fact that you, as a descendant of the man
0:24:25 > 0:24:30who commissioned and had the ship built, has actually slept aboard.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Yes. That makes me feel very shivery.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38I imagine my great-grandfather David Bruce watching over me.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42I had this feeling that there's some link.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Well, more than some. A lot of links.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48Mm.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54More money is needed to fully restore the City Of Adelaide,
0:24:54 > 0:24:59and so, after 150 years, this hulking relic
0:24:59 > 0:25:01of the golden age of maritime history
0:25:01 > 0:25:03waits patiently in her new dock.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08And for the descendents of the passengers who arrived aboard her,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10her homecoming here is a new chapter.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14It's about history being brought to life for a whole new generation.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24In the footsteps of great explorers, like Flinders and Baudin,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28humans have domesticated much of this wild and rugged landscape.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34But the primal forces that gave this ancient coastline birth
0:25:34 > 0:25:38are far, far greater than any of mankind's endeavours.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Hidden right here at Discovery Bay
0:25:44 > 0:25:46on South Australia's remote Limestone Coast,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49marine ecologist Professor Emma Johnston
0:25:49 > 0:25:52is about to uncover one of nature's best kept secrets.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01I'm here in South Australia on the very border with Victoria.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05There's surf, sand, shore birds - all very typical.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11But what's unusual, something I have never seen before, is this -
0:26:11 > 0:26:14water bubbling out of the sand.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22'To help me make sense of it is geomorphologist Grant Pearce,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25'who's studying this natural phenomenon.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:29- Grant.- Hey, Emma. How are you going? Good to see you.- Yeah, good, good.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Hey, what's this? - What's happening here, Emma,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33is that these little bubbles coming out of here,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36that's ground water coming up through the sand.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40- Ah, this is fresh.- It's lovely, fresh water. If you have a taste...
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- Oh, it is.- Apart from the sand, it's quite nice.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45THEY LAUGH
0:26:45 > 0:26:47So where has this come from?
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Well, the rainfall that generates this
0:26:49 > 0:26:52falls inland about 100km away from where we are.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54And it's sunk into the earth?
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It sinks into the earth.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01It can take between 5,000 and 35,000 years to come out of this place.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04I could be drinking 35,000-year-old water.
0:27:04 > 0:27:05Fossil water. Yeah.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12While these bubbling springs have taken 35,000 years
0:27:12 > 0:27:15to travel through the ground to the beach,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18their true origin began millions of years ago
0:27:18 > 0:27:21when Tasmania split away from South Australia.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26The great Southern Ocean rolled in over this Mount Gambier region,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30littering the seabed with shells and decaying crustaceans.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32These shells fossilised.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34And over millennia,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37increasing volcanic activity and gaseous venting
0:27:37 > 0:27:39created the series of caves
0:27:39 > 0:27:43that is South Australia's spectacular Limestone Coast.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49This whole region is like a Swiss cheese of cove fixtures
0:27:49 > 0:27:51all the way around this coastline.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55So when we have a look into some of those coves, we can see the water,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59which is what's sitting in there, which comes from further up north.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01So behind us, behind this beach,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04you'll find a landscape which is full of holes?
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Absolutely, yeah.
0:28:06 > 0:28:07Let's go and have a look.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13So the secrets to this landscape are in fresh water,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16but on a scale I wasn't expecting.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18We've just come from the beach,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22and now we're in what looks like a reedy grassland.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26Yeah, we're entering one of Australia's most unique wetlands.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28EMMA GASPS
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Look at what we've got here.
0:28:30 > 0:28:31That's stunning.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33So this is Piccaninnie Ponds.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Unlike most wetlands, which are fed by surface water,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Piccaninnie Ponds is unique.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Here, the ground water seeps in from below,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46eroding the limestone above it.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49And when the thinning surface layer collapses,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53spectacular sinkholes, or deep-water ponds, are formed.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59The water is about 14 degrees Celsius,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02'and I'm joining Grant for an afternoon dive.'
0:29:07 > 0:29:10'Besides being a hazard to the passing drover and his dog,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14'sinkholes were only ever a curiosity for snorkelers,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19'until the invention of scuba and the Aqua-lung in the '60s.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22'Since then, curious divers like Grant
0:29:22 > 0:29:26'have taken to exploring these underwater caverns.'
0:29:26 > 0:29:27How deep is this cave?
0:29:27 > 0:29:30This cave goes down to about 110 metres.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34'Like Flinders and Baudin, who first mapped the coastline,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38'Grant and his colleagues are the new cartographers,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42'continuing the explorers' legacy, probing the secrets
0:29:42 > 0:29:45'of Mount Gambier's magnificent subterranean caves.'
0:29:49 > 0:29:51Are we at risk of losing
0:29:51 > 0:29:54these fresh-water ecosystems close to the coast?
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Provided that they're managed properly,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59this site will be able to be maintained well into the future.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02'Placed here by cave divers,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05'these tubular salinity probes monitor levels of salt
0:30:05 > 0:30:08'at the fresh and sea water interface.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12'This information is fed back to a station at Mount Gambier.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15'where scientists use it to formulate water-management plans
0:30:15 > 0:30:17'to protect these wetlands.'
0:30:17 > 0:30:19How many years ago did that form?
0:30:19 > 0:30:23We think that that formed about five million years ago.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27So, we just swam through a five million-year-old Gothic cathedral?!
0:30:27 > 0:30:29- That's right!- Absolutely stunning.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Just inland from Piccaninnie Ponds
0:30:35 > 0:30:37is the deep and mysterious
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Kilsby Sinkhole.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45The water is so clear.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49- Why is it so clear?- The limestone acts like a giant coffee filter
0:30:49 > 0:30:52and it just filters out any of the impurities in the organics
0:30:52 > 0:30:53and what you see here
0:30:53 > 0:30:55is water that we can drink.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58'And as science follows the cave divers,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01'who knows what incredible breakthroughs might emerge,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03'as modern-day explorers, like Grant,
0:31:03 > 0:31:09'uncover sacred wonders, in these subterranean cathedrals of light.'
0:31:22 > 0:31:24Just 200 years in the writing
0:31:24 > 0:31:28and Australia's colonial history is rich with the achievements
0:31:28 > 0:31:32of a tenacious people who have made a life most splendid along this
0:31:32 > 0:31:33glimmering coast.
0:31:34 > 0:31:39But behind this success story is a dark and ugly shadow.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Historian, Dr Alice Garner,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46has come to the port town of Robe, 160 kilometres
0:31:46 > 0:31:49from the Victorian border, to explore how one colony's
0:31:49 > 0:31:53xenophobic tax was the making of another's coastal town.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58In the 1840s and '50s,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Imperial China was fighting Britain and France
0:32:00 > 0:32:05in the Opium Wars. It was a time of great economic deprivation
0:32:05 > 0:32:08and political instability for the Chinese people.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12And, for many, life was so grim that, in order to ensure the survival
0:32:12 > 0:32:16of their family, they had to leave home, to seek work overseas.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20In America,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23the gold rush was winding down.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27Word filtered through that the next El Dorado was in Australia -
0:32:27 > 0:32:29specifically, Victoria.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35Seeking better prospects, desperate Chinese left their remote villages
0:32:35 > 0:32:40in droves, sailed on junks to Hong Kong and boarded European ships
0:32:40 > 0:32:41to Australia.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44But the Victorian government considered the influx
0:32:44 > 0:32:50of Chinese fossikers a threat and, in 1855, imposed a £10 poll,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53or head tax, on all Chinese landing
0:32:53 > 0:32:58in Victoria - an attempt to keep them out of the colony.
0:32:58 > 0:32:59It was a blatant act of racism,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02because it applied only to the Chinese.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06In response, Hong Kong shipping agents redirected their vessels
0:33:06 > 0:33:08to South Australia,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11where there was no Chinese landing tax - at least, not yet -
0:33:11 > 0:33:15and unloaded their pasengers here, at Guichen Bay.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20And so, in January 17th, 1857,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23the sleepy town of Robe awoke to find a British ship
0:33:23 > 0:33:25anchored in the bay.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32265 Chinese disembarked that morning, the first of some 15,000 to pass
0:33:32 > 0:33:34through Robe in the coming year.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39When they set foot on dry land, they discovered they would have to walk
0:33:39 > 0:33:45to the Victorian gold fields. That is more than 400 kilometres away.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51'Writer and researcher Liz Harfull is the full book on Robe
0:33:51 > 0:33:52'and its history.'
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Liz!
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Hello, Alice. Welcome to Flagstaff Hill.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59This is the hub of where it all started for Robe.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Over here, we have Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05the two individuals that charted the coast.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09Can you paint me a picture of Robe at the time the Chinese miners arrived?
0:34:09 > 0:34:12It was a very small and isolated port at the furthest end
0:34:12 > 0:34:13of the British Empire.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17Less than 200 people lived here at that time.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19- Were they welcomed into Robe? - On the whole, they were,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22because the locals soon worked out it was a fabulous
0:34:22 > 0:34:23business opportunity.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Were they mainly men or were there women and children on board?
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Overwhelmingly, men. In fact, census records show there are only
0:34:30 > 0:34:33three women on the Victorian gold fields, well into the gold rush.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40The Victorian gold rush was a jackpot for the townsfolk of Robe.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46The Celestials, a name given to the Chinese,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48needed to eat, sleep and prepare
0:34:48 > 0:34:52for their arduous journey to the gold fields of Ballarat.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57Robe locals were able to charge exhorbitant prices for goods
0:34:57 > 0:35:00and services and, when the cash ran out,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03there were exotic possessions to barter.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07The local government even levied a 5% customs duty on opium -
0:35:07 > 0:35:12legal, at the time - brought in to Australia by the Chinese miners.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18I've got some essential supplies here, the kind of things
0:35:18 > 0:35:21that the Chinese miners might have taken with them
0:35:21 > 0:35:26for their walk. Of course, they also would have needed mining supplies
0:35:26 > 0:35:27or equipment.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Oh! But I think this is heavy enough.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35And now, having sailed from southern China...
0:35:36 > 0:35:39..the journey is only just beginning.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42It's over 400 kilometres to Victoria.
0:35:46 > 0:35:47And so, burdened with kit,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50they trekked to the Central Victorian gold fields,
0:35:50 > 0:35:55over swampy trade tracks and in blistering 40-degree heat.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Tough times awaited the Chinese on the Victorian gold fields.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Most eventually went home, if they could afford it.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05But many chose to carve out a life here and prospered
0:36:05 > 0:36:08and changed this immigrant country of ours for ever.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Ferry journeys like this
0:36:35 > 0:36:38are so reminiscent of so many journeys that I have made around
0:36:38 > 0:36:41the British Isles, particularly in the west of Scotland,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43but in fact, I couldn't be further from home.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49We're heading for Kangaroo Island, 15 kilometres off the coast,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52earmarked by Matthew Flinders
0:36:52 > 0:36:54as a suitable location for the first settlement
0:36:54 > 0:36:56of South Australia.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59But the inclement conditions
0:36:59 > 0:37:02forced those first settlers to abandon the island
0:37:02 > 0:37:04and move to Adelaide.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08There is a hidden history here,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12swept over by the icy winds on this desolate shore.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14And I have come to dig it out.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23At least a decade before Flinders, Kangaroo Island was already a haven
0:37:23 > 0:37:27for a community of wildmen - tough, flinty-eyed crewmen
0:37:27 > 0:37:30who had jumped ship to escape appalling working conditions,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33seeking refuge on islands like this.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40They were hunting whales and seals, for oil and fur.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46but it was another furry beast that gave this island its name.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50In March, 1802, hungry and short on supplies,
0:37:50 > 0:37:54Matthew Flinders and his crew on the Investigator docked here.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59In fact, Flinders wrote that Kangaroo Island was so named
0:37:59 > 0:38:02because it was these animals which saved them.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06He was here for about six weeks and, during that time, his crew
0:38:06 > 0:38:08augmented their diet by slaughtering
0:38:08 > 0:38:11and eating over 30 of these poor beasts.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15So, replenished, the Investigator sailed on, but as you can see,
0:38:15 > 0:38:19the kangaroos remained, to provide a great deal of fascination
0:38:19 > 0:38:22for Flinders' French counterpart, Nicolas Baudin, who was so
0:38:22 > 0:38:25senamoured of these bizarre creatures that he took two of them
0:38:25 > 0:38:30back to France, as presents for none other than Josephine Bonaparte.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Joined by escaped convicts, bringing abducted
0:38:35 > 0:38:40Aboriginal women with them, the renegade wild men of Kangaroo Island
0:38:40 > 0:38:43sold seal skins and oil to passing ships,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46for rum, tobacco, firearms, tools
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and other necessities.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52It was the beginning of a profitable fur trade,
0:38:52 > 0:38:53but easy pickings on the island
0:38:53 > 0:38:56plunged seal numbers to the point of extinction.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Dr Keryn Walshe is an archaeologist who has been uncovering
0:39:00 > 0:39:04some startling new evidence about this early colonial time.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08Hi, Keryn!
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Was there an Aboriginal population
0:39:12 > 0:39:15on Kangaroo Island when the Europeans arrived?
0:39:15 > 0:39:17- No, but they had been here. - How do we know that?
0:39:17 > 0:39:21Because of the stone tools that were left here by them.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23And how recent... When did they leave?
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Probably about 5,000 years ago.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31'Keryn recently made a remarkable discovery - one that unlocks
0:39:31 > 0:39:35'a previously unknown piece of the fur trade puzzle.'
0:39:35 > 0:39:38So, you were just walking through here, just seeing what there was
0:39:38 > 0:39:41- to be seen?- Yes, that's right. I was looking for stone tools, really,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45the record stone tools left on the surface by Aboriginal people,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49- but instead, what I came across was this site...- Uh-huh.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51..which was covered in animal bone.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Bone does not last long on the surface,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58so it had to be a recent site, which made me immediately think about
0:39:58 > 0:40:01the whaling and sealing industry that was happening here
0:40:01 > 0:40:03on Kangaroo Island, from roughly 1800, if not a bit earlier.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07- But you could see right away that it was not seal bone?- That's right.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10It was not seal bone, so I was quite flummoxed by it in the beginning.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14'Keryn had discovered an archaeological treasure trove
0:40:14 > 0:40:18'of wallaby bones - brand-new evidence to prove
0:40:18 > 0:40:20'that the wild men of Kangaroo Island
0:40:20 > 0:40:22'adapted to declining seal populations
0:40:22 > 0:40:25'by hunting wallabies for their fur.'
0:40:27 > 0:40:29And why were they worth harvesting?
0:40:29 > 0:40:31What is good about a wallaby?
0:40:31 > 0:40:34The wallaby furs are quite good in themselves
0:40:34 > 0:40:37but here on Kangaroo Island the fur is extra, extra thick
0:40:37 > 0:40:40- because it's such a cold, exposed place.- Right.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44And so the furs from this island were preferred in the fur industry.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48How does this compare to other sites of this sort elsewhere
0:40:48 > 0:40:50in this part of the world?
0:40:50 > 0:40:52This is the only site that I'm aware of in the whole
0:40:52 > 0:40:54of the Southern Hemisphere. This is it.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59I cover so many different kinds of stories on Coast
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and it's always a pleasure, therefore, when I stumble across
0:41:02 > 0:41:06something like this which is a story for an archaeologist.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10It took someone like Keryn walking through this landscape,
0:41:10 > 0:41:14trying to understand the archaeology of this place,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17to notice the significance of a bone like this.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20What she has unearthed is an industry that appeared
0:41:20 > 0:41:23spontaneously in this part of the world
0:41:23 > 0:41:29as people in extremis struggled to make a living and to survive
0:41:29 > 0:41:32and to triumph over their circumstances on the coast.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51The remarkable rocks fairly live up to their name.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Here we're in the presence of a masterpiece
0:41:54 > 0:41:58on display in the world's most spectacular natural gallery.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06But this rock art isn't the work of Picasso,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09or even Salvador Dali.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13The master sculptors here are sea, wind and rain,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17a relentless trio who have burrowed, pounded and swept
0:42:17 > 0:42:19around the 500 million-year-old granite,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23smoothing its edges and elevating its form over function.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30500 million years ago these remarkable rocks developed
0:42:30 > 0:42:31inside the earth's crust
0:42:31 > 0:42:35and their sculpted forms are unique to Kangaroo Island.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Island dwellers tend to value their independence.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I suppose it's something to do with the reassurance
0:42:44 > 0:42:47of knowing there's a barrier between you and the rest of the world,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49between you and authority.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53That's why islands and islanders are just that little bit different.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57The renegade wild sealers of Kangaroo Island
0:42:57 > 0:42:59were a case in point.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03They built a profitable fur trade in this harsh wilderness
0:43:03 > 0:43:07but at great cost to the indigenous wildlife.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11In just over 30 years, between 1803 and 1834,
0:43:11 > 0:43:16at least 100,000 seal skins were harvested on Kangaroo Island alone
0:43:16 > 0:43:19for export to Europe and Asia.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Here on the island the species was almost wiped out.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31I'm joining sea lion specialist Dr Simon Goldsworthy
0:43:31 > 0:43:33and ranger Clarence Kennedy
0:43:33 > 0:43:36on a field trip to count the current population.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38These are all sea lions, there's no seals here?
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Sea lions are seals.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Is the species effectively still trying to compensate
0:43:43 > 0:43:46for that big hit that was taken in the 19th century?
0:43:46 > 0:43:47Yeah, exactly.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51The first seals which were taken in huge numbers around Kangaroo Island
0:43:51 > 0:43:54have undergone quite a spectacular recovery in Southern Australia
0:43:54 > 0:43:56since about the late 1970s
0:43:56 > 0:43:59but sea lions haven't undergone a recovery as we've seen...
0:43:59 > 0:44:02So all these animals we can see here are sea lions
0:44:02 > 0:44:05and that's the species that's struggling to bounce back?
0:44:05 > 0:44:06That's right.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11It's estimated that there are fewer than 15,000 Australian
0:44:11 > 0:44:13sea lions alive.
0:44:13 > 0:44:1685% of them live in South Australia
0:44:16 > 0:44:20and Seal Bay is one of the largest breeding sites.
0:44:21 > 0:44:22To track the colony's population,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26the sea lions of Seal Bay are microchipped.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Here's a sub adult male.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33Simon and Clarence monitor population growth every two months,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37scanning the whole colony to identify newborns.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40What is it, do you think, that's attracting
0:44:40 > 0:44:44the sea lions and the seals to Kangaroo Island?
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Why do the sea lions particularly like Seal Bay?
0:44:47 > 0:44:50You don't find sea lions breeding on the mainland
0:44:50 > 0:44:52- where humans can hunt them.- Right.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55So offshore islands are their domain.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57We're just really fortunate that this site,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59was a place that was very inaccessible,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and this is where they've hung on, basically.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06But while hunting is no longer a threat to this protected
0:45:06 > 0:45:11sea lion colony, human impact remains a clear and present danger.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13Over the last 25 years here,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16this population has declined by over 30%.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20We discard seven billion tonnes of debris
0:45:20 > 0:45:22into the oceans every year
0:45:22 > 0:45:24and, furthermore,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28sea lions get caught up in huge trawling gillnets.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Now what's happened in the last five years,
0:45:30 > 0:45:35there's been some major changes in the way that fisheries operated.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Many animals would come ashore with gillnet wrapped around their necks.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42So there's a ban of gillnet fishing to protect this colony.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47So here's yet another species that has suffered so much
0:45:47 > 0:45:49from contact with humankind.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53It feels as if the cards are stacked against them.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59It's why a place like Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island is so important
0:45:59 > 0:46:04because it's at least a safe haven for some of the sea lions.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28I'm not a train spotter, as such,
0:46:28 > 0:46:32but there's no denying the romance of a railway that runs along
0:46:32 > 0:46:36beside the sea, and this one's made even more intriguing by the fact
0:46:36 > 0:46:39it's called The Cockle Express.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41So I'm looking forward to a good lunch, as well.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47Linking the seaside towns of Victor Harbour and Port Elliot,
0:46:47 > 0:46:48to the mouth of the River Murray,
0:46:48 > 0:46:53The Cockle Express is the oldest steel railed railway in Australia.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58In the days before steam, a horse-drawn train would bring
0:46:58 > 0:47:01the cockle hunters to Goolwa
0:47:01 > 0:47:03and the little saltwater clams, or pipis,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07are so highly prized that the tradition continues to this day.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19The sandy beaches near the Murray River mouth are the perfect place
0:47:19 > 0:47:21to find cockles, or pipis.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26And Alf here is about to teach me the pipis dance.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29So this is how you do cockling Australian style, yeah?
0:47:29 > 0:47:32- This is the cockle shuffle. - The cockle shuffle?- Yeah.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34- It looks more like the twist to me. - It's the twist, the shuffle.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36Does that just to disturb them?
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- It lifts them up and you can feel them under your feet.- Ah-ha.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41Beautiful, good size.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44- Millions of them coming up.- Ah-ha. - Millions of them.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Have the Australians always made food out of these?
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Well, they've probably been popular for the last 20,000 years
0:47:49 > 0:47:52for our local indigenous Aborigines up here.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55The Italians came along and we perfected the recipe, I think.
0:47:55 > 0:47:56- We introduced pasta.- Ah.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58So it's the Italian influence.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00I get you, right.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02- Right, shall we cook some of these? - I'd love to.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09- There's garlic and chilli in there. - Yeah, lovely.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12You can smell it. The pasta's looking good.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15- For al dente.- Al dente.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17There's something brilliant about food you collect yourself
0:48:17 > 0:48:19and cook yourself outdoors.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22- There's just something... - It's delicious, it's fresh.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24Nature's gift. Cheers.
0:48:27 > 0:48:28Oh, look at that.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34- Oh, fantastic.- Yeah, it's good.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36- That is really good. - That is beautiful.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40Next time on Coast...
0:48:40 > 0:48:42We visit Northern and New South Wales.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Dr Alice Garner goes to visit a most extraordinary jail.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48There was a hive of activity.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52There was a barber's shop, a tailor, a cobbler...
0:48:53 > 0:48:56Tim Flannery uncovers a little-known tale of heroism
0:48:56 > 0:48:59and exploration.
0:48:59 > 0:49:0312 men, small rafts, total isolation for six months.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05It takes a special kind of person to survive that.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11While I discover the personal cost of a secret war.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14The government certainly didn't want it to be public knowledge
0:49:14 > 0:49:16in case the populace got panicked.