0:00:18 > 0:00:22During centuries of sea voyages, the South West of Australia
0:00:22 > 0:00:25was often the first or the last sighting
0:00:25 > 0:00:28of the great island continent beyond.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36This has been country for the Noongar people for 50,000 years.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38More recently, the first European colony
0:00:38 > 0:00:41on the western seaboard took root here.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46The southwest corner of Australia is resolute as it is remote,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49where the warm expanse of the Indian Ocean
0:00:49 > 0:00:52crashes into the menacing swell of the Southern Ocean.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Joining me on this journey,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59historian Alice Garner discovers a faithful link
0:00:59 > 0:01:02between two villages forged in war.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06The Germans knew the monks were harbouring Allies.
0:01:06 > 0:01:07But they wouldn't touch the monks,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10but they certainly slaughtered a lot of Cretan people.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12Landscape architect Brendan Moar
0:01:12 > 0:01:16unearths the incredible life of an intrepid botanical collector.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18The lords and ladies back in England
0:01:18 > 0:01:23were going wild wanting the stuff that she'd sent.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Professor Tim Flannery hunts for terroir with a note of coast.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28I don't know quite what it is about it,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31but something about it reminds me of the sea.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36And for me, the bizarre true story of high drama on the high seas.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38"You fire on us, you're firing on America.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40"Do you want to start a war?"
0:01:40 > 0:01:43This is Coast Australia!
0:02:09 > 0:02:13Our journey along Western Australia's southwest coast
0:02:13 > 0:02:15takes us from Perth to Rockingham,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17down to Margaret River,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and its most southerly point, Augusta.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Hey, hey, hey, hey.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37This elegant little square-rigger is a replica of the Duyfken -
0:02:37 > 0:02:40the first known European ship to visit Australia.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48She's the most accurate seagoing duplicate of a 16th century vessel.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51With a shallow hull,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54and at 25 metres from beakhead to stern,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57it was shorter, more manoeuvrable and faster
0:02:57 > 0:02:58than other ships of its day.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04To think that in 1606 a dauntless little vessel like this one
0:03:04 > 0:03:09sighted and charted the northern cape of this vast continent.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Dutch explorers rode the Roaring Forties east
0:03:14 > 0:03:17from the Cape of Good Hope, then north to Batavia
0:03:17 > 0:03:21in the lucrative pursuit of spices and gold.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Landfalls along this arid, desolate coast were inevitable,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27even if unplanned,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and thus, the beginnings of New Holland
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and, eventually, the map of Australia.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38This reproduction is testament to the dedication
0:03:38 > 0:03:41of passionate individuals who relish a challenge.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44- Haul it.- Good job.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Well done.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50'Renowned Western Australian sailor John Longley is one such man.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'As well as being an America's Cup racing veteran,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'he's also chairman of the Duyfken Replica Foundation.'
0:03:57 > 0:04:00How authentic is this vessel?
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Well, she's incredibly authentic.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06This ship has been built by the same techniques
0:04:06 > 0:04:09that were used in the 16th century,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11which is this plank first method of construction.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14So you don't build a skeleton and flesh it -
0:04:14 > 0:04:16you build the skin,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and then, if you need an internal skeleton, you do that last.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22That's right, so the concept of building the internal skeleton
0:04:22 > 0:04:26was a development after the construction of this vessel.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30What do you learn from being on board a vessel like this
0:04:30 > 0:04:33that you don't learn from any other kind of sailing?
0:04:33 > 0:04:35We're so much in the 21st century,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37if we need to go somewhere we get on a plane - whisht! -
0:04:37 > 0:04:39get in the car - whewtt! - whatever.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44On a ship like this, you just cannot go where you want to go
0:04:44 > 0:04:46until the sea and the wind allows you to go.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50So, there's that whole concept of patience
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and letting things flow, and the natural order of things.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56Does it reset your clock?
0:04:56 > 0:04:58It absolutely resets your clock -
0:04:58 > 0:05:00it's very good for your soul.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05When you first encounter a vessel like this one,
0:05:05 > 0:05:06it can seem like a relic -
0:05:06 > 0:05:10an artefact from a much more primitive era.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13But if you spend any time aboard, you gradually realise
0:05:13 > 0:05:17that it was the absolute cutting edge of technology,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19this is the space shuttle of its time,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24and that the people aboard were travelling to the very limits
0:05:24 > 0:05:26of human imagination - and even beyond.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Sweeping south from the port of Fremantle,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Cockburn Sound hooks around to Garden Island.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41A large ocean inlet,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43it hosts Australia's biggest naval base
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and many of Perth's maritime industries.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51One of which is a pioneering energy project
0:05:51 > 0:05:55that marine ecologist Professor Emma Johnston is eager to investigate
0:05:55 > 0:05:57at its source.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Never been a great surfer,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14but even moderate success in the surf is exhilarating
0:06:14 > 0:06:16for the power that you're tapping into.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Harnessing that energy
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and converting it into electricity is the next logical step.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24But how does one go about it -
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and how do you do it at a commercial scale?
0:06:27 > 0:06:31I'm about to find out with an engineer who's doing just that
0:06:31 > 0:06:33not far from here.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40How to tap into the perpetual ebb and flow of waves?
0:06:40 > 0:06:43That's what Jonathan Fievez has been working on,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45and he's using a model to show me
0:06:45 > 0:06:48that it's not about the swaying back and forth,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50but the up and down motion that counts.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53The wave itself has pressure,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55which pushes down on the buoy and pulls up on the buoy.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Ah, I can see it's moving.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- As it pushes down, the rod retracts...- Mm-hm.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04..and so, you can see, as the waves push and pull on the buoy,
0:07:04 > 0:07:09we get this pumping action, which pumps the fluid back to shore
0:07:09 > 0:07:11and turns the turbine which generates the electricity.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I'll just show you how this is going to work.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- So, the wave will have transmitted the energy?- Exactly.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- And that will pump the fluid through the piston?- That's right.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Back onto land. You're doing that?
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Yep. And we're turning our turbine,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and our turbine's generating the electricity.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27You're actually getting electricity here!
0:07:27 > 0:07:28That's right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And here, at the Australian Maritime Complex, is the real deal.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37The giant wave energy capture machine, called Ceto,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40after the Greek goddess of the sea.
0:07:42 > 0:07:4611 metres in diameter and five metres high,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50these huge buoys are made of steel, with internal float chambers.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The company is deploying three buoys as a test to provide energy
0:07:56 > 0:07:59for the WA naval base at Garden Island.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04If it works, large wave energy farms would comprise of 25 buoys or more -
0:08:04 > 0:08:08all bobbing around just below the waterline.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10How much power can this unit generate?
0:08:10 > 0:08:14This has a capacity of 240 kilowatts.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16To give you an idea of how that would translate,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19if you had a kilometre of coastline,
0:08:19 > 0:08:24there's enough energy hitting the coastline to power 20,000 homes.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26- Phenomenal.- Yeah.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Wind and solar energy industry, we've heard a lot about.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Is it harder to actually capture wave energy?
0:08:32 > 0:08:34It's a very challenging environment.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39You know, in the salt seawater, with the ocean waves, huge forces.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Er, you know, difficult to access from a maintenance point of view.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43So, I think all those things
0:08:43 > 0:08:47are the challenges that made it quite a slow process.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52A slow start in modern times, but the blueprints for wave energy
0:08:52 > 0:08:55have been around for a long time.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57It was Napoleonic Paris
0:08:57 > 0:09:02where the first patent for a wave energy machine was reportedly lodged.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Since then, the idea of capturing the sea's infinite supply of energy
0:09:06 > 0:09:10has fired the minds of inventors the world over.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15This Western Australian innovation
0:09:15 > 0:09:17will be the world's first wave farm
0:09:17 > 0:09:21using large scale wave energy convertors.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24The great thing about the West Australian coast in this area
0:09:24 > 0:09:27is that the oceans swells are coming from thousands of kilometres away
0:09:27 > 0:09:30near Antarctica, and so they're high energy swells,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32and it also never stops,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36so at night-time, of course, we continue producing.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40With a successful test, the wave farm should have a prolonged future
0:09:40 > 0:09:44harnessing an endless supply of energy from nature.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Now THAT is making the most of the coast.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Western Australia's epic coastline
0:09:56 > 0:10:00is distinguished by long stretches of desolate beauty
0:10:00 > 0:10:02and the finite wonders of human enterprise.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Burdened by distance and an unforgiving environment,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11WA's feats of engineering are therefore all the more significant -
0:10:11 > 0:10:15evidence of the ambitious reach of a few resolute visionaries.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I've come to Fremantle
0:10:21 > 0:10:23to find out about one of them...
0:10:24 > 0:10:28..and his story of professional triumph and personal tragedy.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Fremantle's role as a port
0:10:32 > 0:10:36began with the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829
0:10:36 > 0:10:39by explorer Captain James Stirling.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Now, at that time, the mouth of the Swan River
0:10:41 > 0:10:44was partially blocked by a limestone bar
0:10:44 > 0:10:47that made the entrance virtually impassable for seagoing vessels,
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and made cargo handling on the long jetty impractical.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57One ship's captain of the time wrote the following -
0:10:57 > 0:10:58"It is no place to put a vessel -
0:10:58 > 0:11:02"certainly the worst place I or anyone else ever saw.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04"No place to send a ship of this size.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08"Any man who would come or send a ship a second time is a damned ass."
0:11:11 > 0:11:12By the 1890s,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16population and prosperity flowing from WA's gold rush
0:11:16 > 0:11:19demanded that Perth provide a sheltered harbour
0:11:19 > 0:11:20and safe anchorage.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Western Australia's first premier John Forrest
0:11:27 > 0:11:29hired an engineer for the job -
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Irishman Charles Yelverton O'Connor.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I've joined Fremantle harbour master Captain Allan Gray
0:11:37 > 0:11:40to find out about the formidable challenges that faced O'Connor.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45So, what path did ships try to take in those days,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49you know, to get into the shelter that was available?
0:11:49 > 0:11:50They would come from the southwest,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and they would try and take a turn
0:11:53 > 0:11:55close to the southern side of the harbour.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57They had to take quite a dramatic turn
0:11:57 > 0:11:59to get around both sets of rocky outcrops.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02But when you've got severe winds, breaking seas,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04that's a difficult manoeuvre under sail.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10O'Connor's design did away with the rocky outcrops
0:12:10 > 0:12:12that were damaging ships
0:12:12 > 0:12:16and implemented two massive breakwaters known as moles.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18They get a safe entrance, and it protects them,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21the swell from coming in, and affecting ships alongside.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It's quite simple what he was wanting to do,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27but what did he have to achieve?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Well, many of the engineers at the time
0:12:29 > 0:12:33reckoned it was the sheer cost of the exercise back in that time.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34He had to get rid of that rocky bar,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and that meant blasting and then dredging after that,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40so it was an engineering task,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43it wasn't a simple task of just removing some sand.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49After much criticism of the plan,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51work began in 1892,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55and five years later, the official opening of the inner harbour
0:12:55 > 0:13:00was celebrated with the entry of the oceangoing steamer SS Sultan,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Premier John Forrest's wife at the helm.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07It was a new era for shipping in Western Australia.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12O'Connor wasn't finished with big public works.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15When Premier Forrest had offered him the job of chief engineer
0:13:15 > 0:13:19back in 1891, O'Connor asked what the job would entail,
0:13:19 > 0:13:20and the telegram back from Forrest
0:13:20 > 0:13:24said, "Railways, harbours, everything."
0:13:24 > 0:13:28They were building a state, and CY O'Connor relished the challenge.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34His next task took him inland,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38to the barren desert centre that was Kalgoorlie's booming goldfields.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40His plan?
0:13:40 > 0:13:46Merely to pipe water 530 kilometres from Perth - uphill.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51I've come here to meet Mike Lefroy, great-grandson of CY O'Connor
0:13:51 > 0:13:54on a beach named in honour of his famous ancestor.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00It was a huge project - in fact, probably still
0:14:00 > 0:14:02the longest steel pipeline in the world,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and the longest freshwater pipeline in the world.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08O'Connor copped prolonged criticism by the press
0:14:08 > 0:14:10and local parliamentarians.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12These were expensive projects,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and having lost his staunch supporter John Forrest
0:14:15 > 0:14:17to federal politics,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20O'Connor took the politically motivated flak personally.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26His critics accused them of misuse of funds, extravagance -
0:14:26 > 0:14:29is there any evidence that he was guilty of any of that?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32There's none whatsoever, and when he died,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35all that criticism just faded away very quickly.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38He died with less than £200 to his name.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40And what do we know, precisely,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43about the circumstances of his death?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Well, we know the pressure was building up to a point
0:14:45 > 0:14:47where something had to break.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50He wasn't sleeping. Huge anxiety was racking him.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53As a way of shredding that anxiety, he used to ride.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57He'd ride every morning to this point here, which is Robb Jetty.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59It appears what happened then...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01that he stopped his horse,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04he got off the horse,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06he let the horse go.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Ever the economist and the engineer,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11he took his false teeth out of his mouth, put them in his pocket,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14took out his revolver and shot himself.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Just a man at the end of his rope?
0:15:18 > 0:15:19That's right.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21He was only here for 11 years,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25and it's remarkable, even in today's terms, the way projects are done,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28remarkable what he achieved in those 11 years.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33In 1903, the "pipe dream" became a reality
0:15:33 > 0:15:37when fresh water gushed into Kalgoorlie's arid goldfields.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Like the success of Fremantle Harbour,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42the pipeline is still in operation today,
0:15:42 > 0:15:48delivering water to mines, farms and more than 100,000 people -
0:15:48 > 0:15:53engineering feats that are tributes to O'Connor's foresight and skill.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Named by explorer Nicolas Baudin in 1801,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11tranquil Geographe Bay and Cape Naturaliste are reminders
0:16:11 > 0:16:14of the Napoleonic French chapter in this region's history.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Dunsborough sits towards the cape's point,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20where anthropologist Dr Xanthe Mallett
0:16:20 > 0:16:25is using her forensic experience for an unusual dive mission.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Today I'm working with a very special division
0:16:28 > 0:16:32of WA police on a very specific training exercise -
0:16:32 > 0:16:34body recovery underwater.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37- Good morning, gentlemen. - Morning, Xanthe, how are you going?
0:16:37 > 0:16:39- Good to see you.- Welcome aboard. - Thank you very much.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42'The dive squad from Fremantle Water Police
0:16:42 > 0:16:45'is here for operational training,
0:16:45 > 0:16:46'to test new technology
0:16:46 > 0:16:49'and hone their skills in a challenging environment.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'We're on our way to the wreck of HMAS Swan,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55'two nautical miles offshore from Eagle Bay.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00'After 27 years of service with the Royal Australian Navy,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03'the ship was scuttled in 1997.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11'Now she sits in 31 metres of water, and is a purpose-built dive site
0:17:11 > 0:17:14'perfect for training operations.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17'Sergeant Rod Veal is heading up this exercise.'
0:17:17 > 0:17:20What kind of incidents would the water police attend out here?
0:17:20 > 0:17:22A lot of our time is spent recovering evidence
0:17:22 > 0:17:25such as knives and firearms
0:17:25 > 0:17:28and jewellery from burglaries and things like that,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30but also we do get involved
0:17:30 > 0:17:32with the investigation of deceased persons -
0:17:32 > 0:17:35whether it be suicide, or whether it be some sort of foul play.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37So that could be, what, a ferry disaster,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40it could be a shipwreck, it could be a plane, it could be a swimmer?
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Exactly. It could be a diver that's trapped in a wreck,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44like we're simulating today.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49'Collecting evidence for the coroner and investigating authorities
0:17:49 > 0:17:52'is crucial - and, just like land-based police,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57'this elite team are trained to observe every detail underwater.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01'Using a dummy and a simulated scenario,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03'the team will test their equipment, and their mettle -
0:18:03 > 0:18:06'and I'm going down for a closer look.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'Helmets are fitted with microphones and cameras
0:18:12 > 0:18:16'allowing the topside crew to monitor the operation.'
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Topside, diver one. Penetrate wreck when ready.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Roger, topside entering now. Over.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Topside, diver one, do you see the deceased?
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Topside, deceased located. Over.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35'24 metres below,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39'the divers have to move carefully inside the wreck to avoid snags.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43'Then they go about collecting forensic evidence in situ.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'The body has been located and the evidence checked -
0:18:46 > 0:18:49'but you can see that conditions aren't great today.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54'A lot of silt's been kicked up which complicates the body's retrieval.'
0:18:54 > 0:19:00Topside. Diver one and two, you can now recover the body.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09'Back on deck for a closer look at the corpse.'
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- So, there's our deceased diver, Xanthe.- Mm-hm.- Or our dummy.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16The first thing I would look for is the contents gauge.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Immediately we can see that there's no air in that cylinder,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22so it gives me the indication that either a line's ruptured,
0:19:22 > 0:19:23or someone's turned off the gauge,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25or something drastically has gone wrong
0:19:25 > 0:19:28to cause that air to be depleted.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30The regulator's a very important piece of kit to look at, as well,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33to make sure that air is coming through the regulator.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35But another indicator is on this mouthpiece piece, here -
0:19:35 > 0:19:37if there's bite marks on that mouthpiece,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40it gives me the indication that he's been in a stress situation.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43'Established in 1958,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48'WA's police divers have a coastline beat of 13,000 kilometres.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51'They can spend more than a third of the year underwater,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55'averaging seven hours a day in the gloom below
0:19:55 > 0:19:58'searching for missing persons and probing the macabre results
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'of major crimes, including murder.'
0:20:01 > 0:20:03We turn the body over,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and we can see that we've got a cylinder on the back here -
0:20:05 > 0:20:08well, it's only a seven kilo cylinder for that 24 metre depth -
0:20:08 > 0:20:10it's probably not a lot of air.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12So, little things like that can go wrong very quickly.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Well, it was a great learning experience for me.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16I've seen body recovery all over the world
0:20:16 > 0:20:17from lots of different environments -
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- never anything like that, so it's certainly been an eye-opener.- Yeah.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Fremantle was the location
0:20:32 > 0:20:35for Australia's most audacious prison break.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39In 1876, an elaborate plan was set in motion.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41It had taken seven years to organise,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43it was spread over three continents,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47and it's remembered by history as the Catalpa Rescue.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55In the 1860s, the British prison system was buckling under the weight
0:20:55 > 0:20:58of Irish political prisoners from the Fenian Brotherhood.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01The Brotherhood was engaged in an armed struggle
0:21:01 > 0:21:05with the British Establishment over question of Home Rule.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09When hundreds of soldiers and civilians were tried and convicted
0:21:09 > 0:21:13of conspiracy and treason, many of them found themselves
0:21:13 > 0:21:16aboard transport ships bound for Western Australia.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20Famed writer John Boyle O'Reilly was among them.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24In 1866 he was convicted and sentenced to death,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26which was then commuted.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31As an Irish Nationalist, a Fenian who had served in the British Army,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36he was given a life sentence to be spent here in Fremantle Prison.
0:21:38 > 0:21:39Hello, Luke.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41- Hi, Neil, how are you?- Very well.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45'Luke Donegan's in charge of heritage conservation here.'
0:21:45 > 0:21:49So, the Irish arrived, and you had this small group of educated men
0:21:49 > 0:21:52with a bunch of, you know, murderers, violent criminals,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54who weren't getting their pardons,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and they didn't want to be in this building with those guys.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59You probably, by our standards,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02- we would call them prisoners of conscience now, wouldn't we?- Yeah.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06They were here for disagreeing with the British government, essentially.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10At capacity, a thousand people were packed in here.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Their cells, as you can see, were very, very cramped.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16- I mean, it's not much bigger than a grave.- Exactly.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19They were facing the prospect of the rest of their lives...
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- Yeah.- ..for much of their time, in a space like that.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Essentially, yeah.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30As a trusted prisoner, John Boyle O'Reilly was permitted
0:22:30 > 0:22:34to go on work gangs where he made connections with free Irish citizens
0:22:34 > 0:22:38who eventually helped him to escape by boat to America.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43As a result, security tightened on the other Fenian prisoners.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Conditions were getting quite bad for these guys.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52One of them wrote a letter to a man called John Devoy
0:22:52 > 0:22:56who was the head of the Clan na Gael in America.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00So that's the Irish independence movement transplanted to America?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Yes, and at that point John Devoy got in touch
0:23:03 > 0:23:06with John Boyle O'Reilly, and together they planned
0:23:06 > 0:23:11how they could help these Fenians still here get out.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16They used the emotive letter by James Wilson
0:23:16 > 0:23:18to raise money for a rescue mission
0:23:18 > 0:23:21that involved a whaleboat called Catalpa.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24Here at Rockingham Beach,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27about 20-odd kilometres south of Fremantle,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29the plan was that James Wilson and the others
0:23:29 > 0:23:32would meet with Captain George Anthony -
0:23:32 > 0:23:35a Quaker, and a man who believed in justice.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Author and educator Joy Lefroy has spent 11 years
0:23:44 > 0:23:47researching the daring escape from the work gang,
0:23:47 > 0:23:48and the gripping aftermath.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Once the Fremantle six run away from their work gangs, what happens?
0:23:55 > 0:23:57OK, when they actually came out,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00there was this mad race through this bush down here -
0:24:00 > 0:24:01cos this was all bushland at the time.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03And what awaited them here?
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Yeah, so meanwhile, Captain Antony is sitting onshore here
0:24:06 > 0:24:08with a little whaleboat,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and he was waiting for these people to come through the bush
0:24:11 > 0:24:15in their carriages to pick up the men, put them into the whaleboat
0:24:15 > 0:24:17and row them out to Catalpa,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19which is out behind the island over there.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22The police were in hot pursuit.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Shots were fired from shore, and the weather was closing in,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29but Captain Anthony and the escapees needed to get to the Catalpa,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32moored much further out in international waters.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39After rowing through a storm for a good 20 hours, they finally make it.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42And the Fenians, once they're on board,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45they go, "Yep, fabulous, now we'll have a meal proper meal,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47"we'll celebrate, it's all wonderful."
0:24:47 > 0:24:50But their jubilation was short-lived.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52The Georgette,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55a steamship commandeered by Police Superintendent Stone,
0:24:55 > 0:25:00had caught up with the Catalpa, and there ensued a dramatic stand-off.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Superintendent Stone on the Georgette comes up and says,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06"OK, we know you've got these prisoners, hand them over."
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Superintendent Stone says, "I'll give you 15 minutes to think about this,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12"and then we're putting a cannonball through your mast."
0:25:12 > 0:25:15So, Antony points up to the Stars and Stripes,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18which are up on the mast at the back of the ship,
0:25:18 > 0:25:19and says, "This is the American flag.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22"You fire on us you're firing on America.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24"Do you want to start a war?" Words to that effect.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28So, it had the potential to turn into something violent?
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Oh, extremely, it could have done.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34But as it was, the luck of the Irish proved true.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39The Georgette ran out of steam, the wind changed and Catalpa got away.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Four months later, she arrived in New York to a hero's welcome.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50This memorial of geese in flight remembers those Irishmen
0:25:50 > 0:25:54who escaped from here all the way to the United States of America.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Like many stories that have a happy ending,
0:25:56 > 0:26:01it's dependent in equal parts on bravery and pure good luck.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02But were those Irishmen
0:26:02 > 0:26:05heroes who threw off the yoke of tyranny,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07or were they criminals who evaded justice?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Three hours south of Perth, the Margaret River region
0:26:24 > 0:26:28sits within a square-faced peninsula that juts into the Indian Ocean.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Topped and tailed by two capes,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34this hundred kilometre ocean stretch
0:26:34 > 0:26:35is known as
0:26:35 > 0:26:37the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Its beautiful, surging coastline belies an unforgiving hinterland
0:26:43 > 0:26:47of towering stands of karri and jarrah hardwoods.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Nowadays, the Margaret River is known
0:26:59 > 0:27:02for great wine and great surfing.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05But the intrepid pioneers who made their way here in the 1920s
0:27:05 > 0:27:08faced an altogether different and daunting prospect.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14After World War I, English migrants flocked here,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16lured by the promise of ready-made farms,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19in what was known as the Group Settlement Scheme.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23While the scheme was designed to reduce Western Australia's reliance
0:27:23 > 0:27:28on imports, it also had an unspoken agenda of keeping Australia white.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32But it was a disaster.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Instead of rolling pastures, new settlers were confronted
0:27:35 > 0:27:39by vast swathes of intractable virgin forest.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44On top of that, most migrants lacked farming experience
0:27:44 > 0:27:47and struggled to eke out an existence.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52When the Depression hit, people abandoned their properties,
0:27:52 > 0:27:54and the scheme was abolished in 1930.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56It would be another 30 years
0:27:56 > 0:27:59before Margaret River truly came to life.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Tim Flannery is investigating
0:28:12 > 0:28:15how this one-time agricultural wasteland
0:28:15 > 0:28:18has become premium winemaking country.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21In the world of viticulture,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24the French word "terroir" refers to all of the factors
0:28:24 > 0:28:28in the natural world that influence a wine as it's being produced.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32That includes the topography, the climate and the soils.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38In the 1960s, Perth-based agronomist Dr John Gladstones
0:28:38 > 0:28:41noted similarities between Margaret River's climate
0:28:41 > 0:28:46and that of France's legendary wine region, Bordeaux.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Ironically, the infertile Precambrian soils
0:28:49 > 0:28:51that defeated the first settlers,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53when combined with this maritime climate,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55proved perfect for growing grapes.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01What was needed now was risk-takers.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Enter, stage right, a trio of GPs.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Tom Cullity took up the challenge with first plantings in 1965,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14along with Bill Pannell and the Cullens, Kevin and Diana.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20In their favour was a familiarity with European wines,
0:29:20 > 0:29:25their strong scientific background, and, importantly, off-farm incomes.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Vanya Cullen grew up among her parents' vines,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32eventually taking over their winery in 1989.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34So, I'm guessing, in the early days,
0:29:34 > 0:29:36there would have been quite a bit of scepticism
0:29:36 > 0:29:39about growing grapes down here - but no-one had ever tried it before.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Yeah, I mean, Mum's comment that everyone said,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44"What are you doing, putting those sticks in the ground?"
0:29:44 > 0:29:46We planted in 1971, and it took...
0:29:46 > 0:29:501979 before we really got a decent amount of crops,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53so, you know, "How do you make a small fortune?"
0:29:53 > 0:29:56It's, "Start a vineyard with a large one."
0:29:56 > 0:30:00So, given the atrocious conditions they faced in the early days,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02what was it that got your parents to stick with it?
0:30:02 > 0:30:05The three doctors really had a great dream to make great wine,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08and you read the letters that they wrote to one another
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and about great wine, and, you know, the potential for Margaret River -
0:30:11 > 0:30:13I think they were very, very passionate.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18It's the most isolated wine-making region in the world,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20blessed with an equitable climate.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22This place is really unique.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24I mean, this Leeuwin current here -
0:30:24 > 0:30:28it's the only warm current coming down the west coast of the continent,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and it buffers this place almost like a layer of cotton wool,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32you know, it moderates everything.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Yeah, the climate here is Mediterranean maritime -
0:30:35 > 0:30:37it's very even temperatures throughout the year,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39and that makes it very good for quality grape growing.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42And one of the most unique things is the purity of environment,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44you know, the quality of the air.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48There's nothing in between here and Reunion Island except the ocean,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51and that pure air and pure rain comes all that way
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and, um, we bask in it.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58And this extraordinary ancient soil that's derived from rocks
0:30:58 > 0:31:01that were laid down before there was any complex life on earth.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04It's quite an amazing coincidence of factors, really.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11'At Vanya's vineyard, I'm keen to take a closer look
0:31:11 > 0:31:12'at this prehistoric soil...'
0:31:12 > 0:31:14It's quite stony soil, isn't it?
0:31:14 > 0:31:18It is, and that's part of why it's so great for growing vines,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21is cos the rocks give it drainage.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26'..and understand its role in the process from vine to wine.'
0:31:26 > 0:31:29That's the 500 million-year-old sort of soil,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31and that's an ironstone, or laterite,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33which makes it great for growing Cabernet Sauvignon.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36So the vines get their taproots right through the topsoil
0:31:36 > 0:31:39into the ironstone and then into the clay,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41and the clay gives the water,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45and the ironstone gives a flavour to the wine which we can see later.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55So this is all essential to what people call a terroir of a region?
0:31:55 > 0:31:57The terroir is everything.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01- It's the soil, it's the vine, it's the air - it's the sea air.- Yes.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03It's the people, the insects, it's everything.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06- The context, almost.- The context - terroir is a wonderful word, cos...
0:32:06 > 0:32:08- It is.- ..it's about connection,
0:32:08 > 0:32:13- and about everything that goes to make a place.- Mm. Mm.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Context is important but, ultimately,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19can I detect this coastal terroir in the wine?
0:32:19 > 0:32:20On a blind tasting,
0:32:20 > 0:32:25I'm going to try and identify Vanya's red from another, inland, wine.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29- Oh, that's interesting.- Mm-hm.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31See, I think - now I'm only guessing,
0:32:31 > 0:32:36but, to me, that might have a sea... a slight coastal thing.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38I don't know quite what it is about it,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40- whether it's...- Mm-hm.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42..but something about it reminds me of the sea.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- It feels like the sea, yeah.- Yeah.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Yeah. Do I tell you whether you are correct or not?!
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Oh, well, please!
0:32:48 > 0:32:50- Well, you are. Yeah.- Oh, OK.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52It's also got that ironstone, too.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Some people say iodine,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57which is also, like, it's a seaweed sort of...
0:32:57 > 0:33:00- So that's possibly a sea association as well.- Exactly.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05So, the next one is from a different place in Australia.
0:33:05 > 0:33:06OK.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10Wow, that is SO different.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12I don't know anything about this wine,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14but it does taste to me more of the inland,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- it doesn't have the sense of the ocean that...- Mm-hm.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19..the flavours of the earlier one.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22- This one has got the dust of the inland plains...- Yeah.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24- ..in it, I think.- Uh, huh. Nice.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27This one, crispness. I don't know, the ocean, maybe.
0:33:27 > 0:33:28Yeah. Oh, beautiful.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33The industry that Vanya's parents helped create here
0:33:33 > 0:33:36has well and truly taken root and flourished.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43Today, Margaret River produces 20% of Australia's premium wines,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47with over 150 winemakers, and 5,000 hectares under vine.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53This southwest coast of Australia can be a harsh, even a violent place.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57It defeated the first pioneers that came here.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01But, paradoxically, it also fostered a unique wine industry
0:34:01 > 0:34:05that's thrived year after year on the stable climatic conditions
0:34:05 > 0:34:09that have allowed it to produce some of the best wine in the world.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26The small township of Prevelly lies at the mouth of the Margaret River,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30and Dr Alice Garner has come here to investigate a history
0:34:30 > 0:34:33that binds this coast to one in the Mediterranean.
0:34:36 > 0:34:3920 years ago, while travelling around the island of Crete in Greece,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42I visited an unforgettable place.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45It was the Monastery at Preveli.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Today I've come to another Prevelly in Western Australia
0:34:49 > 0:34:55near Margaret River to find out about one Australian soldier's homage
0:34:55 > 0:34:57to a monastery on the other side of the world.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09Young Geoffrey Edwards' family migrated to Western Australia
0:35:09 > 0:35:11from the UK in 1923,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15and settled in Peel Estate on the Margaret River coast.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18On 11th November 1939,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22at the age of 21 and looking for adventure,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Geoff Edwards joined the war effort.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Private Edwards, machine gunner in the 2/11th Battalion,
0:35:29 > 0:35:30Australian Army.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33His first posting was Greece.
0:35:35 > 0:35:4020th May, 1941, and World War II
0:35:40 > 0:35:42spilled into the Eastern Mediterranean
0:35:42 > 0:35:45in what became known as the Battle of Crete.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Germany's invasion of the island of Crete
0:35:49 > 0:35:52marked the final phase of the conquest of the Balkans.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Under the command of General Kurt Student,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01the Luftwaffe's Flieger Parachute Division landed on Crete.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06At the time, it was the largest airborne attack in history.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09One Allied commander watching them parachute down
0:36:09 > 0:36:13described them as, "Tumbling lines of little dolls."
0:36:13 > 0:36:16These "dolls" were, in fact, elite paratroopers
0:36:16 > 0:36:18who eventually took the island
0:36:18 > 0:36:22after heavy fighting and many casualties on both sides.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26In the early hours of June 1st, 1941,
0:36:26 > 0:36:31Gunner Geoff Edwards found himself a prisoner of war on Crete.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35But it wasn't long before he started to plan his escape...
0:36:36 > 0:36:40..with best mate Bill McCarrey, pictured here, to the left of Geoff.
0:36:41 > 0:36:42- Sam, hello.- Hi.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Later in life, Geoff recounted their daring escape
0:36:45 > 0:36:47to close friend Sam Naomis.
0:36:47 > 0:36:48In the prisoner of war camp,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52they made their escape with only biscuits, a water bottle,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55a haversack and a rough map of Crete,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57and their plan was to go down to the Monastery of Preveli
0:36:57 > 0:36:59on the south coast of Crete,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03cos they'd heard that the monks had been harbouring Allies down there.
0:37:03 > 0:37:04It was an amazing journey -
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I mean, they had to go over the snow-capped mountains,
0:37:07 > 0:37:11the White Mountains, which is 2,500 metres high
0:37:11 > 0:37:13on goat tracks, basically, so it was really rugged country,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16aided by shepherds and village people
0:37:16 > 0:37:18who looked after them, sheltered them.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21When they finally arrived at the Monastery of Preveli,
0:37:21 > 0:37:22the monastery itself was the headquarters
0:37:22 > 0:37:24of the Greek underground,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28and there was about 200 Allies holed up in the caves
0:37:28 > 0:37:30around the monastery, surrounding villages,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32and the womenfolk and children
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and men of those villages would take them food at night.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36Did the villagers suffer
0:37:36 > 0:37:39for the risks they'd taken in helping the men?
0:37:39 > 0:37:42The Germans knew that the monks were harbouring Allies,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44but they wouldn't touch the monks -
0:37:44 > 0:37:48but they certainly slaughtered a lot of Cretan people.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Records show that something like 8,000 men, women and children
0:37:52 > 0:37:53were killed.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01On the night of 28th July, 1941, Geoff Edwards was one of a lucky few
0:38:01 > 0:38:04who escaped Crete on a British submarine.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07About that night he wrote this -
0:38:07 > 0:38:10"Now came the time to say goodbye to our Cretan friends
0:38:10 > 0:38:13"who had come down to see us off.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16"There were emotional scenes as we thanked them
0:38:16 > 0:38:18"for what they had done for us.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21"They had proved true and trusted friends
0:38:21 > 0:38:25"as they had so little, yet they had shared it willingly with us.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27"We had nothing to offer them,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31"yet they had risked their very lives for us.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35"I promised them that I would never forget them."
0:38:37 > 0:38:39And he didn't.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44After the war, Geoff married and came home to coastal Margaret River.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49He bought a parcel of land and named it Prevelly Park Holiday Resort,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53and overlooking it, he built this chapel.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01His daughter, Marilyn Sadleir, was three years old when they moved here.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05I grew up here. And it was a very lonely, remote place in those days,
0:39:05 > 0:39:08just a fishing track in here, initially.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10but it was just a beautiful childhood.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13What does this place mean to you now?
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Oh!
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Um, it's really quite emotional,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20because it's the achievement of what my parents did,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and my father's vision,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27and the desire to thank the Cretan people,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31and to thank the monks at the Monastery of Preveli.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42Today's a special day at this chapel.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44We're commemorating the Battle of Crete,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48and the congregation has gathered to remember and give thanks.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54CONGREGATION SINGS
0:40:06 > 0:40:10There's not enough that we could do to thank Geoff
0:40:10 > 0:40:15and all those, of course, who fought and fell in the Second World War.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24After the service, in true Greek style, there's food, wine and talk.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31Freedom or Death - Eleftheria i Thanatos.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34It's the old rallying cry of the Cretan resistance fighters.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37And this chapel is Geoff Edwards' tribute
0:40:37 > 0:40:39to the extraordinarily brave villagers
0:40:39 > 0:40:42who lived that creed literally, who risked everything
0:40:42 > 0:40:46to feed, shelter and befriend Edwards and his mates.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Prevelly Chapel,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51where the Margaret River meets the Indian Ocean,
0:40:51 > 0:40:52keeps those memories alive -
0:40:52 > 0:40:56those acts of friendship forged under fire.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08After establishing the Swan River Colony in 1829,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Captain James Stirling turned his gaze 300 kilometres south,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14to land a second colony at Augusta.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Brendan Moar is casting his own expert eye on the landscape
0:41:22 > 0:41:26and its effect on the short but remarkable life of one woman.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32When Captain John Molloy and his young wife Georgiana
0:41:32 > 0:41:36left the UK bound for Western Australia in 1829,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39neither could have guessed that she would claim a unique place
0:41:39 > 0:41:41in Australian history.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48When Georgiana Molloy arrived aboard the Emily Taylor in May 1830,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51the water's edge was dense coastal scrub just like this.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56That was the least of her worries.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59After bouts of dysentery, mosquitoes and the heat,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03she landed here nine months pregnant and tragically lost her first child
0:42:03 > 0:42:06a few days after birth on the beach -
0:42:06 > 0:42:10a tough new life for these strangers in a strange land.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13But Georgiana was built of sterner stuff,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17as author and historian Bernice Barry tells me.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20The first urgent thing was to clear land to grow crops.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25She dug potatoes, she fed the pigs, she trimmed the vines,
0:42:25 > 0:42:31she collected fruit, she made all the clothes that they wore.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35More tragedy followed.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39Her second child, her only son, drowned,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41and she suffered a further miscarriage.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Through all the heartbreak, her passion for gardens remained strong,
0:42:45 > 0:42:48and, indeed, intensified.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52In 1836, English naval captain and botanical collector James Mangles
0:42:52 > 0:42:56asked that specimens of Western Australia's native flora
0:42:56 > 0:42:59be collected and sent back to London.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Georgiana accepted the challenge -
0:43:01 > 0:43:04even though she felt local flowers didn't compare well
0:43:04 > 0:43:07with her memories of British blooms.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10She really, basically, found them not very interesting,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14because there were only three or four that actually had any fragrance
0:43:14 > 0:43:17and it really wasn't until she began collecting for Mangles
0:43:17 > 0:43:20that she became fascinated with their beauty.
0:43:21 > 0:43:22You didn't think I was
0:43:22 > 0:43:23going to see it, did you?
0:43:23 > 0:43:24I hoped you'd notice it.
0:43:24 > 0:43:25There you go.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27That's a White Bunny orchid.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29- Eriochilus dilatatus.- Yes.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31From Georgiana's point of view -
0:43:31 > 0:43:34this would have been the first orchid that she would see,
0:43:34 > 0:43:35because this exactly the time
0:43:35 > 0:43:36of year that she arrived.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Quickly her name began to appear
0:43:42 > 0:43:44in botanical books and publications,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48and botanists and growers and gardeners and lords and ladies
0:43:48 > 0:43:53back in England were going wild, wanting the stuff that she'd sent.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'Finding plants and seeds was one thing -
0:43:58 > 0:44:01'transporting delicate specimens like this
0:44:01 > 0:44:05'to London's Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was another challenge.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08'Its Herbarium has the largest collection
0:44:08 > 0:44:11'of historical plant specimens in the world.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16'Kew Gardens is about as prestigious as it gets in the plant world.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19'And I'm meeting former director - and Kew's first non-British CEO -
0:44:19 > 0:44:23'Western Australian botanist Professor Stephen Hopper.'
0:44:23 > 0:44:25What sort of collector was Georgiana?
0:44:25 > 0:44:30Georgiana was outstanding for the 1830s.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33She was meticulous in terms of the specimens she collected.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35They were beautifully pressed,
0:44:35 > 0:44:38and preserved under very difficult circumstances.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45Georgiana relied on 500-year-old technology
0:44:45 > 0:44:47to preserve those specimens.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Each plant placed between paper sheets and heavy boards
0:44:51 > 0:44:53and left to dry.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55Was this a difficult thing to do?
0:44:55 > 0:44:57In her day, absolutely.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Now, just consider, paper in colonial Western Australia
0:45:00 > 0:45:03in the 1830s - very hard to come by,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06and paper is essential for drying the specimens.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08So, her attention to detail was without par.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10She became one of the best collectors
0:45:10 > 0:45:13that Australia has produced.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18In fact, many plants she collected remain perfectly preserved
0:45:18 > 0:45:19at Kew Herbarium to this day.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Western Australia has 8,000 plant species,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30half of which are found nowhere else on earth.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36'This nondescript-looking tree is one of them.'
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Why is this tree so important?
0:45:38 > 0:45:39It's a flowering mistletoe,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43and the aborigines here, the Noongar people, know it as Mooja,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45it's a very special and sacred tree to them.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49It's special because in 1627 a Dutch ship sailed along the south coast
0:45:49 > 0:45:51of Western Australia,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54and from off shore saw splashes of gold on the hills,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57and what they were viewing was this tree in full flower.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59It's called the Western Australian Christmas Tree,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02because, in December through February, it flowers,
0:46:02 > 0:46:05- and it flowers like this. - Wow, look at that!
0:46:06 > 0:46:09With the help of local Aboriginal women,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12Georgiana Molloy became the first person
0:46:12 > 0:46:15to collect the seeds of this vibrant species.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18But tragically, her work would be cut short.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22In April 1843, aged only 37,
0:46:22 > 0:46:25after embarking on what had become her life's work,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Georgiana Molloy died
0:46:27 > 0:46:31a few months after giving birth to her seventh child.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34I think this tree represents the botanical gold
0:46:34 > 0:46:36that is South Western Australia,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39and Georgiana as a young woman from Cumberland
0:46:39 > 0:46:43coming here, settling in Augusta, married to a man twice her age,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47going through the tragedy of losing her infant son from a drowning,
0:46:47 > 0:46:52was looking for something to do that could rejuvenate her,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54and the native flora just captured her heart
0:46:54 > 0:46:58in the same way that Noongar people regard it as fundamental
0:46:58 > 0:47:00to caring for country.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02It is part of them.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04It's a very tight spiritual connection -
0:47:04 > 0:47:08partly because you can't find anything else like this on earth,
0:47:08 > 0:47:09except here.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14After all of Georgiana Molloy's contribution to botany
0:47:14 > 0:47:16it was only recently, in the last 40 years,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18that her work was officially recognised.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22And in her honour this species was named after her.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24It's Boronia molloyae.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26It has a beautiful pink red flower,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29and it grows in the sand soils of the southwest coastal regions
0:47:29 > 0:47:33of Western Australia - and that was the place that Georgiana called home.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46Journey's end at Cape Leeuwin,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49with its stark and untroubled aspect.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51You can understand those who cherish a life
0:47:51 > 0:47:56independent from the noise and certainty of urban backdrops.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59At this point, there's nothing between me and Africa
0:47:59 > 0:48:03but several kilometres of open ocean.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06This coastline posed the heartbreaking challenge
0:48:06 > 0:48:07for the first settlers.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09It demanded of them nothing less
0:48:09 > 0:48:12than the utmost tenacity and stubbornness.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16But those who gained a foothold and put down permanent roots
0:48:16 > 0:48:21realised at the end that they had found for themselves another Eden.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29Next time, we're off to the Torres Strait.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Professor Tim Flannery enters the realm of the head-hunters...
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Under each shell is meant to have a skull.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39Right, a human skull under every one, wow.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43..Dr Xanthe Mallet examines an infamous maritime disaster...
0:48:48 > 0:48:50This must have been terrifying.
0:48:50 > 0:48:51Unim... Unimaginable.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56..Dr Alice Garner is on a different kind of border patrol...
0:48:56 > 0:48:58No X-rays or scanners here.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02..and I find out what happened when war came to paradise.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04This was the only indigenous battalion
0:49:04 > 0:49:06ever formed by the Australian Army.