0:00:04 > 0:00:08I've been coming to Australia for many years now and it really is
0:00:08 > 0:00:12a vast, sun-baked continent, but a fascinating one.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15In this series, I'm gonna get into some more remote corners
0:00:15 > 0:00:20to look at some fascinating people, places and events.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59This is really exciting.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01I'm in a forgotten corner of Australia in many ways.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05These are the Torres Straits.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12These islands are like giant stepping stones that link mainland Australia to Papua New Guinea.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17It is the meeting place of two cultures - the Aboriginal cultures
0:01:17 > 0:01:21from mainland Australia and the Island culture from further north.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32There are over 100 islands in the Straits, 17 of which have permanent inhabitants.
0:01:32 > 0:01:38I'm heading for Prince of Wales Island, homeland of the Kaurareg people for thousands of years.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53I want to learn of their unique culture and tradition first-hand from the elders of the tribe.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00I've also heard of the most remarkable story of bravery and survival against all odds.
0:02:00 > 0:02:06It concerns a young Scottish girl who was shipwrecked here in the mid-19th century,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09a time when fierce head-hunting warriors ruled
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and death to intruders was the norm.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16These islands have some incredible stories to tell.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Enid, one of the Kaurareg Elders, is my guide.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25This is her homeland, she has intimate knowledge of it.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34- Welcome to Prince of Wales, this is our traditional homeland - we call it Muralag.- Muralag.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39'The land here on Prince of Wales is sacred to the Kaurareg people.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42'It's where they've lived for thousands of years.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47'Before we're allowed onto the island, Enid calls to her ancestors
0:02:47 > 0:02:49'for their guidance and permission to be here.'
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Oh!
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Oh!
0:02:57 > 0:03:00KAURAREG LANGUAGE
0:03:18 > 0:03:24I just did a traditional welcome and I asked our ancestors
0:03:24 > 0:03:29to look after us today and to guide us in what we're doing.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30Provide food,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34bush food and make it easy for us to find it.
0:03:36 > 0:03:42Enid is satisfied her ancestors are happy for us to be here and for me to explore the island.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45I can't wait to have a look around.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55You know, one of the things I really like to get a grip with as soon as
0:03:55 > 0:03:59I find myself somewhere new are the trees and the plants around me.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Because the skills of bushcraft are universal - fire,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07shelter, water, string, all those techniques are similar, what varies
0:04:07 > 0:04:13are the species that we use and I've already seen a few familiar friends here and it feels really good.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30A paperbark tree. Paperbark's incredibly useful material.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Aboriginal people all over Australia have used this as a means
0:04:34 > 0:04:38of making shelter and for cooking.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42And you can remove large sheets of this bark
0:04:42 > 0:04:44for fire lighting.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Use it rather like
0:04:50 > 0:04:53tin foil for cooking in the embers of a fire,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56or you can use it just for shelter.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02We know that here on Prince of Wales Island in the past, the indigenous people, the Kaurareg,
0:05:02 > 0:05:08they used to light pieces of this and they used to walk around at night, that was their torch.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12One of the interesting things about coming to the Torres Straits is that
0:05:12 > 0:05:15when you see botanical information for this part of Australia,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19there are lots of references to the people of the Torres Strait Islands
0:05:19 > 0:05:22because they use things in an unusual way.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26There are a lot of toxic plants that they would process to make edible.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31So it's very exciting to be here and have the opportunity to learn about many of those traditions.
0:05:36 > 0:05:42Having found the paperbark trees, I want to have a go at building a traditional Kaurareg shelter.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I've read books, but they can only tell me so much.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50I'm going to have to use my knowledge to fill in the gaps.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This is the wood from coastal hibiscus,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02which is what I think they would have used for shelter building.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I've got some hibiscus, but I don't have enough for all the poles,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09so I've had to make up with other sticks from the bush.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13But I'm gonna take this bark off so I can use it as string.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15It's very, very strong and in fact,
0:06:15 > 0:06:22this was the bark that was used to make the bow strings for the Torres Strait Islanders' bows.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25LOCAL MUSIC
0:06:41 > 0:06:42BRANCH SNAPS
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Oh, use him for something else.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Looking pretty good.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57It's only when you try to reconstruct a shelter like this
0:06:57 > 0:07:02that you realise what information we don't have, because the observers
0:07:02 > 0:07:08who recorded these shelters didn't record what knots were used to tie them together.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13So I'm making do with a whole range of knots, in fact, that suits the situation.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18Lots of different knots I've seen used in different parts of the world for this sort of purpose
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and it's all coming together quite well.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33I've made this on a scaled-down version and despite several people gathering bark all day,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38we haven't really got as much as I need even for this small shelter.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43So I'm trying to make the best of a bad job here really. Certainly keep the rain off.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I know from journals kept at the time
0:07:47 > 0:07:50this was the sort of shelter the shipwrecked girl would have seen.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56Her name was Barbara Thompson and she was just 16 when she was washed up here in 1844.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Then, fierce warriors protected these islands.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Head-hunters sailed the waters and cannibalism was commonplace.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10Enid comes to sit by the fire to tell me more, as it was her tribe,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14the Kaurareg people, who played a huge part in the Barbara Thompson story.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I've tried my best, Enid, to make a reconstruction
0:08:18 > 0:08:24of a Kaurareg shelter, but we had trouble getting bark and I've made this smaller than normal.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29Obviously they would have been bigger. But I was reading about all of these things in an account
0:08:29 > 0:08:34of a girl called Barbara Thompson and that's somebody you know lots about, isn't it?
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Yep, that's right.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39She lived for five years with the Kaurareg tribe
0:08:39 > 0:08:44and she learnt about their culture, their daily living
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and how they hunted for food
0:08:47 > 0:08:50and what they did with...
0:08:50 > 0:08:55in regards to daily activities such as, erm...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00..gathering of food,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04what they had to do, you know, and rituals they had to do as well.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07So she learnt all these rituals.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Well, she lived amongst you for five years.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12She lived amongst us for five years.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16- But you have a personal knowledge of her.- Yeah.- How is that?
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Well, only because my Giome... Only because of the tribe,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26plus Giome was a special person to us.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28That was your name for her.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34Giome is Barbara Thompson's, erm, tribal name.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38But of course it was hard then for people washed up from shipwrecks.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- Yeah.- They didn't always have an easy time from the Kaurareg.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Yeah, most people that washed up, they were killed.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47- Why was that?- Killed by Kaurareg people, because they protected
0:09:47 > 0:09:50their land, they didn't want anybody coming onto their land.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54So she was particularly lucky.
0:09:54 > 0:10:01She was lucky because the chief had lost his daughter three months before that, she drowned.
0:10:01 > 0:10:08And Barbara had similar features to the daughter and they presumed
0:10:08 > 0:10:14that it was her coming back from the dead, but she was white, she'd gone white in the water.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20So, they took her in and named her Giome, after the dead girl
0:10:20 > 0:10:25because they actually thought she was Giome
0:10:25 > 0:10:27and that was the only reason she was lucky,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30otherwise they would have killed her as well.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32'Though Barbara's visit to these islands
0:10:32 > 0:10:36'was under very different auspices, as a visitor myself,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39'I can't help feeling drawn to her story.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43'I've chosen to come here, but she was little more than a girl
0:10:43 > 0:10:49'who found herself forced into a lifestyle that she had no option but to follow.'
0:10:57 > 0:11:01The following day, the Kaurareg elders kindly grant us permission
0:11:01 > 0:11:05to visit the beach where Barbara would have been brought ashore,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08terrified at what fate may await her.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41This is the beach that Barbara was brought to.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Can you imagine what was going through her head?
0:11:44 > 0:11:49The day before she was brought here, she'd watched her husband drown.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Now she's brought to this island by the local islanders
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and she'd have heard all of the horrific stories
0:11:55 > 0:11:59of what would likely befall her as a shipwreckee here.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03I can't imagine what it was like for her, it must have been appalling.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05All of a sudden, she's a captive
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and she has no control over her own life from this point forwards.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21With no clothes to replace her tattered ones,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23she lived naked amongst the Kaurareg,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28the fierce sun causing her fair skin to blister and burn.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Missing home, she had only her memories to comfort her.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37She kept her wedding ring, she'd managed to hide that in a scarf she wore round her neck
0:12:37 > 0:12:42and she used to look at it and it would make her cry in the early days that she was here
0:12:42 > 0:12:46and one night the islanders took it off of her while she was asleep
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and threw it into the fire so it wouldn't remind her of the past.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52To try and hang on to her own language,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56she used to sing folk songs that she could remember from her childhood.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01But it was a very difficult process and very swiftly, I think,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03she must have learned to speak the language
0:13:03 > 0:13:06and adapt to the way of life here.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11In many ways, I'm convinced that she didn't really expect to be leaving this island
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and determined that she would do all that she could to live here.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Barbara became a member of the Kaurareg,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22learning their way of life.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26She gathered coastal and land foods with the other women of the tribe,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30travelling for days into the hills to collect wild yams,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33learning the importance of the seasons,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35making the most of her new life.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Tell me about the traditional lifestyle of the Kaurareg.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49The Kaurareg were seasonal hunters.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Whichever island they wanted to go to for different bush tucker,
0:13:54 > 0:14:00they went at a different season, then came back to Prince of Wales,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03where they'd feed the tribe.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- So they knew each island, what it had to offer?- Yeah.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13These traditions, are these traditions still being passed on to the next generation of Kaurareg?
0:14:13 > 0:14:18Yes, we do pass it on to our children and grandchildren, yeah.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22We speak to them about stories and we tell them
0:14:22 > 0:14:29our customs, our culture, but it's sad because we don't know what they're gonna do with it, you know?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Whether they'll look after these areas or they're gonna exploit it.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36So I guess that's the challenge that they face, is finding a way
0:14:36 > 0:14:40- to live a modern life and still retain the cultural heritage.- Yep.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46That's very difficult. That's true for all of the indigenous peoples of this part of the world.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Yeah, it's a scary thought.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50It is a scary thought.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Enid may be the last generation of Kaurareg
0:14:57 > 0:15:03to have this traditional knowledge and I feel privileged to share it.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Ray, this is a tree that
0:15:07 > 0:15:10we use when we want to preserve our fire.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Ah-ha. Yep.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14We call it myrth.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18It burns really slow, it takes a long time to burn.
0:15:18 > 0:15:24As it gets near the end bit, you can then light another one and burn another one,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26carry the fire so it lasts...
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Did you carry fire like this on canoe journeys?
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Yeah, they carried that in canoe journeys
0:15:33 > 0:15:37to preserve it until they get to another island.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- Murk?- Myrth.- Myrth.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42- Myrth.- Myrth.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45- With the T-H.- With a T-H - myrth.
0:15:45 > 0:15:46- Yeah.- OK.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49I'll get there eventually!
0:15:55 > 0:15:58These dried seed heads were really important.
0:15:58 > 0:16:05They burn very reliably and slowly, enabling people to transport fire over long distances.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13- What's this red fruit here?- This is one of our bush foods, bush tucker.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16It's... We call it the yarakakur.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I've seen this, it's a peanut tree, isn't it?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23It's a peanut, yeah. It's a bush peanut and what we normally do is...
0:16:23 > 0:16:26we pick the black peanut
0:16:26 > 0:16:29- and we just peel the hard shell off it.- Yeah.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33And as you can see, there's a peanut inside.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I've read about this, but I've never tried one before
0:16:37 > 0:16:40cos I've never been in the right place at the right time of year
0:16:40 > 0:16:43to be able to taste this, I'm looking forward to this.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46It tastes a little bit like peanuts.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Hmm, crunchy. Hmm, tastes a lot like peanut.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It's really nice. That's lovely.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56It's good little snack when you're walking through the bush, you know?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59- Shall we go have a look at something else?- Mm.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Bush peanuts provide a good source of protein and B vitamins
0:17:07 > 0:17:12and a high fat content makes them a great source of vital calories.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14And they do taste just like peanuts.
0:17:21 > 0:17:27The tide is out and we're headed into the steamy mangrove swamps,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29where Barbara would have foraged with the tribe.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Enid and I are on the hunt for an elusive mollusc -
0:17:32 > 0:17:35the mud mussel or uckle.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41The Kaurareg still collect them today
0:17:41 > 0:17:43and they taste great on the barbecue.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Tradition dictates that the first one found must be offered
0:17:56 > 0:18:01to the ancestors as respect and to ensure good foraging.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19KAURAREG LANGUAGE
0:18:26 > 0:18:31'Bring the soil that holds the food above the ground
0:18:31 > 0:18:35'and take the soil that holds nothing below the ground.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37'Thank you. That's what I said.'
0:18:37 > 0:18:42'We're joined by Lana, here to give me a lesson in uckle spotting.'
0:18:42 > 0:18:47..Hole here and you can see inside, like, if you sweep away the leaves,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49the uckle is laying inside, inside the water.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53- Yeah.- So they obviously follow the water down as the tide goes out.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Yeah, absolutely.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58They like to be inside the water, specially when the tide comes up,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00you know that they're in there.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Right, OK.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Let's see if we can find some more, eh?
0:19:10 > 0:19:14'The uckle provided a staple part of the Kaurareg diet,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17'full of vital nutrients, particularly in the rainy season,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'when hunting turtles and dugong became almost impossible.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24'I can picture Barbara digging these fellows out with a digging stick
0:19:24 > 0:19:29'made of ironbark wood and stowing them in a mesh dilly bag, strung from her shoulder.'
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Here we go, there's one there.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Yeah, when you're looking for the uckle, you spread out.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39'It's tantalising to think we're in the mangroves where,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43'all those years ago, Barbara would have been foraging with the tribe.'
0:19:48 > 0:19:53Once you start finding them, you can see how easy, yeah.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Really get the knack of it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57It's good for me, not good for the uckle!
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Another one here, look. Got my eye in now.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09'It's hot, steamy and the mosquitoes are biting,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12'but I love this sort of environment
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'and I want to document what I find in here.'
0:20:15 > 0:20:17CAMERA CLICKS
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Fantastic places, mangroves. They're absolutely
0:20:21 > 0:20:27the supermarket of this environment and yet the number of stories of people who've been lost
0:20:27 > 0:20:33in this part of the world and afraid to come into the mangrove because of snakes
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and crocodiles, or becoming lost and have nearly starved to death,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39when if they'd come in and spent a few minutes looking around
0:20:39 > 0:20:43they'd have found the place absolutely teeming with food.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45It's quite astonishing.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47They're amazing places to come and be in.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55'The tide is on its way back in, so we have to move quickly.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57'You wouldn't want to get stranded in here!
0:21:01 > 0:21:06'Whilst Lana cooks up the catch, I've spotted a plant I'm eager to ask Enid about.'
0:21:11 > 0:21:15This is what I wanted to have a look at, Enid, this mangrove pod,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19cos I've been reading about Barbara Thompson when she was shipwrecked here.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22She mentions people used this for food during the rainy season
0:21:22 > 0:21:28and it was a difficult time of year to get food here. Is that right?
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Yeah, that's correct. That's when the northwest season is in
0:21:31 > 0:21:36and the wind and the rain comes from the northwest
0:21:36 > 0:21:42and it just stirs up all the mud and people can't go fishing, or they can't go turtle hunting.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47The sea's rough and choppy and stuff and so they relied on food like that.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52And do people still use it now?
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Some of them do use it, yeah.
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Interesting.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03There's no doubt that Barbara's world was turned upside down.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Her life with the Kaurareg was far removed from the life she knew, but at least her life was spared.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13Fierce territorial battles, head-hunting and cannibalism
0:22:13 > 0:22:16were all part of life in the islands at that time.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22As a light rain begins to fall, I make my way to another island,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27to see for myself evidence of this brutal past.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35This rock is fascinating.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Local tradition has it that this is where war clubs were sharpened
0:22:39 > 0:22:43before war parties went out in search of their enemies.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48But actually, it looks much more like a place where they would have been manufactured.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51The clubs themselves were a disk shape and you could see
0:22:51 > 0:22:57in these depressions it'd be easy to get a round shape by abrasion.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03But then you've also got these narrow grooves here, which have been worn in over a long period of time,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06which would be excellent for doing the sharp edge to the disk.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12I've also seen a few bits of rock round here that have been broken
0:23:12 > 0:23:19and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is where the club heads were actually quarried and manufactured.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23It's a bit spooky, to be honest, there's a bit of an atmosphere here.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Barbara Thompson would have witnessed the warriors' barbarity first-hand.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37She was appalled by it and tried many times in vain to talk them
0:23:37 > 0:23:41out of head-hunting missions, but the men teased women of the tribe
0:23:41 > 0:23:47by returning with their trophy heads and eating the victim's eyes in front of them.
0:23:47 > 0:23:54In search of more evidence of this warrior past, I head for Horn Island, that played a vital role
0:23:54 > 0:23:58in protecting Australia from Japanese invasion in World War Two.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04I've come to speak to Vanessa Seekee, curator of the Torres Straits Heritage Museum.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12The warrior ethos has come down through the generations.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Hundreds of years past, the Torres Strait Islanders were proud and fierce warriors
0:24:16 > 0:24:22and that has come through the generations to their military service in World War Two.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Horn Island in Torres Strait was strategically vital
0:24:29 > 0:24:30because if you imagine a seesaw,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33you've got Horn Island is the middle, it's the fulcrum.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38The Allies knew if they held Horn Island, they could launch from here
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and they'd launch attacking missions into New Guinea in the north,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44also logistical missions, support missions.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51If the Japanese took Horn Island, they would then be able to launch south all the way down the east coast
0:24:51 > 0:24:57and right down to refuelling in our shipyards down south around Newcastle and Sydney.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01So Horn Island was in the middle, it's the fulcrum of that seesaw.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05So it was very vital that the Allies hold Horn Island.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15There are approximately 5,000 fellows that were stationed here.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18American and Australian, army and air force
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and hundreds of thousands came through on the troop ships
0:25:21 > 0:25:24that went from Townsville and Cairns
0:25:24 > 0:25:26up through Torres Strait into New Guinea.
0:25:30 > 0:25:36Prior to World War Two, the Torres Strait Islanders, they weren't allowed to join the army.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38They weren't considered citizens of Australia.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41They weren't on the Commonwealth census at the time.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46The Australian Government changed their mind in May 1940,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48when they realised they'd need everybody
0:25:48 > 0:25:51they could possibly get, so they opened the doors
0:25:51 > 0:25:53to the enlistment of Torres Strait Islanders.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58880 volunteered.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08Now, that left only 10 men of eligible age in the Torres Strait
0:26:08 > 0:26:12to hunt the turtle and the dugong and protect the women and the children.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18It's the largest and it's the only indigenous battalion Australia's ever had.
0:26:20 > 0:26:28It's true testament to the spirit of the islanders that 880 out of the 890 men joined up
0:26:28 > 0:26:33and even more so when you learn that they were still not recognised as Australian citizens.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38So why would they volunteer when they weren't on the census?
0:26:38 > 0:26:43They couldn't vote and they were under such hardships and inequality.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47I've asked a lot of Torres Strait islanders that question
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and some of them, one in particular said,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52"I did it for King and country. King George."
0:26:53 > 0:26:58But a lot of them did say that they wanted to protect their island homes, but they did realise that
0:26:58 > 0:27:03they could not protect their island homes like they had done in what they called, before time.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07In years gone past. Because the Japanese were a much bigger army
0:27:07 > 0:27:12than a neighbouring island's war force, so they had to come together.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20For a lot of non-indigenous soldiers that came here, it was the first time
0:27:20 > 0:27:24that they had served with, or worked with indigenous people.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29Now, they formed strong bonds and because the Torres Strait Islanders
0:27:29 > 0:27:34would take the non-indigenous soldiers out fishing and show them how to fish with spears,
0:27:34 > 0:27:40how to collect fish, how to collect shells, how to collect crabs and so there was a lot of collaboration.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44A lot of working together between indigenous and non-indigenous.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46They got along famously.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02Almost 100 years before World War Two, Barbara Thompson,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05now part of the Kaurareg tribe, was learning how to catch fish
0:28:05 > 0:28:09and make the most of what the sea and land had to offer.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14She also learned the various ways they cooked their food.
0:28:14 > 0:28:21One ingenious method that I've heard of, but never seen, is using a termite mound as an oven.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29- Sam, you're from New Guinea.- Yeah.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31- And this is, you're making an oven. - Yep.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34What do you cook in this oven?
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Yam, taro, sweet potato.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40- Yeah, any meat? - Yeah, it can cook meat.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42So it's anything, really.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45Ready for the fire.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Anybody got lighter?
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Lighter? We don't use lighters!
0:28:53 > 0:28:54We rub sticks together!
0:28:57 > 0:29:02This really is an interesting sight, an oven made from an insect nest.
0:29:08 > 0:29:14Using a termite mound as an oven, is a quick and efficient way to cook as the dense sides of the structure
0:29:14 > 0:29:19reflect the heat, rather like fire bricks and it can be reused.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24- There you go.- Thank you.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29What have you got to cook in there today?
0:29:29 > 0:29:31- A mullet.- A mullet.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33And why do you cook this way?
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Why not just cook him on the ground?
0:29:36 > 0:29:38The old ancestors reckon
0:29:38 > 0:29:43they don't want sand get into the fish or yam.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46- Those ancestors knew a thing or two, didn't they?- Yeah.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Yummy smell.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56- Lovely.- I'm a worried, Sam, if that wind takes the smell down the beach,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59we'll have 1,000 people turning up wanting to eat that!
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Oh, he looks good.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Oh, yes. Nice table here, look.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14- Nice table.- After you.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23- Oh, hot.- Hot.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Mm, yummy.
0:30:27 > 0:30:28That's lovely.
0:30:30 > 0:30:31Mm-mm.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35That's really good. What are you baking for dessert?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Cooked inside a termites' mound.
0:30:39 > 0:30:40Yeah.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48As we tuck in, I'm reminded how bountiful the sea and land can be.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55But I know from reading Barbara Thompson's account that times could be very hard for the Kaurareg.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58The rainy season kept them on shore and they had to rely
0:30:58 > 0:31:03on all their bush tucker knowledge to survive the long wet months.
0:31:08 > 0:31:14Barbara's story is of incredible spirit in the face of the most appalling conditions.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17This same strength of character is true of two ladies
0:31:17 > 0:31:23who were just seven years old when their lives were altered for ever by a war they knew little about.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28The story takes place on a quiet island 100 kilometres northeast of Horn.
0:31:28 > 0:31:34Mrs Tapau was a young girl living on the outer island of Yam when a Japanese fighter pilot
0:31:34 > 0:31:40returning from a failed mission in World War Two decided to vent his frustration on the islanders.
0:31:42 > 0:31:49She's returning home to Yam after many years to meet with her old friend Mrs Sabasio
0:31:49 > 0:31:55and together they're going to visit the beach where, as young girls, their lives were thrown into chaos.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10You remember the time when the Japanese plane will come.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11PLANE ENGINE ROARS
0:32:13 > 0:32:17We not take any notice of what the war meant to us.
0:32:19 > 0:32:25Only we notice when the plane pass and we look, "Plane with a red dot!"
0:32:30 > 0:32:34Our mother was saying, "That's an enemy plane coming."
0:32:34 > 0:32:39And we get frightened now, say "What, they gonna kill us, eh?"
0:32:39 > 0:32:41And they say, "Yeah, they can kill us because they enemy."
0:32:43 > 0:32:45MACHINE GUN AND SCREAMING
0:32:49 > 0:32:54And when we saw the plane coming, "Hide it, come!" You run and hide.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56SCREAMING
0:32:57 > 0:33:01They fire the bullets cross there, but we hide in mango trunk.
0:33:03 > 0:33:09That bullet come had been fire right there with that rock in front of me, ping!
0:33:13 > 0:33:17We all crying and oh, it was frightening.
0:33:19 > 0:33:20Scary day.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34So they survived the gratuitous attack.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38Hungry and too scared to return to the village, the men away at war,
0:33:38 > 0:33:43the women and children now had to rely on their bushcraft knowledge to keep them alive.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49After that, when everything we know, we came here.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Came hide in the cave up here.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54We sleep up in that cave there.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57All the family, all our family.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Yeah, all our family sleep there.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Three families we live up there, yeah.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09We just spread mat and tarpaulin everywhere and we sleep, lie down
0:34:09 > 0:34:13and find a place to cook our food and all that.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24It's quite cramped in here, it's not level.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28It would have been uncomfortable to spend any length of time in here.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31To think that they sheltered here in fear,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33it's quite evocative.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38This house of stone we call that, where they were right up there
0:34:38 > 0:34:42on the binocular they keep, to see you can see the plane.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52Anyway, after two weeks had to plant our own garden and go out
0:34:54 > 0:34:57and catch fish and come back again.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01We live bush tucker.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Fresh fish every day.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07Dig wild yam and sweet potato and cassava!
0:35:11 > 0:35:15When we light a fire to cook something
0:35:15 > 0:35:20while were guarding, after that we get, to out the fire.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Otherwise we might attract any plane that went past.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28It was very dangerous here, day and night.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34When we heard the engine noise come, "Out the fire!"
0:35:34 > 0:35:36Pour the water on the fire out.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39Scary days.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Incredibly, the families lived in the cave for four years.
0:35:47 > 0:35:53It was a scary time, but the traditional skills passed down to them meant they wouldn't go hungry.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00This is where the girls used to come
0:36:00 > 0:36:04and look out and watch out for planes and for ships.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09And had a fire here and there's a weathered depression in the rock
0:36:09 > 0:36:12that looks like it could have been caused by continual fires.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16It's a lot more peaceful here today.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36The demands of filming mean that time is precious,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39but I always make time to have a good look around
0:36:39 > 0:36:41when I come to a new place.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46Islands are particularly interesting as they can differ greatly from their neighbours,
0:36:46 > 0:36:51not only in the things you find, but the way in which they are used.
0:36:51 > 0:36:57Yam Island is no exception and a little beachcombing always pays dividends.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00I've been looking on the beach and found
0:37:00 > 0:37:03interesting seeds I thought you might like.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05You see that square in cross section?
0:37:05 > 0:37:09That's the seed from a tree called the barringtonia.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14And in some parts of the world this tree was used as a fish poison and a very effective one it is, too.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19I've been asking around locally and nobody knows about that, they just seem to use that as a toy
0:37:19 > 0:37:23and that's one of the interesting things - you can have the same species of plant
0:37:23 > 0:37:28in two different geographical regions, with two or more completely different uses.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30And there's another seed here.
0:37:30 > 0:37:37This is the matchbox bean that comes from a vine called entada phaseoloides.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Wonderful name and you find this growing
0:37:39 > 0:37:42along streams in all the tropical areas in this part of the world.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48It's got uses - you can use the bark of the vine for string, you can beat it to get saponin,
0:37:48 > 0:37:53soap out of it, which you can wash with or use as another fish poison.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55But the Kaurareg also had a use for it.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00During the rainy season, they would resort to this for food and I've got one here I've split in half
0:38:00 > 0:38:04and when I open that and you look inside
0:38:04 > 0:38:07you can see that white material, that's what they used for food
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and I find that astonishing, cos it's like ivory.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13It's a lot of work to make that edible.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15And it gives you a good indication
0:38:15 > 0:38:18of how desperate they must have been at times for a good feed.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Barbara Thompson foraged for foods such as the matchbox bean
0:38:34 > 0:38:37and the mangrove pods Enid showed me earlier.
0:38:45 > 0:38:51They would have been cooked in a ground oven, along with other foods such as fish, turtle and shellfish.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Stones are first heated on a fire
0:38:55 > 0:39:00whilst the meat and fish is wrapped skilfully in palm leaves.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09This effective method of cooking is still very much in use today.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20Once the stones are hot enough, the food is placed on top.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24In Barbara's village, the women shared the oven, each pointing
0:39:24 > 0:39:29their food parcels in a different way so that they knew which one was theirs when it was opened.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44Branches are then used to cover the food and sand thrown on top to seal the heat in.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Nowadays a tarpaulin is also used to help keep out the sand.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52It's going to take about two hours to cook.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55When we first arrived here, the director asked me,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59how would I light a fire if I was shipwrecked on the island?
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Never one to turn down a challenge, I'm going to show you how.
0:40:04 > 0:40:10The easiest way to make it would be to use a technique called the bow and drill method for making fire.
0:40:10 > 0:40:17The reason I say that's the easiest, that you're not going to get blisters in the process.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20You've got good mechanical advantage
0:40:20 > 0:40:23and you're not wasting calories unnecessarily.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28And it's not particularly skilful, which is a good thing.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32This one piece of wood is going to produce
0:40:32 > 0:40:34the critical bits of the apparatus.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37A drill and a board to drill into,
0:40:37 > 0:40:41both from the same piece of wood cos they then have the same hardness.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45I don't want one harder than another, otherwise one will consume
0:40:45 > 0:40:49the other and not produce the ember that we're trying to make.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54It's a common misconception the woods must be a different hardness.
0:41:17 > 0:41:18There's the drill...
0:41:19 > 0:41:24..and there's the hearth board that's going to drill into.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26I'll make a small depression in there to start with.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31You may wonder, why am I doing this and not using
0:41:31 > 0:41:33a drill that is rubbed between my hands?
0:41:33 > 0:41:36And the reason for that is that those sorts of kits, hand drills,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39are best made from green wood which you dry and prepare.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Although things will dry fast here,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45there's a delay, whereas this I can go straight to a dead piece of wood
0:41:45 > 0:41:50and reliably and easily produce the fire that I'm after.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55So that's the drill and the hearth made, what I need now
0:41:55 > 0:41:59is to make the bow and I've got this bent piece of wood here, there's no flex in it at all.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Just need to put a cord on that.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13So I'm gonna use a piece of nylon cord, you could use a shoelace,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17of course, or a bit of your clothing or even, you could make string
0:42:17 > 0:42:21out of the bark of this tree, but that'll take effort and time.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Just for speed, I'm gonna use this.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28That's a drill made.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31I'm gonna have to tighten that in a minute, I know that.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35And now I need a piece of wood to push down with and I've gone for
0:42:35 > 0:42:39a piece of hardwood here, just chopped off a bit of dead wood.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42And I need to give that, put a depression into that.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48What I need to do now is just to drill it in,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51kind of to kind of settle the whole equipment.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Not trying to produce fire just yet.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Bit of a leaf in the top of that for lubricant.
0:43:08 > 0:43:09Bit of smoke.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18And now I'm gonna carve a notch
0:43:18 > 0:43:23so that we can collect this burning charred dust,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25which will give us an ember.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31And that's what's used to make the fire.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35OK.
0:43:35 > 0:43:36Well, let's give it a go.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15And there's a really nice ember.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29I'll pop that in there, just starting to glow.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31I pop him in there,
0:44:31 > 0:44:32pinch that together.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49Just let the wind do the work.
0:44:52 > 0:44:53And there's a flame.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58So that's how I would make fire if I was stranded here with just what I had in my pockets.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01You can see how quick and efficient that is.
0:45:07 > 0:45:13Back at the beach, the food is cooked, but the weather has turned against us.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Nature has its own way of reminding you who's boss, as...
0:45:17 > 0:45:18THUNDER RUMBLES
0:45:18 > 0:45:20..rain stops play.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31We'd planned a beach party here, but unfortunately, just offshore, there is a cyclone.
0:45:31 > 0:45:37Cyclone Guba is just hitting and I guess we'd better cart this back indoors somewhere, eh?
0:45:37 > 0:45:42- Yeah, well, we can't eat it out here, we'll be soaking wet when we're eating!- We'll be drowning!
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Yeah, I think so, too!
0:45:47 > 0:45:54Despite it being a washout, it's great to see this traditional way of cooking still in use today.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59We know from Barbara Thompson's story that the Kaurareg
0:45:59 > 0:46:03traded with other islands and the mainland for other foods.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09The Kaurareg traded decorative pearl shells found in these waters.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16The valuable shells went on to play an important part in the Torres Strait Islands' history.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19# Pearly shells
0:46:20 > 0:46:21# From the ocean... #
0:46:21 > 0:46:26When the Europeans discovered them in the 1860s,
0:46:26 > 0:46:31hundreds of boats and crews from all over the world came to capitalise on this new wealth.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Pearl shells were used in the clothing industry
0:46:36 > 0:46:40in the United States and England, especially for buttons and buckles.
0:46:40 > 0:46:47Incredibly, at one time, the Torres Strait Islands supplied over half of the world's demand for pearl shell.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Just 39 kilometres off the northern tip of Australia is Thursday Island,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56or TI, as it's affectionately known.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59This was the centre of the industry.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04I've come here to meet Seaman Dan, a legendary pearl shell diver.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10I started diving in 1948 when I was 18 years old.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I was a deckie all the time, you know,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18and the skipper said, "Would you like to put the helmet on?"
0:47:19 > 0:47:22I stood up, I said, "Yes, please!"
0:47:23 > 0:47:25So, he said, "All right,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29"I'll come down with you in the other helmet to show you what to do."
0:47:31 > 0:47:36Being an 18-year-old, you're full of enthusiasm,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40you want to become a diver, you don't want to be a deckie all your life.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45So, I go down and he showed me where the pearl shell was.
0:47:49 > 0:47:55After I found, picked up my first few pearl shells, I was away then.
0:47:57 > 0:47:58Just carry on.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03So what happened? How did you become a fully-fledged diver?
0:48:03 > 0:48:05I picked up so many shells.
0:48:05 > 0:48:10In 1948, they thought I was good enough then, you know.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12And the boss, Mr Duffy, he said,
0:48:12 > 0:48:18"You're a young diver, you just start up, I'll try you out at £75 month."
0:48:19 > 0:48:25I said, "Gee whizz, that's great!" He said, "But you won't get any wages.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29"You'd better pick up shells now to earn your money."
0:48:30 > 0:48:34So that first neep, it was an eight-day neep...
0:48:35 > 0:48:40..so he came in with four tonnes, six and the other four divers
0:48:40 > 0:48:44they picked up three tonnes and on my own I picked up one tonne, six.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48He said, "Geez! That's not too bad for a young diver, a new diver."
0:48:48 > 0:48:52He said, "Would you like to skipper this boat next year?"
0:48:52 > 0:48:54I said, "Mr Duffy, I just started!"
0:48:56 > 0:48:58He said, "Oh, I'll take a gamble on you."
0:48:59 > 0:49:02- But it was dangerous work, wasn't it?- Oh, yes.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04You've gotta be careful what you do.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07You've gotta keep your wits about you.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13And then the sea is the only place I see it happen.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17The bronze whalers.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19They come up and circle around you, the school sharks.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23You see them as sleek and they're built for speed.
0:49:23 > 0:49:28And the other diver, he's about 150 feet away from me.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30We could see each other.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35Sharks are circling around me. The old divers used to say, "When you see a shark, signal for more air
0:49:35 > 0:49:40- "and that keeps the shark away from you."- Is that the bubbles going out?
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Yes. The air bubbles.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45And every time I do this I always think, I keep thinking,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48"I hope the old divers are right!"
0:49:48 > 0:49:51So the school shark, they're circling around you
0:49:51 > 0:49:55and the other diver's looking my way and I said,
0:49:55 > 0:49:59"Get over to the other diver! Get over to that other diver!"
0:49:59 > 0:50:04I say to the sharks. They circle around me, then they go around him, circle around him.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08He looks back and says, "Get back to that other diver! Get back!"
0:50:08 > 0:50:11Oh, it's dangerous work. Yes.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17The pearling industry eventually declined after the Second World War,
0:50:17 > 0:50:21with the development of cheap plastic substitutes.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28- Do you miss it?- Well...I do.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31But I nearly lost my life!
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Out of all the narrow escapes I had, this was the worst one.
0:50:34 > 0:50:40We're down 30 fathoms, six feet to a fathom
0:50:40 > 0:50:43and I went straight down and drifted off the shell-bearing area.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50And I thought, "Well, I've come straight down, I can go straight back up again."
0:50:50 > 0:50:52It don't work that way. There is no short cut.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57So we're running up and laying up against the stone rails.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02And he come over to me, he said, "Skipper, are you all right?"
0:51:02 > 0:51:04I said, "Yeah, I feel good."
0:51:04 > 0:51:07And all of a sudden everything went blurry
0:51:07 > 0:51:10and I had a sharp stab of pain across the back.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11I collapse on deck.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Crew carried me over towards the ladder
0:51:15 > 0:51:18and took the hard suit off my young diver,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20put it back on me.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23Two crew jumped over the side and stood on the ladder.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Air came through, they tapped the helmet, I fell back in the water.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32As soon as I got under the surface everything come back into focus.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38No more pain, but I had to go down to 30 fathoms again
0:51:38 > 0:51:40to stay for two hours.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46For my own stupidity, I lost a day's work and I nearly lost my life.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And I thought to myself, "Gee whizz!
0:51:49 > 0:51:52"I think this'll be my last year of diving!"
0:51:52 > 0:51:53- It was, too!- It was!
0:51:58 > 0:52:01- And you're a musician today.- Yes.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04I always liked playing the guitar.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08At 12 years old, we were in the peninsula.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Can you remember any songs you used to play back then?
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Er...
0:52:13 > 0:52:15Our favourite was, er...
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Up In The Sky.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24So this is Up In The sky with Seaman Dan.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36# Up in the sky so far away
0:52:37 > 0:52:41# There is a place for everyone
0:52:41 > 0:52:45# The moon and sun that always shine
0:52:45 > 0:52:49# Out on the ocean waves
0:52:49 > 0:52:54# As the lazy waves roll by
0:52:54 > 0:52:58# Breezes blowing memories
0:52:58 > 0:53:00# Oh, yes, yes
0:53:00 > 0:53:02# Somewhere there's joy
0:53:02 > 0:53:06# Somewhere there's sorrow Out on the sea
0:53:06 > 0:53:10# It's always the same to me
0:53:10 > 0:53:12# Are you from TI?
0:53:12 > 0:53:14# You from TI?
0:53:14 > 0:53:18# Well, I'm from TI, too
0:53:18 > 0:53:19# Pleased to meet you
0:53:19 > 0:53:22# Well I'm from TI, too. #
0:53:25 > 0:53:26Whoo!
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Fantastic! That's brilliant!
0:53:35 > 0:53:36My time here is coming to an end,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39but there's one last place I have to visit.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44Since arriving, the tale of the shipwrecked Barbara Thompson has gripped me,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48but the story has one last chapter and I have to leave the islands to follow it.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54I'm on my way to the Australian mainland, to a bay just east of Cape York,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58where five years after being shipwrecked, the final twist of fate
0:53:58 > 0:54:02would again turn the now 22-year-old's life upside down.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11At the end of the dry season in 1849,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15HMS Rattlesnake was moored in this bay.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Evan's Bay, right at the top of the Cape York peninsular
0:54:18 > 0:54:21and they would have searched this beach for water,
0:54:21 > 0:54:23which is exactly what I've been doing and I know
0:54:23 > 0:54:26when the Rattlesnake was here they filled their tanks from wells
0:54:26 > 0:54:29they dug behind the dunes at the far end of this beach,
0:54:29 > 0:54:36so it's really exciting to be here and to find fresh water exactly where it was described.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Little bit brackish, but it's fresh water and it's fascinating to think,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57when I look at this it almost looks like it's been dug out.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02This could be the well that the crew of the Rattlesnake dug, who knows?
0:55:02 > 0:55:08What we do know is that once the ship got here they started to trade with the local aboriginals.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11They traded them clothes and biscuits and knives
0:55:11 > 0:55:16and it caused a bit of a stir and it wasn't long till word of all this trading going on
0:55:16 > 0:55:20spread to neighbouring communities, including Prince of Wales Island,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23where Barbara Thompson was living.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28For her, it was a tantalising piece of information.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33For some three years she'd been hearing about ships stopping near here and suddenly there was word
0:55:33 > 0:55:35of a ship here, but one that was a bit different.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38It was lingering a bit longer, it was trading.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42She just dared for a moment to hope that maybe she could make it here
0:55:42 > 0:55:44and there would be the chance of a rescue.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53Eventually, the opportunity came.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57Some canoes were coming to trade with the boat and Barbara could go with them.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59She was the last to leave the beach,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02she didn't want to seem too anxious, too eager to come to the ship,
0:56:02 > 0:56:08cos she knew if she showed that sign, then maybe her family wouldn't let her come.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Eventually, she came to shore.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12And then she made her way down this beach
0:56:12 > 0:56:17and she met some British sailors, or marines, we're not sure which
0:56:17 > 0:56:20and immediately they took her into their protection
0:56:20 > 0:56:24and they brought her here, where the men were washing clothes and bedding.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28And they started to talk to her, they asked her, "Are you English,
0:56:28 > 0:56:30"Irish or Scottish? Were you shipwrecked?"
0:56:30 > 0:56:35They recognised she was Scottish and called out to one of the other sailors, "Oi, Scot!
0:56:35 > 0:56:37"There's a Scottish girl here!"
0:56:37 > 0:56:42And that Scottish crew member came over and started talking to her and she understood his brogue.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48They took good care of her. They gave her soap so that she could wash herself.
0:56:48 > 0:56:54They gave her a white shirt that she could wear on top and a blue shirt that she used as a petticoat.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58And now Giome became Barbara Thompson again
0:56:58 > 0:57:02and they took her back to HMS Rattlesnake and she was safe.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09Over the coming days, the ship's artist, Brierly, took statements
0:57:09 > 0:57:15from her about her life and her experience and has left us an incredible legacy of anthropology,
0:57:15 > 0:57:21with details of traditions, cooking techniques, the life of the Kaurareg, even their language.
0:57:22 > 0:57:28It was a very special day back then, 16th October, 1849.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36I came to these islands knowing little of their history or people.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41Everyone has been generous with their knowledge and time, particularly Enid,
0:57:41 > 0:57:43teaching me the ways of the Kaurareg people,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48letting me explore her homeland and see for myself what has survived today.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53But it feels as though my other guide here has been Barbara Thompson herself.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Through her story, I've been transported back in time
0:57:57 > 0:58:02to gain first-hand knowledge of what it was like to live as one of the Kaurareg people.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05I'll never forget the story of Barbara Thompson.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Above all, my heart goes out to her.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12She really must have been one plucky Scots lass.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14# Are you from TI?
0:58:14 > 0:58:16# Are you from TI?
0:58:16 > 0:58:21# Where the wild, wild wongai trees grow
0:58:21 > 0:58:26# Are you from Torres Strait or any place including St Paul Way?
0:58:26 > 0:58:30# Any place that's just around Mabuiag Way?
0:58:30 > 0:58:32# Are you from TI?
0:58:32 > 0:58:34# Are you from TI?
0:58:35 > 0:58:38# Well, I'm from TI, too
0:58:38 > 0:58:39# Pleased to meet you
0:58:39 > 0:58:42# Well, I'm from TI, too
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# Pleased to meet you
0:58:44 > 0:58:47# Well, I'm from TI, too. #
0:58:48 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd