0:00:09 > 0:00:12Australian Aboriginals have a tradition
0:00:12 > 0:00:14of going travelling across their country,
0:00:14 > 0:00:20to visit friends, to tell stories, to collect bush foods, and it's very
0:00:20 > 0:00:25much in that vein that I've come here to Australia to go walkabout.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59The great thing about the Aboriginal term "Walkabout"
0:00:59 > 0:01:03is that you can use it to describe almost any sort of journey.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10This is a journey into Australia's past, both recent and ancient.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25I'll be travelling across Australia's north-west corner.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27It's a land steeped in history,
0:01:27 > 0:01:32including ancient rock art that is among the best in the world.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38It's art that I'll be taking a long, hard look at later in the programme.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43Art which may hold clues to the earliest travellers to this land.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50But before I get to the art, there are more recent explorers I want to take a look at.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Starting with the first Briton to arrive here.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10When you think of the early explorers of Australia,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14the mind automatically focuses on Captain Cook,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17but there was another remarkable explorer
0:02:17 > 0:02:22who visited these shores nearly 100 years earlier - William Dampier.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29Dampier was actually the first Briton to set foot on Australian soil in 1688.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35He returned in 1697 and landed here at La Grange Bay.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40He was an extraordinary mix of privateer, explorer and botanist,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43drawn to travel the world as much by the lure of knowledge
0:02:43 > 0:02:45as by the promise of riches.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48RIGGING CREAKS
0:02:48 > 0:02:53It's very evocative being here, on this coastline with the rigging creaking -
0:02:53 > 0:02:55they're sounds Dampier would have heard,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and that shore has hardly changed since the day he arrived.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Amazing.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Back then, Australia was known as New Holland
0:03:05 > 0:03:07and navigation was so primitive
0:03:07 > 0:03:11that even finding this massive land was a remarkable feat of seamanship.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15It's quite incredible to think that when he set out,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17this was just a blank space in the world map.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Nobody knew at that time whether
0:03:20 > 0:03:22this was a part of another continent,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26an island, or as it turned out, a continent in its own right.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36Dampier made detailed observations and kept a record of them in his fabulous journal.
0:03:38 > 0:03:44So we know a great deal about his trip, including his very first steps on this bay.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54It's strange to think that this is the very place
0:03:54 > 0:03:58that in 1699, William Dampier came ashore.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I feel like a time traveller.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03It's almost as though when I go over this rise,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05I might find the man himself.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Dampier describes coming ashore where he'd seen a group of Aboriginal Australians.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15It's as if he were here only yesterday.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19When we came on the top of the hill where they first stood,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22we saw a plain savannah, about half a mile from us,
0:04:22 > 0:04:23further in from the sea.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27There were several things like haycocks, standing in the savannah -
0:04:27 > 0:04:30which at a distance, we thought were houses,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34looking just like the Hottentots' houses at the Cape of Good Hope,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37but we found them to be so many rocks.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51It's amazing - over 300 years later and the landscape
0:04:51 > 0:04:52simply hasn't changed.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56There's the savannah and those are the mounds and from here,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59they look just like little villages.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09But when you get up closer,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13you discover these aren't huts at all, they're termite mounds.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Now there's a bit of a mystery because Dampier described these as rocks,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23I can only assume he must have been looking through a telescope and hadn't actually come up close
0:05:23 > 0:05:28to one, because as soon as you're standing beside one, you can clearly see that they're termite mounds.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32And I'm certain he would have encountered those on his earlier travels.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Probably where he saw Hottentot huts.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39It's one of the few things he got wrong.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48Dampier hypothesised on how the local Aboriginals might have made fire -
0:05:48 > 0:05:52what he didn't know was growing on this sand dune that he climbed up
0:05:52 > 0:05:56are actually two different species that can be used to make fire by friction
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and this is one of them, this is one of the clerodendrums.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02This has been used in other parts of Australia for making fire.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I've never used it myself, but I thought I'd give it a go.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Pull out a dead stick there.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'I've used so many woods to light fire that I've lost count.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25'I'm always keen to try new woods though
0:06:25 > 0:06:27'but I never take success for granted.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'Learning can sometimes be difficult.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33'Dampier's journal contains what I believe
0:06:33 > 0:06:38'may be the first recorded account of making fire by friction.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:42How they get their fire, I do not know,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44but probably as Indians do, out of wood.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I have seen the Indians of Bonaire do it,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and have myself tried the experiment.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56They take a flat piece of wood that is pretty soft
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and make a small dent in one side of it.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Then they take another hard, round stick
0:07:03 > 0:07:06about the bigness of one's little finger, and sharpening
0:07:06 > 0:07:08it at one end like a pencil,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12they put that sharp end in the hole or dent of the flat, soft piece.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17And then rubbing or twirling the hard piece
0:07:17 > 0:07:19between the palms of their hands,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22they drill the soft piece till it smokes and at last takes fire.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31That's the set made. My guess is it's not going to be
0:07:31 > 0:07:33the easiest of woods to use, it's quite hard,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37but that's a good thing when you're looking for dead wood in the bush.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Often dead wood is too soft but this feels quite good.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Never used it before so it's going to be a bit of an experiment,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46but I like that, I like trying new woods in new places.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49It all adds to your sum - sum knowledge.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53What I've got here is, I've got some kangaroo grass, which I'm going to
0:07:53 > 0:08:00use for tinder, and I've got some really finely teased pieces here,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and unusually, I'm going to put this underneath the sticks,
0:08:04 > 0:08:09for two reasons - it's dry enough here on this shore to do that,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and also, it'll stop the sticks sinking into the sand,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15which is a good thing.
0:08:16 > 0:08:17Put that stick on there.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36The problem with sticks that aren't straight -
0:08:36 > 0:08:38they flip about and they also give you blisters.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45'There may be smoke, but this is definitely not going to plan.'
0:08:54 > 0:08:57'There's no pretending, this is hard work.'
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Not quite.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05'My hands are beginning to blister.'
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Oh, I had an ember!
0:09:13 > 0:09:15'I'm running out of time.'
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Last chance for this, otherwise I'm not going to be able to hold anything.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25HE PANTS WITH EXERTION
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Nah, I can't do it.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39I can't do any more.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45I have to tell you,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49those are some of the hardest sticks I've ever made fire with,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Aboriginal people have got incredibly hard hands,
0:09:51 > 0:09:56a lot harder than mine, by the looks of it. Oh, ouch!
0:09:59 > 0:10:03That's the first time I've failed in about 10 years,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05but my hands will heal.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10However, this place can be life-threatening if you're caught unprepared, as two German airmen,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Hans Bertram and Adolph Klausman,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18found out when they were forced to land in a place like this.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21It was the 15th of May 1932
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and their float plane was called The Atlantis.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30They thought they were just a short hop from Darwin,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33but actually, they'd come down in the Kimberleys,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38and you could hardly pick a more remote and difficult country to place yourself in.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44They found a coastline inhabited mostly by mosquitoes,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48a relentless sun and tides that pushed salt water
0:10:48 > 0:10:52up the rivers and creeks, contaminating the drinking water.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Bertram and Klausman decided to try and seek help.
0:10:56 > 0:11:02Their story is a remarkable tale of endurance, determination and ingenuity.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06They gathered what equipment they had and set off.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13As if the mosquitoes, the sun and the saltwater weren't enough,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16the very land itself seemed to be against them.
0:11:16 > 0:11:23Traversing this broken country with sharp sandstone rocks was like trying to cross Hell on Earth.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36They didn't get very far. They tried to swim across a river,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40only to be driven back by deadly saltwater crocodiles.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46In the process, they lost most of their equipment to the river.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51SPLASHING
0:11:51 > 0:11:58They returned to their aircraft distraught and discouraged, but crucially, they didn't give up.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Their most pressing problem was finding drinking water.
0:12:02 > 0:12:09There was no easy source available, they had to improvise in order to collect as much as they could.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Plane parts provided guttering to collect water.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22There are many features in this story which echo the experiences
0:12:22 > 0:12:24of previous survivors in the Australian bush,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26and which would be repeated later.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29One of the real classics is the constant problem
0:12:29 > 0:12:33of dealing with the annoying mosquitoes you find on the top end.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38To try and avoid being bitten, they buried themselves as best they could in sand.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Walking had proved futile - they needed to find another way out.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Their attempt was a great leap of logic.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51They made a canoe out of one of the floats.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57With a tree for a mast, they used a screwdriver as an awl and even rigged a sail using old clothes.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10It was ingenious, but the Kimberleys gave them no quarter.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12The seas were too rough for their craft.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Repeated attempts to make progress came to nothing
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and they abandoned their efforts.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23They were lost, with no equipment and dwindling energy reserves.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28It was over a month now since they had landed and hope was about all they had left.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Eventually, they took shelter in a cave something like this one.
0:13:33 > 0:13:41They made a couple of beds and they started to cook shellfish, but by now things were looking pretty grim.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43They were running out of energy at every corner.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55Every survivor needs some luck and eventually theirs turned when they were spotted by an Aboriginal.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58In fact, they couldn't have had a better rescue party.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Aboriginal people were used to dealing with people on the edge of starvation and they knew
0:14:03 > 0:14:10that the two airmen needed the meat they gave them pre-chewing so that they could more easily digest it.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Things had turned right at last.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Bertram and Klausman owed their lives to the Aboriginals
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and their intimate knowledge of this part of Australia.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33I can't come to this part of the world and not visit the desert.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36It's the classic image of Australia.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44This is my favourite time of day.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I love it when the day starts to turn to night - it's perfect.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Especially out here in the desert, there's just a calmness that I...
0:14:51 > 0:14:55It's...it's magical - you have to be here really to fully understand it.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58All this green stuff, this spinifex,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00is very prickly but most importantly,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03it's full of a resin that burns very readily,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and it means you have to be careful of bushfires.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Equally, it means it's easy to start a campfire. Just take a lighter.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33Why do I like this so much?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Well, just listen.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37COMPLETE SILENCE EXCEPT INSECTS
0:15:42 > 0:15:43That's magic.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I'm only going to be spending a single night in the desert,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14but I'm meeting an English woman who once lived out here.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Pat Lowe is an author who arrived here in 1972.
0:16:17 > 0:16:24She married an aboriginal artist called Jimmy Pike and lived with him in the desert for a number of years.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Jimmy died in 2002.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30So what was the life in the desert like here?
0:16:30 > 0:16:36Well, it was, um, most of the time pretty peaceful. But busy -
0:16:36 > 0:16:40we were hunting just about every day, we'd go hunting.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45Usually early in the morning, and then we'd walk for hours
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and come back later on.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49If we caught something early, we'd come back earlier
0:16:49 > 0:16:51and if not we'd keep going.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55So you basically entered into their lifestyle?
0:16:55 > 0:17:01Yeah, we had a few luxuries, we had a canvas for
0:17:01 > 0:17:03just putting our things underneath.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06You were eating the same foods as the Aboriginal people?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Well, yes and no. I mean, I had this fantasy that we were going
0:17:09 > 0:17:14to live off all this stuff, but I got very skinny
0:17:14 > 0:17:18and yeah, it wasn't all that appetising to be honest, you know!
0:17:18 > 0:17:19It's a huge cultural change.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It's good, it's good food, especially fruit and vegetables,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26you know, they're pretty few and far between.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31And Jimmy used to catch nearly all our meat. I mean, a place like this,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34to be able to just walk into it with nothing,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36and...live.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37Is staggering.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41I know exactly what you mean, I've worked a lot with Aboriginals,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46and I understand there's a lot of food here, but I'm still taken aback at the scale of this country.
0:17:46 > 0:17:52You know, they are prepared to walk huge distances in search of food and water, and what they call a well
0:17:52 > 0:17:57- can just be a little hole in the ground which is like a puddle. - Hmm, not even a puddle.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01I mean, you have to dig sometimes quite a few feet down,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05six or eight feet down, till water starts seeping up.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Yeah, that's a lot of effort.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11It's amazing and they don't, they don't consider that to be a hardship.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Well, it was just life.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14- Just life.- Just normal.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18It really was... I mean, I think their lifestyle really required
0:18:18 > 0:18:21a very high degree of expertise.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26The thing that's always sad for me is that in our world,
0:18:26 > 0:18:32we've found no way of grading or giving recognition to their expertise.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36- No.- Because in our world these people would be professors and doctors of knowledge,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39but because they're Aboriginal,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43it's a lower form of knowledge that our system doesn't seem to recognise.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45And yet we couldn't replicate it if we tried.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Well, if we come out here as you know from this expedition,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51you know, you bring so much with you,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54survival gear and satellite phones
0:18:54 > 0:18:59and food and water everything and we'd perish without it.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03But they didn't need anything except knowledge.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It may seem strange, but it's hard to leave the desert,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13but now I want to concentrate on the art.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19The Kimberleys have been home to Aboriginals for thousands of years.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Just a couple of generations ago,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24people were still living a traditional life here
0:19:24 > 0:19:28and their presence is still very real for Aboriginal Australians.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42TALKING IN ABORIGINAL
0:20:04 > 0:20:08I talk to my grandfather like the old people that lived here,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and say that I was Old Friday's granddaughter
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and I came to visit their country.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19This is Juju Wilson, a local artist.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23She's kindly agreed to give me a history lesson in Aboriginal art -
0:20:23 > 0:20:27a lesson that will deepen my understanding not just of the art,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29but of the Aboriginal way of life.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33We're starting with the representations that show
0:20:33 > 0:20:35where a camp site used to be.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50When you're actually here at this site,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52you can sense your ancestors, can't you?
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Yes.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56I mean, I can hear the old people singing,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59the old women, children laughing.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Kids, like, splashing waters and things like that, yeah.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09- Yeah, I guess for you...their spirits live on.- Yes, they do.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12- So they still inhabit the land? - Yes, they do.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16And that means that you have to show great respect cos they can see what you do?
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Yes.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I mean, you can smell their sweat,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27you can hear their tears, like, their crying, their laughters.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34I mean, this place was just full of joy that you can fish and hunt also for the food that you want,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I mean, you can get catfish, barramundi,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41black bream and all sorts of file eel.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45- And that's all represented on the walls here, isn't it?- Yes, yes.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49'For a while, the water dried up here, something attributed
0:21:49 > 0:21:53'to the killing of a sacred python by one of the young people.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56'The water returned thanks to Juju.'
0:21:56 > 0:22:00The water came back cos, what happened, I came back
0:22:00 > 0:22:03here one day on my own, talked to the old people,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06"Can you bring water back, can you bring Namit?"
0:22:06 > 0:22:10"Namit" means the snake, she's the queen of the water.
0:22:10 > 0:22:17Said, can you bring Namit back so give life back to the...to the place that the old people lived before.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19So it did.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24And I came back a year later and seen the water and just felt overjoyed.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30And how long has this place been used as a dwelling?
0:22:30 > 0:22:33A very long time, I can't remember.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36- Very, very long, thousands of years?- Yes.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39And why is that, what is good about it?
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I can't just explain - it's too good.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51'With all the art here, it still feels very lived in.'
0:23:01 > 0:23:03The Miriuwung people who lived here
0:23:03 > 0:23:06have left their mark all over the rock face, there are
0:23:06 > 0:23:08hand prints here, you can see adults,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and also children and when I look at those,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14it reminds me of all the little Aboriginal children
0:23:14 > 0:23:17that we've worked with in the making of different programmes.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19There are even some footprints here.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23I can't help feeling there might have been a sense of humour
0:23:23 > 0:23:26when this was being done, cos it'd be very difficult to put your foot
0:23:26 > 0:23:29up there and spray the ochre all the way round it. You'd need help.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35'I've tried this myself when I was looking at Aboriginal Britain.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39'It's hard to describe how the act of doing it somehow brings it closer.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42'My beliefs are very different to Juju's,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46'but knowing how to do this does make this whole place come alive.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54'They say every picture tells a story and that's certainly true
0:23:54 > 0:23:58'of these paintings - they are not just for decoration.'
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Oh, that's a really big painting we've got here, isn't it.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03What does that depict?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05It's a freshwater eel.
0:24:05 > 0:24:11Eels make water in the billabongs and gorges, springs.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14So this is the ancestral eels - is that right?
0:24:14 > 0:24:18- Yes.- So they created all like the wells and all the water courses?
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Yes. I mean, some people walk around for days to look for water
0:24:23 > 0:24:25but to us we just look at the ground,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and the paintings and start digging.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29So, what it says is...
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Let me get this right, the presence of the painting tells you that
0:24:32 > 0:24:38- there's going to be a pretty good chance that you're gonna find water there throughout the year?- Yes.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41'Aboriginal art is more than just a picture.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44'Each drawing acquires added significance.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'So this eel doesn't just show that the water is present,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'the eels are said to have created the waterways themselves.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55'The art takes on a spiritual and cultural significance and its very presence usually
0:24:55 > 0:24:58'indicates a place of settlement,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01'a site with importance to the Aboriginal way of life.'
0:25:16 > 0:25:19It's been a lifelong ambition of mine to come here
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and driving through it with Juju is incredible.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25This must be the biggest art gallery in the world.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28100,000 square miles of paintings.
0:25:28 > 0:25:33Our journey across just a part of it is going to take days, but that's
0:25:33 > 0:25:38nothing compared to the time it would have taken when Juju's forebears walked this land.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42They took months walking from site to site, maintaining the art
0:25:42 > 0:25:46whilst hunting and gathering the plants that were in season,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51linking life and art inextricably together within their culture.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59We're going to see several different styles, the oldest of which may be more than 5,000 years old.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04They all have different names and they all seem to have different origins.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08But it's not just the art that displays different influences.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16This is a lovely tree to find here, it reminds me of Africa cos this is
0:26:16 > 0:26:20the baobab tree, although here they call it the boab tree.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24It's got lots of uses, it's one of my favourite trees.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27In an emergency you can dig up some of the roots and you can get water
0:26:27 > 0:26:34from them, you could even cut some of the inner bark out and squeeze that and get moisture from it.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39In other parts of the world, people put pegs in them - I've never seen a baobab tree in Africa
0:26:39 > 0:26:44that hasn't got pegs hammered into it as a ladder, to enable you to get to the top of the tree where you can
0:26:44 > 0:26:49find honey and very often in the top branches there, water, trapped.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54You can eat the green leaves, but it's the fruit that's the best bit.
0:27:06 > 0:27:07Hey!
0:27:18 > 0:27:19Some you win, some you lose.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23That one just doesn't want to come down, that's what's inside it,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25we'll do something with that later on.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28It's like a... It looks like polystyrene, even feels like it.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34In there are seeds, I've seen these seeds roasted up and ground into coffee,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37by the Kalahari bushmen. But it's that white material,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41that yellowy stuff, that's what we're gonna use later on.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Hmm.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Some people reckon it's a mystery how these trees came to be here.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53It's even been hypothesised that they might have come from Africa
0:27:53 > 0:27:58with an earlier people, maybe using the baobab food as a survival ration.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00It's quite possible because as long as these
0:28:00 > 0:28:07canisters here, these velvet-covered capsules are not cracked, the food inside which is very nutritious,
0:28:07 > 0:28:08will stay fresh for months,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11so it would have been a good survival ration.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13But I don't know, these trees might just have been
0:28:13 > 0:28:20here from way, way back, but it's nice to find them because it's like finding an old friend in the bush.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Lovely trees.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44At the end of a long hot day,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47there's no better sight than a fast-flowing stream.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05That's lovely, fantastic.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10Lovely way to cool off and a good way to rinse your clothes at the same time.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Strong current here, don't want to get swept too far downstream.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Way down there, that's saltwater crocodile country.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30In this heat, my clothes will dry well before dark.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50The cool of the evening is a chance to unwind and take stock,
0:29:50 > 0:29:55and for Juju to show that she still values the traditional skills as much as the art.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00The chain of Aboriginal knowledge that used to pass
0:30:00 > 0:30:04from generation to generation today has gaps.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08Links have been broken as the people have moved into towns.
0:30:08 > 0:30:14Consequently, people like Juju, who seek out traditional knowledge,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16are more important than ever.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22While Juju's busy showing her intricate skills,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25I'm taking the chance to enjoy being out in the wilds.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27BIRDS CAWS
0:30:45 > 0:30:47How's it going there, Juju?
0:30:47 > 0:30:49- Good.- Looks nice, doesn't it?
0:30:49 > 0:30:50It is,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53- it's a little bird I've made.- Yeah.
0:30:53 > 0:31:00Do you like it? It's painted with red ochre and it's also carved.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02What sort of bird is it?
0:31:02 > 0:31:04It's a ground pigeon.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Would you like to have a try?
0:31:06 > 0:31:09No, no, that's yours, I don't want to spoil it!
0:31:11 > 0:31:16This is a perfect place for making a drink from the boab fruit.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21They're quite brittle
0:31:21 > 0:31:26and if I take the shell off, you can see there's this substance that
0:31:26 > 0:31:29looks a little bit like polystyrene,
0:31:29 > 0:31:34but it actually tastes like, I guess like freeze-dried lemon ice-cream.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36It's the nearest thing I could suggest.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39I'm gonna collect all that material in the middle there,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41fill it into a cup.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Like that, gonna need a few of these.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Perfect.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06That one's perfect - look at that.
0:32:06 > 0:32:12Nice to see, isn't it, and these are like segments of an orange and it contains seeds in there.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25I reckon that's probably enough now.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29What I'm gonna do is gonna crush this up so that I can separate
0:32:29 > 0:32:31the seeds out from the white material.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44You can see now the seeds -
0:32:44 > 0:32:47you can roast those, grind them up and make sort of a coffee
0:32:47 > 0:32:52but to be honest with you, it doesn't compare to anything you'd buy on the high street.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55And I need to separate these out now from the rest.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05What I'll do is - I've got a few coarse bits on the top -
0:33:05 > 0:33:06I just skim those off,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09that's just some of the woody material that held it all together,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and what I'm left with is that fine powder
0:33:11 > 0:33:17and I'm gonna mix that with some water with a little bit of sugar to make a tasty, nutritious drink.
0:33:18 > 0:33:24Boab fruit contains more vitamin C than six oranges.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26There have been genetic studies on the boab tree
0:33:26 > 0:33:31which have found definite links to the baobab in Madagascar.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36It's possible this drink sustained travellers exploring long before Dampier.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43Just gonna skim off some of the top bit, the scum there, bits that haven't dissolved.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Taste that.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Oh, it's sour, lemony, but very nice.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58I'm just gonna drop a little bit of sugar in.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I mean, you could drink that as it is if you're out in the bush and it
0:34:02 > 0:34:06doesn't taste half bad but a little, just a spoonful of sugar in there,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10will just lift it that little bit.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Now that tastes like lemon squash, wonderful.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Ahh. But don't take my word for it.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30We've got a good sound recordist with us and in time honoured fashion, time for him to try it.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33There you go, Tim, try that, doesn't look very nice, does it?
0:34:33 > 0:34:36No, bit milky, sort of...
0:34:39 > 0:34:41- But that's nice.- It's OK, isn't it?
0:34:41 > 0:34:44- Yeah, yeah.- Like lemon barley water. Tastes like lemon barley,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47that's about as near as you get to it, very nice.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18There's been a lot of rain recently,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20which means that all the creeks and billabongs
0:35:20 > 0:35:23are absolutely overflowing with water, which is fantastic.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27One of the really nice things is that you can come to places
0:35:27 > 0:35:29like this, and fill your water bottle
0:35:29 > 0:35:32with no worries of infection - it's a lovely thing.
0:35:32 > 0:35:38Aboriginals have a very complex belief system which is central to their way of life.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43The art here plays a part that is much more than just a drawing.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47These are Wandjina spirits, beings from the local creation myths,
0:35:47 > 0:35:52but it's a sign of the times that they're showing signs of neglect.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58This one here will have to be repainted but no-one can do it.
0:35:58 > 0:36:04If anyone paints it they'll... they get very crook and pass away.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07'Once they'd have been refreshed every year by the people who held
0:36:07 > 0:36:14'the stories, but they're long gone and no-one else has permission to take care of them.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17'But these images were built to last.'
0:36:17 > 0:36:22The fat comes from kangaroo bones, like the marrow bones from kangaroo,
0:36:22 > 0:36:27even from goanna fat, it's mixed up with ochre and water and bit of glue.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29So the painting could last forever.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Not all of the art is quite so serious.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38'These Guyon images are representations
0:36:38 > 0:36:41'of characters that we'd call gremlins.'
0:36:41 > 0:36:45They're, like, making fun of people like,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48taking their things away from the camp, hiding it -
0:36:48 > 0:36:51like their wallets or mainly they hunt for food.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53They like just getting in a tucker box.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58Every night always put out a plate of food, by the time in the morning, there's nothing left.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04They are mischievous little people - they're very smelly.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14It seems crazy to come all this way, see so much art
0:37:14 > 0:37:19and travel with a bona fide artist without having a go myself.
0:37:19 > 0:37:25There really is no excuse and it may well help in my understanding of Juju's world.
0:37:25 > 0:37:32Today she uses some modern materials, but the powder is still sourced from the earth.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Right then, Juju, what we gonna do?
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Come on, young fella, you want to do some painting?
0:37:36 > 0:37:41Oh, I like that you've called me young again! Oh, that's good.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43What do you like to paint?
0:37:43 > 0:37:47I don't know - what we gonna paint? What about something from the water?
0:37:47 > 0:37:49- Crocodile.- That's a good one.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Well, we paint the background yellow.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54What are you using for the yellow?
0:37:54 > 0:37:56It's an ochre from the ground.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59- OK.- And it's also mixed with water and glue.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02So that's a natural pigment that you've made yourself?
0:38:02 > 0:38:04- Yes.- Yeah?
0:38:04 > 0:38:06When did you first start painting?
0:38:08 > 0:38:09- At home.- Yeah?
0:38:09 > 0:38:12In Kununurra.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17- Were you small?- Um, no.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18Were you big?
0:38:24 > 0:38:29Um, I went up bush with my grandmother and my mother,
0:38:29 > 0:38:34for a couple of years and I started seeing my grandfather's paintings.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36- On the rock faces?- On the rocks
0:38:36 > 0:38:38around Hidden Valley.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42- And gave me an idea to earn my own quid.- Yeah?
0:38:42 > 0:38:46so I started painting...
0:38:48 > 0:38:51..the same style like the old bloke.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55But on canvasses.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Started drawing goanna,
0:38:58 > 0:39:02- snakes, turtles.- Uh-hu.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Can you paint anything?
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Um, yes.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10I had to ask permission to paint...
0:39:12 > 0:39:16..like, sceneries of countries,
0:39:16 > 0:39:18it's very sacred.
0:39:20 > 0:39:21So you had to ask the elders?
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Yes.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26- And they were happy?- Yes.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31I'm enjoying this, maybe I'll change my career!
0:39:31 > 0:39:35That's it, mine's finished. Yep.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Lift it up if you got gaps in it.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Desert dreaming!
0:39:44 > 0:39:45OK!
0:39:46 > 0:39:51Why is painting important to Aboriginal people?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54It's to keep...
0:39:54 > 0:39:56To keep their culture alive,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00cos nowadays, I mean, the young kids
0:40:00 > 0:40:07wouldn't have the chance to go out the bush to see the art that the old people done years ago.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10And the story about the country.
0:40:10 > 0:40:17What is difficult to express to people who aren't used to working with Aboriginals
0:40:17 > 0:40:20is HOW important these stories are,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22they're very important, aren't they?
0:40:22 > 0:40:28They are, all the animals we paint on the canvases...
0:40:28 > 0:40:32There are, like, pollutions and burnings
0:40:32 > 0:40:37that the people make will destroy the animals.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41So how can the next generation of kids
0:40:41 > 0:40:45ever, ever see a barramundi,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48or a kangaroo?
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Now is that a freshwater crocodile?
0:40:50 > 0:40:52- Saltwater.- It's a saltwater croc,
0:40:52 > 0:40:54and what did you make the black paint from?
0:40:54 > 0:40:56- From charcoal.- Charcoal.
0:40:56 > 0:41:03'Drawings like this are very important because of the role of stories in Aboriginal life.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08'Even today, they help to ensure that their culture can thrive.'
0:41:15 > 0:41:18I don't like the way your crocodile's grinning!
0:41:19 > 0:41:21JUJU LAUGHS
0:41:29 > 0:41:32By doing my own painting, I'm beginning to understand
0:41:32 > 0:41:35how this art can be a cornerstone of a way of life.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39Not just for decoration, but for understanding,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41education and community.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47This is an old crocodile.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52- Old dinosaur.- Old crocodile this one, this one's a big one!
0:41:52 > 0:41:54This one attacks fishing boats,
0:41:54 > 0:41:59he's lived 100 years and he's fed up with the sound of outboard motors!
0:42:06 > 0:42:08You got it, mate, he's a killer.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10JUJU GIGGLES
0:42:10 > 0:42:11Rarrr!
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Time holds no tyranny for people
0:42:16 > 0:42:19who used to take months to walk and visit family.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22We'll finish these paintings tomorrow.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Ahh, if Top Gear could see me now!
0:42:39 > 0:42:42The romance of the open road.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44The ever-distant horizon.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Well, not exactly.
0:42:47 > 0:42:53Documentaries on off-road travel in Australia always look really,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56really romantic don't they, but let me tell you,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59the truth of it can be hours on end travelling on
0:42:59 > 0:43:04corrugated roads like this, which is wearing for both man and machine.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Of course, we've got a time and a place, a destination somewhere to be,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11and that makes it all the more wearing because
0:43:11 > 0:43:14we can't just stop when we feel like it, we've gotta push on.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17And it makes the whole thing quite challenging, really.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20You have to take great care not to break the vehicle,
0:43:20 > 0:43:27occasionally you get deep pot holes hidden in shadows, it's very easy to go into them too fast.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Some fantastic country but it is massive.
0:43:46 > 0:43:53I've been reading about the art here for years, but to actually be here is something else.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59Today, we're going to finish our paintings, and where better
0:43:59 > 0:44:04than under the watchful eyes of more Wandjina spirits.
0:44:04 > 0:44:11These images drive home just how strong the Aboriginal values can be.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13They've been refreshed recently
0:44:13 > 0:44:16but Juju tells me the people who did it have all died,
0:44:16 > 0:44:20victims because they didn't hold the right stories.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Juju, tell me about the Wandjina paintings -
0:44:24 > 0:44:27they're a little bit different to the others?
0:44:27 > 0:44:33The Wandjina is a dream time for the wet season, the old people always
0:44:33 > 0:44:38call out to the spirit to bring rain,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41when there's no food around for the animals.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45But these Wandjinas, why don't they have mouths?
0:44:45 > 0:44:49Cos the old woman and the old man said,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53if they do draw a mouth on the face,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56like if, when it's rain, it will never stop flooding.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59- Cos they're cloud spirits, aren't they?- Yes.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01So if they had mouths then
0:45:01 > 0:45:04- it would rain and everywhere will be flooded forever?- Yes.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Just as well they don't have mouths.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07No.
0:45:10 > 0:45:16Once more, Juju reminds me how recently Aboriginals lived the life of the bush.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19My grandfather walked
0:45:19 > 0:45:22through this place when he was a young bloke,
0:45:22 > 0:45:23young man.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25In his twenty year.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30He used to walk out here - how long did that take him?
0:45:30 > 0:45:33It'd take him about eight months to get here.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36And why did he walk here?
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Came here to maintain the story
0:45:38 > 0:45:42and the lifestyle of the animals that are round here.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45So he, he was on walkabout?
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- Yes.- What does "walkabout" mean?
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Walkabout, it's like telling their boss they've gone bush,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55and they doesn't know what they going out for.
0:45:55 > 0:46:00- These were important meetings to do with ceremonies?- Yep.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03'It's not just the canvas that's getting painted.'
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Ray, black!
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Oh, I've got black everywhere!
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Put on there, paint the top white, eh!
0:46:28 > 0:46:32A few more lines to represent water and my painting is finally finished.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38I was thinking of a crocodile I met once,
0:46:38 > 0:46:42and I wanted to keep him deep in the water, just stay there.
0:46:42 > 0:46:43THEY LAUGH
0:46:46 > 0:46:48So is it all right?
0:46:48 > 0:46:51It looks excellent, mate, very, very good.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Brilliant. Thank you!
0:47:05 > 0:47:09But it's a time-consuming business, this painting, and our camp awaits.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12With a chance to meet the neighbours.
0:47:13 > 0:47:19There's one golden rule out here and that is never put your hands or your fingers into places that you can't
0:47:19 > 0:47:23see into and I can show you why over here, have a look at this.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26See that spider in there?
0:47:38 > 0:47:42This campsite has an established fire site here on this bare rock.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45That helps prevent bushfires and I'm gonna use it as well
0:47:45 > 0:47:49but I thought it'd be fun to suspend the billycan using a tripod,
0:47:49 > 0:47:51in a kind of Australian way.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54The Australian outback is a big place and people living
0:47:54 > 0:47:55out on the cattle stations
0:47:55 > 0:47:59or travelling through this country had to be very resourceful.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03One of the materials they made very good use of were old tin cans,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07and bits of wire, and I'm gonna show you a traditional Australian way
0:48:07 > 0:48:10to suspend a pot that's quite neat.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna wire -
0:48:14 > 0:48:19fit a wire on the top of this hooked stick, that's gonna be the hook to hold the billycan.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Just give that a couple of twists.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Like that.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32What I'm gonna do now, is I'm gonna make a hole in the top of this tin can.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41That'll do just fine.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45What I'm gonna do there is gonna pass this piece of wire...
0:48:45 > 0:48:46..up through there.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Like that.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53And attach it to this stick.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01So there we go, that holds the peg there,
0:49:01 > 0:49:05I can adjust this length in a moment to make it just right.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Now.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Now I've got three sticks that I've already cut,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14these are the legs of my tripod.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17Put them together like that
0:49:17 > 0:49:22and you just pop the tin can over the top and now all I have to do
0:49:22 > 0:49:26is adjust the length on that hook to where I want it to be.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33Like that.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Then, the billy can be suspended.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It's been a really interesting day.
0:49:49 > 0:49:55To be painting at that rock art site with Juju, that was very special.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59It's a very peaceful place, it's only five minutes from the river,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02where there obviously are crocodiles at some times.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06And there's a lot of bush food in that area.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09So you can see why it would have made a good campsite,
0:50:09 > 0:50:11shelter, water, and food.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15And there we were under the overhang of a rock
0:50:15 > 0:50:19and underneath, it's painted like a crocodile
0:50:19 > 0:50:23and later on, I stood back and I looked at the rock,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27and the rock itself looked just like the head of a saltwater crocodile.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Fascinating.
0:50:29 > 0:50:35'No wonder Juju believes so strongly in the presence of living things in the landscape.'
0:50:36 > 0:50:41There's a lot that Juju is unprepared or unwilling to
0:50:41 > 0:50:46allow us to record about her traditions and her beliefs.
0:50:46 > 0:50:52Even though I've worked with Aboriginal people for many years, I still struggle to really
0:50:52 > 0:50:56understand the way they see the world, it's so multi-dimensional.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01Today, their ancestors, their ancestral beings
0:51:01 > 0:51:03that they say created the world,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07they all seem to still exist in a real, a real and present sense,
0:51:07 > 0:51:12it's really fascinating and it's something I wish I understood better.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Tomorrow, the art will also be a history lesson -
0:51:20 > 0:51:24a lesson that is becoming increasingly controversial.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32These are the pictures I know best, the ones I've pored over at home.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36I can hardly believe I can touch them if I wanted to.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39This is a staggeringly beautiful painting.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42This style of art is called Bradshaw Art,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46after one of the first Westerners to encounter it
0:51:46 > 0:51:51and people have said that these pictures look very un-Aboriginal,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53and they looked at the costumes
0:51:53 > 0:51:58that the figures are wearing and have suggested that they even look African.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02You can see where they get the idea from and there is a real
0:52:02 > 0:52:04African quality to these paintings.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07But regardless of the origin of the people who made them,
0:52:07 > 0:52:09what we do know is that they're very old,
0:52:09 > 0:52:16and they may represent the art work of the earliest people here in Australia.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18These are national treasures.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21To leave them so open is staggering.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25It's like leaving the Mona Lisa in the middle of the street.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27But maybe that's part of the appeal of the art here.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32For me looking at them, though, the thing that I really like
0:52:32 > 0:52:34is the energy in this painting,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37it's full of movement, it's three dimensional,
0:52:37 > 0:52:41even the face up here, you can see delicate outlines in the face,
0:52:41 > 0:52:45it's not just bits of red ochre slapped onto the rock face,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48there's real energy, there's real attention to detail.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50They're very moving.
0:52:50 > 0:52:56It's like the ghostly images cast by a campfire onto the rock.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01The Bradshaw may be the art I know best,
0:53:01 > 0:53:02but it's not the treasure
0:53:02 > 0:53:05I've travelled halfway round the world to uncover.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09That's hidden away in a very remote place.
0:53:09 > 0:53:16It's art that holds clues from the time this land was called New Holland, from before Dampier
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and perhaps before anyone lived here
0:53:18 > 0:53:20and there's only one way I'm going to get there.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Dotted around the Kimberleys are sites of so-called "boat art".
0:53:37 > 0:53:41Images of canoes that may have brought early travellers,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45sailing ships and other records of an unknowable past.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56HELICOPTER PROPELLERS ECHO
0:54:24 > 0:54:26There are caves on this remote beach -
0:54:26 > 0:54:30they're a bit of a squeeze to get inside but once you come inside,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33you feel like this is a shelter, it's an even temperature.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38It's very, very comfortable in here, it's even quite nicely lit.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42On the floor there are bits of stone that show the signs that they've
0:54:42 > 0:54:47been worked by people and on the walls there are even imprints of hands.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51So we know that this was a shelter site, but really tantalising
0:54:51 > 0:54:55here in the Kimberleys, you find depictions of boats.
0:54:55 > 0:55:01That's really significant cos it's evidence for people coming and going to this continent.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04Take a look at this one. Is this a dugout canoe?
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Are these marks here on the hull axe cut marks,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10and look there are three people in there, they're all smoking pipes.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16It's fascinating - are these traders coming down? It's difficult to know.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19This is amazing, look - doesn't that look like a Dutch woman?
0:55:19 > 0:55:23In an 18th century dress with... with a bonnet on?
0:55:23 > 0:55:27For centuries, there have been legends of Dutch people
0:55:27 > 0:55:30arriving in the continent and being lost
0:55:30 > 0:55:34in the Australian outback and there were certainly Dutch sailors
0:55:34 > 0:55:36shipwrecked on this coastline.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41And round the corner, there are even more tantalising clues to past visitors.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51If you look here, there are more canoes depicted, big ones,
0:55:51 > 0:55:53small ones, and then look at this,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56it's a ship with sails.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59Could that have been Dampier, visiting this coast,
0:55:59 > 0:56:01who knows?
0:56:01 > 0:56:05But even more tantalising, much older, and very faint,
0:56:05 > 0:56:07if you look over here to the right of it,
0:56:07 > 0:56:12there is just the faintest outline of one of the reed boats.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Maybe that depicts the first arrivals here in Australia,
0:56:15 > 0:56:16we'll never know.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24These caves have silted up with sand.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28There's a lot of art work at ground level in them but up here in these
0:56:28 > 0:56:33little nooks and crannies, you've got these alcoves and shelves.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37There are bits of worked stone left by the original inhabitants.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41Look at that piece of stone - that's actually been worked!
0:56:41 > 0:56:44You can see, see there it's been worked by people.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48Wonderful to see archaeology in such a good state of preservation.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Fantastic.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04Everywhere I look now I'm starting to see paintings, my eyes are accustomed now to the...
0:57:04 > 0:57:07To see the shape and the form, and I've come in here looking
0:57:07 > 0:57:10for boats and we've found 18th or earlier century galleons,
0:57:10 > 0:57:13dug out canoes and just the vaguest outline
0:57:13 > 0:57:17of what might have been a reed boat and then look, I looked up here.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22Look at this, a massive great reed boat!
0:57:22 > 0:57:26That is incredible and it looks like it's been painted more than once.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29It's been painted and refreshed,
0:57:29 > 0:57:35the darker line underneath that - normally the darker line's often much, much older.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37That's fantastic, it's like treasure hunting.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43And that's exactly what I feel I've been doing.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Digging up treasures to take home with me.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49Not in a physical sense, but very real nonetheless.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53They say you should travel with an open mind,
0:57:53 > 0:57:56take only memories and leave only footprints.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00It's a way of travelling "walkabout" encourages by its very name
0:58:00 > 0:58:02and I've left plenty of footprints
0:58:02 > 0:58:08but gathered memories that will stay stamped in my mind forever.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11It's only when you actually get close to rock art that you...
0:58:11 > 0:58:17That you can really appreciate it, you can feel the energy and sense the location.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Almost the location is as important as the art.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23I find it hard to believe that back in the so-called
0:58:23 > 0:58:25civilised corners of the world,
0:58:25 > 0:58:29there are art critics who say that rock art isn't art at all.
0:58:29 > 0:58:30What do they know?
0:58:30 > 0:58:34From my point of view, this is as dramatic and as exciting
0:58:34 > 0:58:37as any of the grandmasters' works that I've ever gazed upon.
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0:58:53 > 0:58:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk