All language subtitles for Travel.Quest.With.Bill.Ball.S02E07.CONVERT.1080p.HDTV.H264-CBFM

BILL: Australia is a huge country,
about the size of the continental US,

yet it has only 28 million people.

Like the US, Australia has a huge
number of different ecosystems

with its own unique wildlife.

The far north is a warm,
tropical environment,

while the south is more temperate
with, of all things, penguins.

The contrast is incredible

and gives us an insight

into the diversity of wildlife

on this very strange
and special continent.

Today, my quest is to visit
the national parks

around the northern city of Darwin

to see the biggest crocodiles
in the world,

and then venture south
to the metropolis of Melbourne

to find the smallest penguins.

My quest is literally hunting
for the biggest and smallest

Australia has to offer.

So join me as I go top to bottom
in the land Down Under.

Since I was young,

I had an intense desire
to discover the world around me.

That hasn't changed.

Just the level of adventure.

Now every journey has a purpose,

and each time I venture out
to explore new destinations

around the globe,

I am following my travel quest.

Australia is a huge island,

the biggest in the world,

that extends from the tropics
to subantarctic regions.

It is the home to the biggest
crocodiles in the world

and the smallest penguins.

I went to this fun-loving,
outdoorsy country

to see these two amazing animals -

the giant saltwater crocodiles
of the north

and the tiny blue penguins
of the south.

I began by flying to the most
northern big city in Australia,

Darwin.

Now, big is a relative term
for this continental country.

Darwin's population
is around 30,000 in the city

and 136,000 in the metropolis.

The giant salties,
as the locals call them,

are found north of the city,

with some of the biggest
in Kakadu National Park.

Now, slow up there.

Before we shoot up
to the northern parks,

let's take a breath.

The city of Darwin
is worth a visit as well.

The city was named for the famous
British scientist

by the crew of his ship, the Beagle,

when it landed here without him.

The city has a variety of attractions

that can get you mentally prepared
for the parks.

Darwin has a museum that explains
the Aboriginal people

that still inhabit the area.

In fact, they are the caretakers
of Kakadu.

For thousands of years they have been
a part of this wilderness,

so no one is better connected
to the land than they are.

Darwen has seen its share
of disasters.

During World War II,

the Japanese in 1942

dropped more bombs on Darwin
than on Pearl Harbour.

Over 250 people were killed.

Then, in 1974,
Cyclone Tracy hit on Christmas Eve,

destroying 80% of the homes
and killing 60.

Up until recently,

Darwin never built over four storeys
for fear of cyclones.

There is one attraction in Darwin

that would really prepare me
for Kakadu and its legendary beasts,

the Crocosaurus.

Founded in 2009,

this is a tourist attraction

dedicated to teaching people about
the local ecosystem and its wildlife.

But, of course, its biggest focus
is on the top predator,

the saltwater crocodile.

The staff greets my companions and I
with some friends of their own.

The frilled lizard,

one of the unique reptiles found
in this area, is a first for me.

They are usually found
high in the trees,

only coming to the ground to mate.

The frill is a special skin flap

that they use in attracting the
opposite sex and when threatened.

As interesting as the creatures
they brought out for us to see,

there was one above the others
that I had come for - the salty.

A youngster, bred in captivity,
was brought out to touch

so we could get an idea
of the smoothness of their underbelly

and the toughness of their back.

Crocs have incredibly powerful jaws
when it comes to closing,

but have very weak muscles
for opening their mouth.

That was why a bit of tape
could safely keep his mouth shut

and all of our fingers in place.

Touching was nice,
but I wanted to hold him.

They are still quite strong
at this young age.

That whole cage of death thing
can't be that big of a deal.

I don't think this guy could do
too much damage to me.

(WHOOPING, EXCLAMATIONS)

WOMAN: He didn't like it.

Hold him down.

OK. He got me
from the end I had not feared.

It's not a good day
unless you get pooed on.

I know.

I have a whole list of animals
that's pooped on me.

It's a kind of a bucket list
of, you know...

Is this your first croc poo?

It's the first saltwater croc, yeah.

I had an American crocodile
poop on me,

so I'm collecting crocodile species.

Fair enough.

Crocosaurus has a large pool
where juveniles they breed are kept.

Visitors are allowed to feed them
using a fishing pole and string.

These little guys
are incredibly swift,

but they have to be to avoid
predation and to catch the fish,

frogs and other small critters
that make up their diet.

Feeding these baby crocs was fun

and gave me an insight
into how fast these guys really are.

But I wanted more.

I needed to upsize this just a bit.

It was now time
to take on the big boys.

I was given the privilege of feeding
one of their biggest crocs,

and, boy, was I excited!

These are opportunistic hunters
in the wild,

eating anything they can catch,
including each other.

In captivity,
chicken is a big part of their diet.

So, in this case,

I was fishing for a salty
with a whole chicken as bait.

There was now only one challenge
left -

to get into the water
with one of them.

Now, I'm not foolish enough
to just jump in.

I needed some assurance

that I would come out with
all my fingers, toes, arms, legs...

Well, you get my drift.

Crocosaurus has a plan.

I would go into an acrylic cage

and swim with the croc
in relative safety.

That all sounded good

until they told me what they called
the see-through protection -

the Cage of Death.

Now, it didn't seem as much fun
in games as now serious business,

so I had to sign an indemnity form.

So to protect myself,
I brought my friend Brian with me.

Hey, he was younger, more tender.

The croc might not be
a two-people hungry guy.

We climbed in and got settled
before they released the beast,

and it was a monster, over 20ft long.

This apex predator was intimidating.

At first,
it just swam around the tank...

..and then it spotted us.

It came straight at me!

OK, maybe I'm taking this
a bit personal,

but its jaws were bigger
than our acrylic shield.

The cage was sealed,
so there was no way out for us.

Suddenly I realised
that we were the bait

and possibly this giant salty's
next meal.

Luckily, the cage was croc proof,

or he just wasn't into me.

I hope it wasn't that he wasn't
thinking that I was tasty enough,

because I bet I am.

OK, that's kind of weird.

I'm getting insecure
about not being eaten.

Anyway, Crocosaurus
had given a good perspective

on these mighty reptiles,

so it was time to head north
and meet them in the wild.

(WOMAN LAUGHS)

The drive from Darwin is about
three hours over good highway.

But you can take your time

because there are a number of other
smaller reserves along the way

that are worth a stop,

especially for birders.

One is Fogg Dam
and the wetlands around it.

This is a bird lover's paradise

with several life listers
very close to the road.

There are herons, egrets,
lapwings, jabiru storks,

all literally
within one frame of the camera.

I kept a watch out for the salties
even in this park.

They can be anywhere
there is brackish water,

and the sign indicates
this is their territory.

We reached the Kakadu area
late afternoon and settled in.

I'm here for the saltwater crocodiles

and the best time to see them
is in the morning

when they are swimming in the sun
to warm up from the cooler night.

We join the morning boat cruise

and the scenery
immediately blew me away.

The floating flowers,
lotus and lilies, were unbelievable.

Suddenly I had forgotten
the main reason I had come to Kakadu.

There are times when something
pleasantly surprises you

and then there are times

when you witness a wonder
you could never have expected.

This was one of those times.

The river was a magnet for birds
as well.

Several aquatic species,
egrets, ducks and herons,

shared the waterways
with birds of prey.

This nature cruise was certainly
living up to its name,

but still no salties.

I started to wonder if seeing a croc
was going to be more of a task

than I was led to believe.

The boat captain told me
that I had nothing to worry about.

They always saw crocodiles
in this stretch of the river.

I hadn't given up.

One of my safari rules
is never do that.

You don't know what may lurk
around the next corner.

Following my own rules
pays off again,

because, just ahead, I can see
what looks like a log with a tail.

And everyone knows
logs don't have tails.

These are the largest
of all living reptiles,

with links that exceed 20 feet

and they weigh over a ton.

Their distribution is actually
the largest of any of the crocs,

ranging from India

to northern Australia,

though they can be found,

as their name implies,

even in the saltwater

of the Indian Ocean.

Taking into account their size,

wide distribution
and aggressive nature,

they are not to be messed with.

They eat other apex predators
like sharks and mammals,

and more importantly, they are
the most dangerous crocs to people.

These monsters of the estuaries
have remained largely unchanged

for 98 million years.

Though widely distributed
in many areas,

their numbers are greatly reduced

and are now found
in only a few protected parks.

The one place they are doing well
and are commonly seen

is here, in northern Australia.

In Australia
there are nearly 20,000 individuals,

which means
Aussies have to be really careful

when they swim in the far north.

These are beautiful creatures

that have survived
for millions of years

but are quite vulnerable
to poaching by man.

The Australian population
dropped by 95% by the early 1970s.

On the other side of the equation,

the number of people killed
in Australia by the crocs

over the last 40 years

shocked me.

Over the last 40 years,

over 100 people in Australia
were killed by salties.

This yearly total
has dropped significantly.

Now it's about one a year

since Australian authorities
post warnings

at all waterways where there
is a risk of a crocodile encounter.

In the rest of its range,

the number of fatalities
are most assuredly higher.

Long and short of it,

don't take chances
in any brackish waters

where these giant reptiles live.

I was feeling quite satisfied
with my northern adventure,

having done pretty much everything
I could imagine

with the saltwater crocodile.

Quest one - done.

I was ready to head back
to civilisation

until I heard a park ranger mention a
natural phenomenon in a nearby park.

From what he said,
this was quite something.

So we drove the 3.5 hours
to Litchfield National Park.

Litchfield, like Kakadu,

is quite scenic
with unbelievable rock formations

and tons of gorgeous waterfalls.

When visiting a world-class park
like this one,

don't miss anything

just because you want to see one
particular animal or natural wonder.

It's all about the whole experience.

Now, having said that, I needed
to see this natural phenomenon

I had heard about -

magnetic termites.

Yeah, you heard me right.

Magnetic termites.

The termites themselves
aren't magnetic,

but they build their mounds
in a north-south orientation.

When I heard about this,

I had half-guessed some,
or maybe many of them, would do it.

But lo and behold, they all do.

One of the amazing things

about going to some of the most
remote places on earth

is that you get to see things
that you never dreamed of

and you could see nowhere else.

One of those
are the magnetic termites.

Yeah, I know,
you're thinking magnetic termites -

what could that be?

In this case, it's termites
that literally build their hives

facing north and south.

They do it to control the heat
and humidity.

And what they do is by going
north and south during the morning,

the east sun hits them
and warms them up.

During the hottest part of the day,
when the sun is above,

it's barely touching them
and they don't get the heat.

And then at night time, as
the temperature begins to drop again,

the west sun hits the other side.

It's an amazing piece of architecture

that only insects that are
less than a fraction of an inch

could come up with.

Litchfield and its termite wonders
didn't end there

with the magnetic termites.

There was yet another wonder -

Cathedral Mound.

There are several species of
termites, about 3,100 in the world.

And this was just another.

These six-legged critters
build massive mounds.

Cathedral Mound
is the largest in Australia

and one of the largest
in the world.

It towers over 18ft high
and contains millions of termites.

Northern Australia proved
to be more diverse and exciting

than I ever could have imagined,

but I came to Australia
to see two size-challenged animals -

the largest croc -
check that off the list -

and the world's smallest penguin.

It's a cross-continent flight
from Darwin to Melbourne

and the ecosystem changes
from tropics to temperate.

Melbourne can see temperatures
range from 27 in the winter

to 87 degrees Fahrenheit
in the summer.

But it's the cool waters
around Antarctica

that create the perfect conditions
for the fairy, or blue, penguins.

Melbourne is a modern metropolis
that feels like a small town.

There is a Little Italy -

Melbourne
has a huge Italian population -

a Chinatown
and many other ethnic areas

that are great tourist destinations.

It even has its own UNESCO site
in the Exhibition Building

built for the 1880
International Exhibition.

Melbourne is one of my favourite
destinations

for two nearby attractions.

One, of course, is the aim
of my trip, the tiny blue penguins,

but the other is one of the best zoos
I have ever visited,

Healesville Sanctuary.

Just before we arrive at Healesville

there is a special area
of the adjacent parkland

where people can feed wild lorikeets,

colourful members
of the parrot family.

I am hesitant to feed wildlife,

but the birds only eat here,
according to the locals,

a small portion of their diet

and they return to the wild
for the rest.

It is similar to a bird feeder,

just a feeder with human hands.

Along with the colourful lorikeets,

mynahs and other birds
come in for the handout.

From there it is only a short drive
to the sanctuary,

a treasure of Australian wildlife.

Healesville is part
of the Melbourne Zoo,

but it is located in the wild forests
outside of town.

The sanctuary features only
Australian animals in a park setting

that actually has large numbers
of wild creatures

living within its grounds.

It is, though, a full-fledged zoo
with state-of-the-art enclosures,

medical facilities
and highly trained staff.

They breed endangered species,

treat and rehabilitate wildlife

and study behaviour
to help in wild protection

for the many species facing threats
from a modern Australia.

This is also a chance for staff
to educate the public

on their wild critters

and for animal-philes
to get a closer look

at some species that would be
impossible to see otherwise.

Here you can see what has become one
of the rarest animals in Australia,

the Tasmanian devil.

Restricted to the island of Tasmania,

these apex predators
face many challenges from man,

including hunting
and habitat destruction.

Those now seem almost secondary
to the current threat -

a facial cancer
that almost always leads to death.

The disease has spread
through the devil population

at a remarkable pace,

so captive breeding
of unaffected animals

is the only way to save the species
until a cure or vaccine can be found.

One thing you will learn
at Healesville

is that most of Australia's
diverse animals are marsupials.

Marsupials are mammals
whose babies mature

not inside the mother,
like cats, dogs and us humans,

called placental mammals,

but rather inside a pouch.

An immature young is born
and immediately climbs into the pouch

and grows up there.

Koalas, wombats, kangaroos
and the Tasmanian devils

are all marsupials.

In the US, we have only one
marsupial, and that is the opossum.

These are more primitive mammals

and not only survived

but dominated Australia

since Australia broke away from the
massive landform called Gondwanaland.

This was a time when most
of our present continents

were all together
in one large land mass.

As they separated,
animals also were isolated.

Placental mammals evolved
on the other continents of the world,

but they did not in Australia,

so the wildlife here is unlike
animals anywhere else on earth.

And one of those animals that are
unlike anywhere else in the world

isn't a marsupial or even a mammal.

It's a bird -

the fairy, or blue, penguin.

It wasn't a far drive
from Healesville to Phillip Island

and the beach where these
diminutive, flightless birds

come ashore every night.

There were originally 10 colonies
on the island,

but with development

and human interference,

only this one colony survives.

And one of the biggest threats
to their existence is oil spills.

I was invited behind the scenes

to see how they treat
these vulnerable creatures
in that catastrophe,

and what I learned would shock me.

Sonya Richardson
of the Penguin Sanctuary

explained that oil
is toxic to the birds

since they continually preen
to aerate their feathers

and insulate them from the cold sea.

They end up ingesting the oil
and dying.

The staff has to move fast
when there's an oil spill

and clean the birds
with dish detergent.

Ordinary dish detergent!

Having seen the downside
to the people/penguin interactions,

it was time to see the better side -

the nightly controlled viewing
of the penguins coming ashore.

Each night, year round,

the penguin parade, as they call it,
happens.

How they train the penguins
to play instruments and pull floats,

I'll never know.

But I was ready for a show.

We were given special permission
to film as long as we use no lights.

This would present a challenge,

but to help educate the world on the
plight of these adorable penguins,

it would be worth it.

As the sun set, the parade began.

The penguins tend to come ashore
in small groups, rarely individually.

This is probably a security measure
against predators,

though they are now
well protected here.

There are 17 or 18 species
of penguins in the world,

depending on the scientist
you talk to.

I have had the privilege of observing

chinstrap and gentoo penguins
in Antarctica

and the African, or jackass, penguins
in South Africa.

But these tiny guys were special.

As they passed you
on the way to their nests,

well, to simply put it,

it was magical.

The Australian authorities, in order
to preserve this last colony,

bought 189 homes
along this beach area.

That shows a great commitment

the Aussies have made
towards conservation.

These blue penguins
spend their day at sea

feeding on small fish and squid.

They return back to their nest site
and mate.

Penguins do not return every day,
so the count each night varies.

This night, the rangers recorded
1,480 coming ashore.

That's a middling count.

I could have watched them
coming ashore all night,

but within an hour or so
of the first to arrive,

virtually all the others
have crossed the beach.

This is one of the wildlife
spectacles

that I won't easily forget.

Australia is an amazing place
with incredible creatures,

like the two I came to see -

the giant estuarine,
or saltwater, crocodile,

and the tiny blue penguin.

Australia's commitment
to all things wild

has made this visit an eye opener.

It also gives me an excuse
to come back

and see other creatures
found down under.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2023