Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Melbourne is Australia's sporting center.

Home of the largest stadium

in the Southern Hemisphere:

The Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The M.C.G. holds over 100,000 people.

And every year, on the day after Christmas,

one of the city's greatest traditions takes place here.

The Boxing Day Test.

An annual cricket match

named after the holiday on which it's held.

Today, Australia is up against Pakistan.

To secure victory,

the teams must outscore each other

in a fierce clash of bat-and-ball.

Cricket has been played on this field

for over 170 years,

helping it become the country's national sport.

And the team spirit and fair play shown here

have helped forge modern Australia's identity.

COMMENTATOR: In his first over on Boxing Day, a capital...

[distant cheering]

NARRATOR: Cricket is part of the incredible heritage

of Australia's Far South,

from dazzling cultural palaces,

to isolated island prisons

and infamous outlaws

roaming bushland frontiers.

This remote part of the world has its own unique identity

with ancient forests filled with primordial life.

And stormy oceans

that hold hidden dangers

and incredible treasures.

This is Australia's Far South.

♪ ♪

Melbourne's crowded skyline

overlooks one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

But from above, you can see where its story began.

Just half a mile wide,

this is the city's very first block of streets.

Laid out in 1837,

when the population was just a few thousand.

Today, this is the largest city in Australia,

home to over five million people.

Melbourne sits on the coast of the state of Victoria,

the southernmost city on the Australian mainland.

On traditional lands

belonging to the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people

of the Kulin nation, who call it Naarm.

Renowned as Australia's cultural capital,

it's a city where electrifying art

and spectacular architecture is found at every turn.

Even at the train station.

Flinders Street station

is one of the city's most loved landmarks.

Completed in 1910 using four million bricks,

as well as stucco and grey granite,

it's an exceptional example of Edwardian Baroque architecture.

In the 1920s,

this was the busiest station in the world.

And its main entrance has become

Melbourne's favorite meeting place.

Giving rise to the popular local saying:

"Meet me under the Clocks."

[tram bell ringing]

And trains aren't the only way locals like to get around.

A handful of streetcars, known as trams,

first took to these streets over a century ago.

Today, Melbourne has

the biggest tram network in the world.

And even here, the city's artistic flair is on show.

Style that also shines through

at the Royal Exhibition Building.

Built for an occasion that would prove

this far-flung southern settlement

was now a global city of culture:

The 1880 World Exhibition,

Over a million visitors came to see displays

from 33 different nations.

And to create a fitting setting for this grand event,

the surrounding land was transformed

into spectacular gardens.

In 1901, Australia's six colonies

united to create a new nation.

And a ceremony was held here

to open the country's first parliament.

12,000 guests filled this hall.

And above them, from the 215-foot-high dome,

the Australian flag was flown for the first time.

Today, the Royal Exhibition Building

remains Melbourne's most iconic venue.

And in 2004, its beauty and unique history

saw it become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[choir music playing]

Nearby, another local institution

expresses Melbourne's love affair with culture

The State Library of Victoria opened in 1856,

conceived as the "people's university,"

a place anyone could educate themselves, free of charge.

At its heart, is the La Trobe Reading Room

with a domed design

inspired by Washington's Library of Congress.

Standing six stories high,

it contains many of the library's two million books.

This was one of the first free public libraries in the world

and today over 700 people still visit every hour.

But some of Melbourne's greatest cultural wonders

aren't found indoors.

Just off the city center's busy streets

is one of the most famous street art galleries

in the world: Hosier Lane.

Since the 1990s,

artists have used these walls as a concrete canvas.

Transforming an unremarkable alleyway

into a constantly evolving urban artwork.

From graffiti to stencil pieces

and photo realistic murals, anything goes.

And this scene has spilled out into the rest of the city too.

In the southern suburb of Frankston,

a street art festival is underway.

Over the next six days,

11 artists will bring blank walls across the suburb to life,

in an explosion of colors and styles.

They've come from countries all over the world,

including the US, the Netherlands and Peru.

Their work is a reminder that in Melbourne,

the most exciting art

isn't always hanging on a gallery wall.

It's not just international artists

who are drawn to Melbourne.

Throughout history, migrants have found a home here too.

New Australians who've added another layer

to the city's rich cultural mix.

Built from brick and clay tiles,

the Taoist Heavenly Queen Temple

is modelled on Beijing's Forbidden City.

Overlooking the suburb of Footscray,

hundreds of people visit every week,

to worship or simply take in the sights.

Centre stage is a 50-foot-tall statue

of the Heavenly Queen: Mazu,

the protector of sea travelers.

Built by migrants as thanks

for their safe arrival in a new land.

In Melbourne's Docklands, another ancient tradition

has found a new home.

This was once a bustling 19th century port,

now waterfront flats and offices

have replaced busy wharves.

It's also the training ground

for some of the world's most competitive dragon boat teams.

Dragon Boat racing started over 2,000 years ago in China,

as part of a religious ritual to encourage rain.

Each boat represents a dragon,

with the paddles its claws

and the drum its beating heart.

Getting these moving parts to work in harmony

[air horn blaring]

is the key to crossing the finish line first.

Its newfound popularity here,

has made it one of Australia's fastest growing water sports.

One embraced by locals of all backgrounds.

A couple of miles north, another race is held

that brings Australia to a standstill.

The Melbourne Cup has been held

at Flemington Racecourse since 1861.

No other major horse race in the world

takes place this far south.

But today, the best jockeys and horses on the planet

are here to compete.

It's known as "the race that stops the nation,"

because Australians everywhere

drop what they're doing to watch.

It's such a big deal

that Race Day is a public holiday.

NARRATOR: At 3:00 p.m., the starter releases

the 24 competing horses from the stalls.

COMMENTATOR: And they're racing,

and Soulcombe stood there again...

NARRATOR: Ahead lies a 2-mile course

and a purse of over 8 million Australian dollars to be won.

COMMENTATOR: And Sheraz the bolter,

it's Without A Fight, a hundred meters to go!

Two or three lengths in front...

NARRATOR: The spectacle stunned American writer Mark Twain

when he attended in 1895.

"Nowhere in the world," he said,

"have I encountered a festival of people

that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation."

COMMENTATOR: Coming away. From Sheraz and also Soulcombe...

Without A Fight, Mark Zahra,

a Melbourne Cup champion!

Wins it by two lengths...

[crowd cheering]

[cheering echoing]

NARRATOR: In the late 19th century,

events in Victoria's remote interior

also transfixed Australians.

As a notorious outlaw went on a crime spree

that made him the country's most wanted man.

[water rushing]

Beyond Melbourne,

running along the north of Victoria

flows the Murray River.

Spanning three states and stretching over 1,500 miles,

it's one of longest navigable rivers in the world.

In 1830, the British explorer Charles Sturt

traced its course,

helping it become a route

that opened up Victoria's isolated interior

to European settlement.

But it has a history that goes back much further.

The Murray River and its tributaries

flow through the lands of more than 40 Aboriginal nations.

With a spiritual connection to these waters

that goes back over 40,000 years.

In Victoria's North-West,

the First People of the Millewa Mallee

know the river as Millewa,

meaning one, "big water."

Their country, on the river's southern banks,

contains the remote Murray-Sunset National Park.

It's the largest park in Victoria

and a team of Indigenous River Rangers

manage the wetlands here.

Today they're checking on Lindsay Island,

part of a floodplain brimming with life.

Using sonar equipment to map the underwater habitat

and monitor native freshwater fish.

Over 200 different bird species are also found here,

as well as a rich landscape of native plants.

In recent years, the seasonal floods

that nourish this ecosystem have become increasingly rare.

Overuse of water in agriculture as well as climate change,

have upset the area's delicate natural balance.

But the First People of the Millewa Mallee

have vital lessons to share

about living in harmony with the river

and creating a more sustainable future.

[birds chirping]

In the mid-19th century, as Europeans settlers

colonized aboriginal lands along the river,

it turned into a busy highway.

Inspired by their use

on the Mississippi River in the United States,

a fleet of over 100 paddle steamers sailed these waters.

All proudly flying the Murray River flag.

First hoisted in 1853,

the dark blue stripes represent the Murray's main tributaries

The paddle steamers took supplies

to remote farming stations

and brought back wool and wheat

destined for export overseas.

This trade route's biggest port was Echuca,

with a wharf over 1000 yards long

where dozens of boats could dock.

But as Victoria's road and railway network expanded

this river trade died off.

Today, 12 paddle steamers still ply their trade here,

offering sightseeing cruises

and the chance to step back in time.

[birds chirping]

As 19th century settlers pushed into other remote areas,

like the rugged high-country of North-East Victoria,

notorious outlaws called bushrangers hit the headlines.

They operated in gangs,

roaming this challenging terrain undetected by police,

plotting bank raids and hold ups.

This lookout was the camp of one of these criminal gangs,

but this area's most notorious bushranger

would become an Australian legend: Ned Kelly.

His house once stood on this land on the outskirts of Greta,

a struggling farming community.

To some, a life of crime offered an escape from poverty.

By his teens Ned Kelly already had a police record.

Wanted for horse theft,

Kelly and his gang fled to this forest 20 miles away.

They ran into a police search party, sparking a shoot-out.

[gunshots firing]

It left three officers dead

and made Ned Kelly the most wanted man in Australia.

With the help of sympathizers

who saw them as champions of the working-class,

the gang evaded capture for two years.

Then, in 1880, they were cornered here,

in the town of Glenrowan.

In the firefight that followed,

the Kelly gang confronted police,

wearing homemade suits of armor

weighing over 90 pounds each.

[gunshots firing]

Badly wounded, Kelly was arrested and taken to Melbourne.

There, he was put on trial and hanged.

In 2013, Kelly's remains were returned to Greta

where he was finally laid to rest alongside his family.

Ned Kelly remains a divisive figure in Australian history.

To some, a cold-blooded killer,

to others, a folk hero who stood up for the poor.

[bird squawking]

In the South-West of Victoria

there's another dangerous frontier.

A wild coastline

where hundreds of ships met a tragic end.

On the edge of the Indian Ocean,

in Victoria's South-West,

people have waged a constant battle to master the elements.

It has over 230 miles of rugged coastline,

exposed to powerful ocean swells from the Bass Strait

and covered by dense, rocky bushland.

For a long time, it was only accessible by sea

or over rough dirt tracks.

And nature's raw power

is carved into the landscape here.

Rising out of the ocean,

in the Port Campbell National Park,

are the Twelve Apostles.

A series of limestone stacks up to 145 feet high.

20 million years ago,

they were part of the mainland.

But battered by fierce winds and the turbulent ocean,

the soft limestone eroded away

to form these dramatic pillars.

♪ ♪

And the same forces that created them,

will eventually destroy them too.

Because of the relentless weathering process,

two giant pillars have collapsed

into the waves below in the last few years.

Today, only seven remain.

While they still can though,

over 2 million people flock here every year

to take in this awe-inspiring view.

Further out from the Twelve Apostles,

is a stormy stretch of ocean:

The entrance to the Bass Strait.

In the 19th century, navigating it

was a life-or-death challenge

for ships bound for Melbourne and Sydney.

Using primitive navigational instruments,

sailors had to aim for a gap between the coastline

and an island surrounded by dangerous reefs 50 miles away.

Plotting this treacherous route

was called "threading the eye of the needle."

Antarctic gales and heavy fog could confuse sailors

as they tried to calculate their position

often with tragic results.

This became the Shipwreck Coast,

a graveyard for over 700 ships.

And here, rusting 80 feet below the surface since 1878,

lies Victoria's most notorious wreck.

Bound for Melbourne,

the Loch Ard had set sail from England three months earlier,

when a heavy fog descended

When it finally lifted,

these towering cliffs lay directly ahead.

The 1700-ton ship crashed into a reef

and sank in 15 minutes.

Clinging to wreckage,

the ship's apprentice drifted ashore,

where he heard cries for help.

He swam back out and rescued a young female passenger.

They were the only two survivors

of the 54 people on board.

Finally, in the 1910s,

a plan was devised to connect this wild coast

to the rest of Victoria:

The iconic Great Ocean Road.

Built by over 3,000 World War I veterans,

as a memorial for their fallen comrades.

It took 13 years to blast a path out of these cliffs

and create a 150-mile-long road,

which finally opened in 1932.

Today, another feat of endurance is taking place.

In the small seaside town of Lorne,

over 4,000 people are competing

in the Great Ocean Road Running Festival.

A grueling 27-mile marathon lies ahead.

The ocean backdrop is spectacular,

but today there's no time to enjoy the view.

Outside the town of Apollo Bay,

competitors are closing in on the finish line.

Months of hard training come down to this moment.

The winner finally takes a hard-earned victory.

In a time of just over two and a half hours.

♪ ♪

Beyond the Great Ocean Road,

was once a huge plain where people lived and hunted.

Then, around 12,000 years ago,

rising sea levels flooded the area

and left a series of islands 150 miles south of the mainland:

Tasmania.

Tasmania is Australia's southernmost

and least populated state.

The main island is home to most of its people.

But lying just above it, is tiny King Island.

Only 1,600 people live here,

but this sparse population is far from alone.

King Islanders share their remote home

with over 100,000 cattle.

Thanks to the stormy climate here,

they graze on lush grass flavored with sea-spray,

all year round.

Unique conditions that produce

some of Australia's greatest cheese.

But not all of the island's farmers

make their living off the land.

[dog barking]

Dave Bowling and his dog Rufus

always check the coastline on mornings after a big swell.

He farms the wild forests of bull kelp

that grow offshore here

and today could be a bumper crop.

In King Island's icy, unpolluted waters,

kelp can grow up to heights of 100 feet.

Usually anchored to the rocky seabed by a sucker,

a storm has broken off giant stems and washed them ashore.

Now the search is on for the best material.

This calcium and iron-rich algae

is in demand across the world.

But it must be dried out before it can be used.

Part of a refining process

that will eventually see it shipped overseas

for use in products like fertilizer,

medicine and even ice-cream.

King Island's unusual environment

has also produced an extraordinary sporting venue.

Framed by the spectacular Southern Ocean,

Cape Wickham has been voted

Australia's greatest golf course.

A round of golf here

feels like playing on the edge of the world.

Fierce onshore winds can send tee shots flying

and on stormy days,

waves even crash onto the greens.

It's one of the southernmost courses in the world.

That hasn't stopped golf lovers from all over,

making the pilgrimage to this far-flung outpost

to take part in an epic battle against the elements.

Flying south, to Tasmania's main island,

the landscape turns into ancient rainforest.

Remote terrain that once trapped serious criminals

on an island prison known as Hell on Earth.

[waves crashing]

Tasmania's main island sits in the path

of fierce Westerly winds,

the "Roaring 40s,"

that blow in off the Southern Ocean bringing heavy rains.

The mountainous West Coast gets the worst of this weather.

With six and a half feet of annual rainfall,

it's the wettest place in Australia.

But these conditions have created an incredible ecosystem:

A temperate rainforest teeming with life.

It contains plants and trees that once thrived on Gondwana,

the ancient mega continent

that existed 600 million years ago.

Thanks to Tasmania's isolation

they've survived to the present day.

Among them are giant Eucalyptus trees

that reach heights of over 300 feet.

And Huon Pines that can live for over 2,000 years.

[water rushing]

The untamed Franklin River

drains a vast section of this rainforest.

But in the 1970s,

work started on a hydro-electric dam.

Its construction would mean

destroying a 20-mile-long section of the river

and drowning the surrounding rainforest.

The project sparked the biggest environmental protest

in Australian history.

As grassroots campaigners took on the might of big business,

activists set up camp along the river

to stop work going ahead,

and over 1,000 people were arrested and sent to jail.

The fight to protect this wild river

raged for seven years.

Finally, in 1983,

a court ruling ordered plans for the dam to be abandoned,

ensuring that this river's incredible wonders survived.

Flying west, the river empties out

into Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast.

[seagulls squawking]

This vast 110 square mile body of water

is one of Australia's largest natural harbors.

When Europeans explored it in 1815,

they discovered its dangerously narrow entrance.

Less than 10 feet deep in places,

powerful currents rush in or out,

depending on rainfall, wind and even atmospheric pressure.

It's known as Hell's Gate.

But not because of these treacherous conditions.

It was given its name by the convicts

who sailed through here in the early 19th century

on their way to one of the most brutal prisons on Earth.

The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station

was built on Sarah Island in 1822.

At the time,

the British were transporting criminals to Australia

to ease overcrowding in their own jails.

75,000 were sent to Tasmania.

And this was its maximum-security prison.

Some of the only inmates that managed to break out,

starved in the wilderness and resorted to cannibalism.

[chains jingling]

In this building, malnourished prisoners

slept in cramped conditions.

They were flogged for minor offences,

and records show that over 6,000 lashes

were delivered here every year.

Inmates called it: Hell on Earth.

But eventually, the challenges of running

such a remote outpost saw it close down in 1833.

During the 12 years it operated,

over a thousand convicts endured

this cruel island prison.

As it turned out though,

the barren wilds that helped keep the prisoners captive,

contained hidden riches.

Only a few miles inland, is the West Coast Range.

500 million years ago,

a chain of volcanoes erupted here,

on an ancient ocean bed.

They left behind huge deposits of gold,

silver, tin, and copper,

that became bodies of ore buried in these hills.

In the late 19th century,

prospectors began to discover this mineral wealth.

Today, this abandoned pit is flooded with rainwater.

But its hypnotic turquoise color,

caused by high copper levels,

is a reminder of the past.

This is where the Mount Lyall Copper Mine

started operating in 1892.

It went on to extract billions of dollars' worth of copper

from the surrounding hills.

For over a century,

miners blasted the mountain away, layer by layer,

as they chased the copper ore further down.

And the natural world paid a heavy price.

The extraction process released acidic sulfur

that stripped away vegetation and left barren, eroding ground.

Today, as this scarred landscape slowly recovers,

thrill-seekers have turned it into a playground.

With the mining money that once supported the area gone,

the local mountain biking community

has raised funds to build

some of the wildest bike trails in the world.

Bringing people back here, this time,

to enjoy over 20 miles of dizzying climbs,

hair-raising descents

and the chance to become King of the Mountain.

Flying east, into the center of the island,

unspoiled nature takes over once again.

Nearly a quarter of Tasmania's main island is raw wilderness.

And one of its most famous sights

is the jagged summit of Cradle Mountain.

Climbing 5,000 feet in the Central Highlands region

and standing over a series of lakes formed

over millions of years by slow-moving glaciers.

At 520 feet, Lake St. Clair,

is the deepest freshwater lake in Australia.

[engine whirring]

Nearby, is Little Pine Lagoon

which James Johns has been visiting since he was a boy.

It offers some of the best fly fishing in Australia.

Here, the high altitude chills the crystal-clear waters,

creating the ideal conditions for brown trout to thrive.

♪ ♪

Three generations of James's family

have sailed this stretch of water,

all searching for the perfect spot to cast a line.

Flying South-East is Tasmania's busiest city.

Yet even here, awe-inspiring wilderness is within reach.

[seagulls squawking]

Crossing Tasmania to the South-East coast,

the landscape transforms into giant cliffs

and a patchwork of islands and peninsulas.

It's the location of the state capital, Hobart.

And to the south of it is Bruny Island,

famous for its beautiful coastal landscapes.

It's also where one

of Tasmania's most celebrated figures,

an Aboriginal woman called Truganini,

grew up in the early 19th century.

Her father was the chief of the Nuenonne people

who had called the island home for 40,000 years.

As a child, Truganini saw British settlers

seize this land for farming

and murder members of her family.

This happened across Tasmania,

sparking a conflict that killed thousands of Aboriginal people

and ended their traditional way of life.

But Truganini made sure

that some of her language and traditions were recorded,

helping to preserve knowledge at risk of being lost forever.

Even after her death in 1876,

her resilience inspired others

to keep fighting for their rights.

People like Bruny Island elder, Rodney Dillon.

He's on a diving trip for abalone,

large mollusks that were once

the Nuenonne people's main food source

and an important cultural link to the past.

Rodney fought a campaign to secure Aboriginal fishing rights

to waters across the island

because of this heritage.

Today, he's free to hunt for them

on Trumpeter Bay's rocky seabed,

in waters where Truganini herself once swam.

Bruny Island's ocean riches have also helped turn it

into a favorite destination for food lovers.

And one of its greatest specialties

is found in the clear waters of the Great Bay.

Here, thousands of oysters filter up to eight gallons

of seawater for nutrients, every day.

After two to three years,

once they're plump enough, it's harvest time.

Around three million oysters

are harvested on the island annually.

In recent years, Tasmania has become renowned

for small-scale producers like this,

who use the exceptional raw materials

found in Australia's far South.

And today's haul is destined for a restaurant

in Tasmania's culinary capital, Hobart.

The gateway to the city is the Tasman Bridge,

which glides through the air for nearly a mile.

Connecting suburbs on the eastern shores

of the Derwent River with Hobart,

home to nearly half of all Tasmanians.

Today, tourist ferries and luxury yachts

sail the river's deep waters.

But in the 19th century, whaling boats docked here.

Part of a trade that built

Australia's southernmost state capital.

And next to the harbor,

this row of Georgian warehouses

was built by convicts to store whale oil.

But while there's history everywhere,

Hobart has moved with the times.

These days, its known for fashionable shops,

art galleries and fine dining restaurants.

On the city outskirts,

there's more heritage to be found.

The Cascade Brewery has been in business for two hundred years,

making it the oldest in Australia.

It's also the furthest south.

Its beers quickly caught on,

thanks to this picturesque location

in the foothills of Mount Wellington.

Here, a pure mountain stream

supplied the clean water

needed to brew a high-quality ale.

Today, Cascade produces

over 80 million pints of beer every year

that are drunk throughout Australia.

And the brewery still keeps

some of its oldest traditions alive.

At 4:00 p.m. every Friday

a bell rings out signaling the end of the working week

and the chance for the brewers

to sample some of their own hard work.

Mount Wellington, the brewery's imposing backdrop,

is rarely out of sight across the city.

Known as Kurinyi, in the Aboriginal Palawa language,

it towers over 4,000 feet high.

The mountain's most striking feature is these rock columns,

called the Organ Pipes,

because of their appearance and the sound they make in the wind.

There are over 400 different climbing routes,

but this dizzying ascent is the most iconic,

a challenge revered by rock climbers around the world.

The Organ Pipes also tell an incredible geological story.

They formed 180 million years ago

as shifting tectonic plates

tore the continents apart at the seams.

Molten rock built-up inside the earth

before lifting the ground skywards.

Out of these brutal forces,

Mount Wellington began to take shape,

rising as much as 2,000 feet in a single year.

Much later, wind and rain finally exposed

these dramatic columns of sub-volcanic rock

called dolerite.

It's extremely rare in the rest of the world,

but it makes up over a third of Tasmania.

Scaling this 390-foot-high geological marvel

is a grueling physical and mental test.

But the reward is breathtaking.

♪ ♪

From the air, the incredible riches

of the remote South come alive.

It contains towering natural wonders

and manmade ones, too.

Amazing stories of human triumph

and survival.

And it's a land where untamed nature,

found nowhere else on earth,

is always within touching distance.

When discovered from above,

Australia's Far South is truly extraordinary.

[waves crashing]

♪ ♪