Original subtitles

♪♪♪

NARRATOR: This is Lake Ballard in Western Australia.

It's home to 51 sculptures

created by renowned British artist Antony Gormley.

[soft piano]

The work was commissioned

by the Perth International Arts Festival

to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2003.

And the sculptures have remained here ever since.

Each of these stainless-steel alloy figures is based

on a laser scan of one of the residents

of the town of Menzies,

an old gold mining town nearby.

And on the rare occasion when the salt lake floods,

they appear to float above the water...

in one of the largest outdoor galleries on Earth.

♪♪♪

[dramatic music]

Vast landscapes and epic terrain are

the very essence of this western state.

A place where it's possible to escape the crowds

and discover places lost in time.

Everything here is on a grand scale.

Its people exude that indomitable spirit

which makes anything possible.

And at its heart, an ancient culture

with a deep connection to the land.

Welcome to Western Australia.

[engine rumbling]

[bleating]

♪♪♪

Western Australia is the country's largest state.

It stretches across the entire west of the continent,

covering an area larger than Western Europe.

It has a long human history.

In fact, some of the ancient petroglyphs

in Murujuga, which include images of animals now extinct,

are believed to be over 50,000 years old.

But with the arrival of Europeans,

this ancient way of life was devastated.

It began in 1616,

when a Dutch merchant called Dirk Hartog

made land on the island of Wirruwana.

Meeting no-one and seeing no potential for trade,

he carried on up the coast towards the Dutch East Indies.

However, this part of the world was now known to Europeans.

Over the next 200 years,

other European explorers made land

along this vast coastline but soon moved on.

It wasn't until 1829 that the British established

the Swan River Colony,

over 450 miles south of Wirruwana.

It later became Perth, the state capital.

But the event which would completely change

the course of the state's history

didn't happen in Perth

but 300 miles to the east.

In 1893, three Irish prospectors

called Paddy Hannan, Thomas Flanagan, and Daniel Shea

decided to try their luck

on the traditional lands of the Wangkatja peoples.

Here, they stumbled across several nuggets of gold.

It kickstarted a gold rush.

Word spread like wildfire,

and people flocked to this remote region

from all over the world.

To service their needs,

a town called Kalgoorlie was built from scratch,

complete with shops, pubs, and even a brothel.

While nothing could distract the residents

from their pursuit of gold,

it soon became clear that the town was lacking

one crucial resource.

Water.

An engineer named C. Y. O'Connor

came up with an ingenious solution.

His ambitious plan was to build a water pipeline

from a dam 330 miles away to the west,

far further than had ever been done before.

It involved laying 60,000 sections of pipe

and building huge steam-driven pumping stations

to keep the water flowing.

At the time, people thought it was impossible.

Yet in 1903, after seven years,

the pipeline was complete.

It's still considered to be one of Australia's

greatest engineering achievements

and to this day, provides water

to over 100,000 people.

♪♪♪

As more mines sprung up across the region,

overseas investors began to take note.

In 1898, a London-based firm called Bewick Moreing

decided to send a 23-year-old American mining engineer

to the Goldfields in search of a new investment.

His name was Herbert Hoover,

later to become the 31st president

of the United States.

Hoover advised the firm to buy a mine at Gwalia,

and, for a time, he became the mine's manager.

One of his first acts was to commission

a house on a hill overlooking the mine.

It stood as a symbol of the manager's authority.

Hoover began overhauling production processes

to increase profits for his London bosses.

But the mine's success

still depended upon an immigrant workforce

desperate enough to accept the low wages

and terrible working conditions.

And below the pit, you can find the remnants

of the village in which they lived,

as if stuck in time.

Its inhabitants were mostly from Northern Italy

and Yugoslavia.

Arriving with nothing, they constructed basic dwellings

out of whatever materials they could find,

including wood and burlap.

Homes were built here from 1898,

and before long, it was a thriving town

with a general store, churches,

a school, and a pub.

But when the mine closed in 1963,

hundreds of families were forced to abandon their homes

to search for work elsewhere.

For those first miners,

it wasn't all hard work.

When not seeking their fortune,

they found ways to spend it.

And one unusual gambling game soon took off.

It's called Two Up.

Gambling was heavily restricted at the time,

so games of Two Up were held out in the bush,

away from the prying eyes of the authorities.

The location was marked by a 44-gallon drum

at the side of a track.

The rules are simple.

Two coins are placed on a wooden paddle

and tossed into the air.

Bets are placed on which way they land.

Two heads, you win,

two tails, you lose.

One of each, and you play again.

Unregulated gambling like this is still banned

in much of Australia.

But this makeshift arena

has had a special license since 1983

and is still going strong.

♪♪♪

Today, workers from all over the world

continue to come to Kalgoorlie,

in the spirit of those early miners.

And the town's biggest employer by far is the Super Pit.

At over two miles long

and nearly 2,000 feet deep,

it's one of the largest open pit gold mines

in the world.

It's made up of around 260 individual mining leases,

many dating from the gold rush days,

which have been joined together into one huge mine.

It operates 24/7,

365 days a year.

And the machinery involved is massive.

The excavators here can move over 88 tons of rock

in a single scoop.

And each of these haul trucks can carry over 250 tons,

the same as over 100 large family cars.

All the trucks are tracked by GPS

from a central dispatch to ensure optimum efficiency.

And the roads are meticulously well maintained.

With each tire costing over $23,000 US,

punctures come at a huge cost.

At the top of the pit, the ore is loaded

into a crusher before being ground

into a fine powder at the mill.

The powder undergoes a series of complex processes

to extract the precious gold,

which is then turned into ingots

and stamped with a unique code.

Mining is an environmentally- taxing process,

so throughout the mine, strict rules must be followed

to minimize air and water pollution

and to safely dispose of vast amounts of waste,

all adding to the cost.

However, the Super Pit still turns a healthy profit

and produces around 4% of Australia's total gold output.

And to date, it's produced

over 65 million troy ounces

or over 2,200 tons.

♪♪♪

The land around Kalgoorlie contains

one of the richest gold deposits on Earth.

But while gold steals the limelight,

there is another mineral here which is found

in far greater quantities.

Salt.

For a while, salt mining occurred on these ancient lakes,

but in more recent years,

mining has given way to a very different activity.

Lake Lefroy is one of the best places in the world

for land sailing.

Covering an area of 200 square miles,

it's the perfect playground for this niche sport.

And when the wind picks up,

these land yachts can reach speeds

of over 60 miles per hour.

Extraordinary landscapes can be found

all across Western Australia...

including a UNESCO World Heritage site so remote

and inaccessible that it remained unknown

to the outside world until 1983.

[soft music]

NARRATOR: Extraordinary landscapes

define much of Western Australia.

And some of the most remarkable are found in the far north

of the state in an area known

as the Kimberley.

This vast region, the same size as California,

was one of the first parts of Australia to be inhabited,

around 65,000 years ago.

Today, it has a population of just 35,000,

and 40% are of Aboriginal descent.

Connection to the land runs deep here,

and features in this extraordinary landscape

are steeped in ancient meaning.

♪♪♪

This is Purnululu...

a geological formation with huge cultural

and spiritual significance to the Jaru and Gija people.

According to one dreaming story,

the domes are the children of the clans,

created when a spirit sprinkled sand

from the night sky.

The region is so remote, it was unknown

to the outside world until 1983,

when an airborne film crew featured Purnululu

in their documentary

"The Wonders of Western Australia."

It put this geological marvel firmly on the map.

Today, Purnululu is considered to be

the most exceptional example of sandstone karst domes

anywhere in the world.

The domes, some over 800 feet high,

are formed out of sedimentary rock

laid down around 360 million years ago.

Through a combination of weathering, dissolution,

and erosion over the last 20 million years,

these extraordinary formations have appeared,

creating an intricate network of gorges and chasms.

♪♪♪

The distinctive orange banding

is due to the oxidation of iron in the sandstone,

more commonly known as rust.

The Purnululu National Park is considered so special

that, in 2003, it was inscribed

on the UNESCO World Heritage list

due to its incredible natural beauty

and outstanding geological value.

However, the Kimberley has a dark history.

The arrival of Europeans in 1879 was the start

of a highly traumatic period for the Aboriginal peoples

who have lived here for tens of thousands of years.

Pastoralists took their land,

creating huge cattle stations,

and forced them to work for little or no money.

The intergenerational trauma this created

has enormous impacts to this day.

In recent years, efforts have been made

to right the wrongs of the past.

Aboriginal groups have campaigned

for native title rights, and today,

over 97% of the Kimberley

is determined as native title land.

It means their land rights are recognized under Australian law,

helping to empower Aboriginal people

to build a better future for their children.

♪♪♪

Nowadays, most visitors to the Kimberley come

for adventure tourism.

The Gibb River Road is an iconic 400-mile trail

of mostly unpaved road

which cuts through the center of this remote region,

giving access to some of the most spectacular

natural wonders in Western Australia.

And this includes the Mitchell Falls...

known as Punamii-Uunpuu

to the Wunambal Gaambera people.

Reached by a side trail off the Gibb River Road,

it's the jewel in the crown of this remarkable region.

The huge plateau on which it sits

is thought to be the only part of mainland Australia

where no native species extinctions have occurred

since European colonization.

Yet, in recent years,

the land has come under threat from mining.

In 2015, after extensive negotiations,

a mining ban was imposed,

promising to conserve this spectacular landscape

for future generations.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Flying on to the state's western coastline,

things are about to get even bigger...

with the chance to get up close and personal

with the world's largest shark.

[insects chirping]

NARRATOR: The Kimberley coastline

extends for over 7,000 miles

along the northwest of Australia,

with more than 2,500 islands just offshore.

This remote region is famous

for one particular natural phenomenon.

Its tides.

In fact, at over 36 feet,

they are among the highest in the world.

Twice a day as the tide goes out,

water cascades off this ocean reef,

creating a phenomenal natural display.

And at Garaangaddim, on Dambimangari Country,

the effect is equally spectacular.

Here, the ocean builds up on one side of a narrow channel

faster than it can flow through it,

creating a waterfall up to 13 feet high.

The direction of the falls changes with the tide.

It's been described by Sir David Attenborough

as one of the world's greatest natural wonders.

♪♪♪

The region's huge tides

bring in a constant supply of nutrients from the ocean.

Combined with a lack of pollutants,

this makes the region one of the best places in the world

to find pearls.

Pearls occur naturally in salt and freshwater mollusks,

and pearl shells have been traded here

by Aboriginal people for thousands of years.

But it wasn't until the 1950s

that pearls here began to be cultured

through human intervention.

In this process, a foreign object is placed

inside an oyster, and it's returned to the ocean.

The oyster starts encasing the object

with a substance called nacre to protect itself.

Around two years later, the oyster is retrieved

and the pearl removed from inside.

Today, the pearling industry is still going strong.

It's the state's second-largest commercial fishery

and is worth over $40 million US a year.

Flying further south along the coast,

there's a remarkable underwater ecosystem

just offshore.

This is Ningaloo Reef.

Unlike the more famous Great Barrier Reef,

which can be up to 100 miles offshore,

this western wonder is a fringing reef,

meaning it grows out from land.

It's the largest of its kind in the world.

Every year in March and April,

the coral spawns, leading to a feeding frenzy

among the plankton and krill.

This, in turn, attracts one extraordinary fish.

The whale shark.

It's thought that whale sharks migrate to Ningaloo

from thousands of miles away for this annual event.

Like some types of whales, they are filter feeders.

But as they breathe through gills and have cartilage,

they are actually a type of shark.

A fully-grown whale shark can be up to 65 feet long

and weigh over 22 tons,

making it the world's largest fish.

Yet they travel at a leisurely three miles per hour,

meaning it's possible for a fast swimmer

to keep up with them.

To minimize disturbance,

tours follow strict rules around any interaction.

In 2022, nearly 36,000 people

swam with the whale sharks at Ningaloo,

in what is considered to be one of the best places

in the world for an intimate encounter

with this gentle giant of the ocean.

♪♪♪

Traveling back up the coast is the main town

of the Kimberley region, Broome.

And a trip here wouldn't be complete

without taking in the sunset

over the Indian Ocean at Cable Beach.

But there's one unexpected way to experience it.

Camels were introduced to Australia in the 1840s

by Europeans who needed a pack animal

to help them explore the continent's

vast, dry interior.

The camel, which could go for over a week without water,

was far more suitable than the horse.

Until the 1930s, thousands of camels

were imported from the Arabian Peninsula,

India, and Afghanistan, along with their handlers,

contributing to the economic development

of the continent's interior.

But with the arrival of the motorcar,

the camel industry collapsed,

and thousands were released into the wild.

There are now estimated to be over a million camels

running wild in Australia,

mostly in the arid central and western regions

of the continent.

♪♪♪

There's far more to Western Australia

than stunning landscapes.

Digging a little deeper reveals a fascinating history,

including an imposing prison

which once held the state's most notorious criminals.

♪♪♪

NARRATOR: Western Australia is a vast, sparsely populated state

with less than three people per square mile.

Over three quarters of its inhabitants

live in its capital, Perth.

At over 2,000 miles from Sydney in New South Wales,

it's geographically closer to Jakarta.

There's no city of this size anywhere in the world

that's so remote.

For first time visitors,

it's the shiny financial district

on the banks of the Swan River which catches the eye.

It's home to the headquarters

of eight of the world's top 14

international energy companies.

And beneath the surface, visitors will soon discover

a human history dating back 45,000 years.

The Noongar People call the river Derbarl Yerrigan,

and it's a place of huge cultural significance.

It was a site for rituals and initiation ceremonies

as well as a place for fishing and trade.

Then, in 1829,

this ancient way of life was impacted forever

when the British established the Swan River Colony.

Two years later,

they built the first permanent structure,

a jail called the Round House.

The design is a panopticon.

It allowed a single jailer to control eight cells

as the inmates couldn't tell

whether or not they were being watched.

It was used for both colonial and Aboriginal prisoners

until 1886.

But for many of the Aboriginal people held here,

the Roundhouse was just a stop on their journey

to another notorious facility,

12 miles offshore,

the Rottnest Island Aboriginal Establishment.

From the late 1830s,

thousands of Aboriginal men and boys

were incarcerated on Rottnest Island,

from across Western Australia,

often for petty crimes.

The entire island, which is around

a third the size of Manhattan,

was used as a prison.

The colonial authorities believed an island prison was

more humanitarian than the confinement

of European-style prisons,

as inmates were occasionally allowed

to move around the island to go hunting and fishing.

However, as more men arrived,

disease spread rapidly.

One winter, at least 60 men died.

On top of the cruelty they experienced,

for Aboriginal people, forced separation

from country and culture was devastating,

and it had terrible repercussions,

not only for the prisoners,

but for the communities they left behind.

The facility closed in 1902.

Back on the mainland, most of the state's

European prisoners were taken to Fremantle Prison.

This imposing jail complex was completed in 1859.

At the time, it stood alone in the landscape

as a symbol of British colonial authority.

The main cell block, which is based

on Pentonville Prison in London,

was designed to support a new system

of prison management, in which inmates

were held in solitary confinement

and absolute silence,

so they could reflect on their crimes.

Up to a thousand prisoners were held here.

The jail remained in operation until 1991,

and today, it's possible to do tours of the cell blocks

and even catch a concert in the prison yard--

a far cry from the hardships experienced here

by some of the state's most notorious criminals.

The jail sits not far from another iconic landmark

which charts the history of this region.

This is Fremantle Port.

A place fundamental to the economic growth

of Western Australia.

It was designed by C. Y. O'Connor,

the same engineer responsible

for the water pipeline to the gold fields.

Back in the late 19th century,

he understood that shipping was on the cusp

of massive change

as steam power began to replace the sail.

He had the foresight to create a port

far wider than necessary at the time,

so that it would be able to accommodate

much larger ships in the future.

Construction took five years

and involved clearing 10 million cubic yards of sand.

It finally opened in 1897.

Today, the port handles nearly all of Western Australia's

container trade, something it's able to do

because of C. Y. O'Connor's extraordinary vision,

over 100 years earlier.

♪♪♪

With so much undeveloped coastline,

it's no wonder that Western Australia

boasts exceptional fishing grounds.

In fact, it's home to Australia's

most valuable single-species wild capture fishery...

the western rock lobster,

known locally as crayfish.

The center of the industry is 250 miles north of Perth...

in the Houtman Abrolhos,

a group of islands and reefs

on the edge of the continental shelf.

Land here can't be bought,

but is leased from the government,

with the lease often passing down

through the generations.

♪♪♪

Jesse Lydon is one of the lucky benefactors.

His grandfather was a lobster fisherman in England

who came to the Abrolhos after World War II.

Jesse still fishes these waters

along with his mother, Jane,

keeping the family tradition alive.

One of the best spots to fish is

beside the overhangs on the islands' many reefs.

This is where the crayfish like to hide.

The technique is simple.

Pots are baited and dropped over the side of the boat

with a buoy attached by a rope to mark the spot.

The pots are then left overnight

to give the crayfish time to take the bait.

The next day, the pots are hauled back on board

with the night's catch trapped inside.

Crayfish are caught to a strict quota,

and 95% are exported to overseas markets

where they fetch top dollar.

But today's catch is just for dinner.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

It's not just the seas which yield

an abundance of produce here.

Western Australia is responsible

for 40% of the country's total wheat production.

Much of it comes from an area

called the Wheatbelt.

The Wheatbelt is in the southwest of the state.

Here, miles of flat, fertile land

and dependable rainfall make it the perfect place

for growing grain crops.

In the southeast, is the town of Newdegate.

Peter's family have been farming the land here

since 1926.

It's December, their busiest time of year,

and the harvest is in full swing.

First, the combine harvester separates out the grain...

which is then taken to huge storage sheds in town.

Here, silos load the grain

onto freight trains...

which run along a network of lines

to the coastal ports.

Up to 75% of Australia's wheat is exported,

mostly to Asia and the Middle East.

In 2015, a not-for-profit cultural organization

called FORM saw an opportunity to put

the wheatbelt towns on the cultural map.

They invited local and international artists

to paint the silos found across the region.

Over the next three years,

these huge blank canvases were transformed

into unique works of art.

The silos in Newdegate

were painted by local artist Brenton See.

They feature wildlife native to Western Australia

including the Western Bearded Dragon,

the Red-Tailed Phascogale,

and the malleefowl.

The concept of a Silo Art Trail

has proved so popular,

that it's now spreading right across Australia.

Back on the coast, a warm, maritime climate

has produced a wine region

that's punching above its weight,

and a secret surf spot that's home

to one of the most challenging

and dangerous waves in the world.

♪♪♪

NARRATOR: Flying inland to the southeast

of Western Australia,

the landscape changes yet again.

This remote region receives extremely low rainfall.

The landscape is covered with drought-resistant plants

such as saltbush.

The first Europeans to explore the region

considered it hostile,

even though Aboriginal people have thrived here

for thousands of years.

It wasn't until the 20th century,

that the Europeans discovered a way to utilize the land

for their own purposes.

Sheep farming.

And today, it's done on a huge scale.

This is Rawlinna,

the biggest sheep station in Australia.

It covers an area nearly the size of metropolitan Sydney.

It's home to around 60,000 Merino sheep,

a Spanish variety first introduced to Australia

in 1797.

Merinos were found to be far more suited

to the Australian environment than earlier breeds

and, most importantly,

produce an abundance of wool.

♪♪♪

Once a year, starting in March,

the sheep at Rawlinna are gathered for shearing.

But due to the size of the property,

this is no easy task.

First, a spotter plane is used to locate the sheep.

MAN OVER RADIO: Yeah, that's north-northwest.

WOMAN OVER RADIO: Yeah, no worries, I'm on my way.

NARRATOR: Then, workers known as jackaroos

bring them in on motorbikes.

MAN ON RADIO: Troy, you got a copy?

TROY ON RADIO: Copy.

MAN: How are your sheep going on the wool road?

TROY: We're only about two and a half K from the north end.

MAN: Yeah, roger that.

I'll come back over now.

Thanks for a great muster, everyone,

you all did really well.

MAN 2 ON RADIO: Thanks, mate.

NARRATOR: The sheep are taken from the corrals

into a 16-stand shearing shed.

As shearers are paid per sheep, they must work fast.

The very best can shear a sheep in as little as two minutes.

Then, the fleeces are compressed into bales

and taken to market.

Around 80% of the wool produced in Western Australia

is sent to China.

And as a whole, Australia produces

more than half of the world's merino wool.

♪♪♪

Around 80% of the population of Western Australia

lives within six miles of the ocean.

And a popular weekend getaway for people from Perth,

is Margaret River,

a coastal region south of the capital.

Strong maritime influences

bring heavy rainfall in the winter,

yet the summers are long and mild.

Combined with gravelly soils,

this makes the region ideal for growing grapevines.

[bright strings]

In fact, there are over 200 wineries here.

And when the grapes are ready for harvest,

it's all hands on deck.

Harvesting normally begins at night,

when temperatures are lower and the grapes cooler,

keeping them fresh and full of flavor.

And the very best wine, is made from grapes

which are picked by hand.

It's labor-intensive work, but this method is

not only gentler on the fruit,

but also ensures that only the very best grapes

are selected.

And this approach has paid off.

While Margaret River accounts for just 3%

of Australia's total grape production,

it commands over 20%

of the Australian premium wine market.

It's best known for its outstanding

cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.

With its exceptional reef breaks,

this part of Australia's western coast

has a strong surfing culture.

There are over 70 high-quality waves here,

and the World Surf League has even made Margaret River

a stop on its global tour.

But around 200 miles southeast,

is a legendary wave which is the domain

of only the bravest and most experienced surfers.

It's called The Right.

During winter, huge storms

out in the Southern Ocean create massive swells,

which break at this very point.

The waves are so large, that surfers must be towed in

by jet ski to generate enough speed to catch them.

♪♪♪

And once the surfer lets go of the rope,

they're alone against the power of Mother Nature.

These waves can reach the height of a two-story building.

And wipeouts have resulted in injuries

such as collapsed lungs

and broken bones.

But for those who make it,

there's no better feeling in the world.

[soft guitar]

Flying further east along the coast is Albany,

a nondescript town with a remarkable history.

Just offshore is a deepwater natural harbor

called King George Sound.

And it was from here, that the first convoy of ships

left Australia for the battlefields

of Gallipoli during World War I.

For many of the soldiers on board,

it was the last time they would see their homeland.

On the 25th of April each year,

the anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli,

their sacrifice is remembered on ANZAC Day.

Here and all across the nation,

ceremonies begin at dawn.

According to military tradition,

the service contains a bugle call,

known as the Last Post.

[mournful bugle fanfare]

[mournful fanfare continues]

♪♪♪

For a nation which, at the time of World War I,

had a population of less than 5 million,

Australia paid a heavy price.

♪♪♪

Of the 416,000 who enlisted,

60,000 lost their lives.

Today, ANZAC Day is a tradition

embraced by the nation

and deeply embedded in the Australian psyche.

It ensures the sacrifice of every Australian

who has died in conflict will never be forgotten.

The isolation of Western Australia

is also what makes it so special.

Its people have a do-it-yourself attitude

and a determination to succeed against the odds.

That strength of character is evident everywhere.

From the gold rush era towns which have developed

into a billion-dollar mining industry...

to land turned to agriculture

on a massive scale.

Everywhere are hidden stories

that defy the imagination.

Waiting to be discovered

by those with a sense of adventure.

♪♪♪