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BILL BALL:
Visiting a country and trying to see

all that is important or different

can be a daunting task.

I love to learn about the culture,

see the wildlife and get a feel
for both the big cities

and the rural areas.

That IS a challenge.

But challenges are what drives me
to travel and explore,

so this week, I am making it my quest
to see firsthand

the three icons of Australia -

the cute, cuddly koala,

the fast-kicking kangaroos

and the mining of Australia's
national gemstone, the opal.

And, to start off,
I'll attempt a thrilling climb

to the top of one of Sydney's
most recognised man-made structures.

I've never attempted
to squeeze four quests in one trip.

I hope I didn't bite off too much
this time.

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's nearly the size
of the continental US,

but with only a fraction
of the US population.

Countrywide, Australia's population
is about 24 million,

with over 7 million of those
living in New South Wales,

which is my destination.

If you zoom in on Sydney
and its metropolitan area,

you'd find that 61%
of the state's population is there.

New South Wales is big,

about the same size as the states
of Texas and Pennsylvania combined.

That means there is
only five people per square mile.

The least populated area
is what is known as the outback.

We are going to visit the great open
area of New South Wales's outback

and learn how the people and wildlife
survive in its harsh environment.

We land, like most people
coming to Australia,

in the capital
of New South Wales, Sydney.

Last year, on our way to New Zealand,

we had a day to explore Sydney
on our layover.

It is an incredible city,

with one of the most iconic buildings
in the world,

the Sydney Opera House.

The Sydney Opera House is located
on Darling Harbour,

one of the deepest,
most protected harbours in the world.

The city literally hugs
the tranquil waterway,

giving everyone access
to the great beaches.

And the most famous of all those
beaches, near Sydney, is Bondi Beach,

the site of the 2000
Olympic beach volleyball competition.

It is not, though, known for that
as much as it's known for surfing,

one of the best in Australia.

I love coming to people-watch
since I'm not much of a surfer.

As far as people-watching goes,

the Sydney Opera House
is another great location.

The Opera was conceived in 1956

and opened by Queen Elizabeth II
in 1973.

It was designed
by young Danish architect Jorn Utzon.

All did not go according to plan,

and political shifts, cost overruns
and changing design requirements

ultimately forced Utzon out
before the interior was finished.

Local firms finished the work,

and now over a million people
watch 1,500 performances a year,

with seven times
as many people visiting it for tours,

its great food court and just
to take in the bayside ambience.

Within its four theatres,

the Philharmonic Hall
and opera/ballet stage,

there are multiple shows
every evening,

from concerts
to Broadway-level theatre to comedy,

opera, dance and children's shows.

Taking an interior tour
and seeing a performance here

are must-see and must-do in Sydney.

The last time I was here,
I felt so rushed

that I ignored the other famous
architectural structure in Sydney,

the Harbour Bridge, located near the
Opera House and now my first quest.

The Harbour Bridge
is a steel arch bridge

that connects
the central business district

to the more residential North Shore.

Nicknamed the Coathanger,
uh, for obvious reasons,

it was an iconic image of Sydney
well before the Opera House,

dating back to 1932.

It has some superlatives
besides its graceful appearance.

It is the eighth-largest arch bridge
and the tallest,

measuring over 440 feet

from water to its top.

It is also
the second-widest-span bridge,

only after the Port Mann Bridge
in Vancouver.

It is a thrilling way to be
a pedestrian that brought me here.

I am going to walk across the bridge,

not the normal way to cross it but
by climbing the arch of the bridge.

No, this is not
a harebrained idea I had

but an actual activity you can book

and my quest in Sydney.

The climb rules are strict.

You have to wear
their special clothing

and you aren't allowed
to carry anything with you,

including,
and maybe especially, a camera.

That is to ensure
you don't drop one of those items

on an unsuspecting pedestrian
or car below,

because at the height we will be,
around 180 feet,

it could cause serious
or even fatal injuries.

The walk is relatively easy,
like a slow, steady stair ascent.

You are tied off all the way.

You go to the peak
and then you come back down.

I can tell you it is quite exciting.

They do have built-in cameras

so you have proof that you did it.

There are many great views
of the city proper from there

and the Opera House too.

Not far from the bridge -

in fact, midway between the bridge
and the Opera House - is the quay,

where ferries take people to all
points in and around Darling Harbour.

It is used
by commuters and tourists alike

to move efficiently and in a fun way
around the greater Sydney area.

Sydney is a fabulous town, but it was
time to venture out of the city

to find one of the most iconic
animals in the world -

the koala.

Only problem,
I had to learn really quick

how to drive
on the left side of the road.

Not far from Sydney,
a 3- or 4-hour drive,

is one of the best places to see
native Australian flora and fauna

in the wild -

Myall Lakes National Park.

Australia is blessed
with many great wilderness areas

within easy access
of even the biggest urban areas.

On the way to Myall Lakes,
there are plenty of places to shop

and stop along the roadway
to get a bite to eat,

but there is one
that is a special treat.

Food is big in Australia,

but there's nothing
that's really Australian.

I mean, they're huge in Chinese food,
huge Chinese population here,

British food - well, that's obvious -

Indian food, gigantic,

but there probably is one thing that
the Australians gravitate more to

than any other kind of food,

and that is
the traditional meat pies.

So, I'm gonna give it a shot.

If there is
any truly Australian food,

it has to be the meat pie.

I know, it has its English roots,

but Australians
have made it their own,

with a myriad
of flavour combinations.

My favourite
is the lamb-and-beef pie.

I love a good meat pie,
and I won't miss a chance to indulge

when I return to the land Down Under.

Meat pies and lovely scenery

on the way to Myall Lakes

are two great bonuses to the trip.

The real pay-off, of course,
is the lakes themselves

and the abundant wildlife.

Birders will find
plenty of life list additions,

from the regal black swans to
the pied-coloured Australian magpies.

But probably my favourite has to be
the kookaburra.

These relatives to the kingfishers
are beautiful

and often pose for
the would-be wildlife photographer.

Though the birdlife is great here,

most people come to see the wildlife
symbol of Australia, the koala.

Koalas eat leaves of only a few
species of gum, or eucalyptus, trees,

and those types are found here.

It has become increasingly difficult
to see koalas in the wild

due to disease and car accidents.

To combat the latter,

koala fences and rope bridges
have been constructed

so they can safely cross major roads
high above the traffic.

In the Myall Lakes area, koalas
can be found just about anywhere.

Though their numbers are small,

they can often be seen
alongside the park's roads

and even in the yards
of the nearby homes.

The only sure way to find them
is to go on foot and scour the trees.

Koalas rest most of the day, only
breaking their inactivity to eat.

Wow. What a nice life.

Sleep 20 hours and eat the other 4.

I think I spotted a resting koala
in the trees.

You just look for an odd-shaped blob
and most likely it's a...

(SIGHS) ..termite nest.

Tree termites can be
too easily mistaken for koalas.

But not to worry.

Just a little ways away,
I think I've finally found our prey.

Koalas are, like most mammals
in Australia, marsupials.

Marsupials have pouches where the
babies are held until they mature.

In North America, we have only one
marsupial, the Virginia opossum.

Lucky for koalas,
they are much cuter than opossums.

Found only in Australia,
and then only along the east coast,

koalas are the animal ambassadors
for this country continent.

Myall Lakes
is an all-purpose national park,

allowing city folk a chance
to play in the water,

hike its many trails, watch wildlife
and just take in nature's beauty.

There was one other animal I wanted
to see in the area before departing,

and it was one of the few
non-marsupial mammals

and potentially the most dangerous.

BILL BALL: Of course, the animal
I was after is the elusive dingo.

Locals told me my best chance
would be along the beach,

where they are often seen
scavenging for food.

Do you ever get the sense
that someone's watching you?

Well, I had it.

Now, I was following the tracks
of the dingo,

hoping I'd get a glimpse of it,

but when I got down to the beach,
the tracks disappeared in the dunes

and there was no dingo.

So I started walking
back to my friends,

and then I saw
the tracks actually reversed.

The dingo was in front of me.

Now, that is an eerie feeling.

You can never get a guarantee
from wildlife,

and today, my luck ran out
and no dingo.

My taste for open spaces was fuelled
by our visit to Myall Lakes,

so it was off to one of
the greatest open spaces on earth,

the Australian outback.

Though you could drive from Sydney,
it would take a couple of days.

We chose to fly, landing in
the outback megacity of Broken Hill.

I say 'megacity' because
16,000-some residents in the outback

is the equivalent of New York City
for this vast wilderness.

Broken Hill quickly became
one of my favourite towns.

It has an "Old West meets Victorian"
feel to it.

The town was heavily dependent

on underground mining
of silver, lead and zinc.

At its peak in 1885,

it was one of the wealthiest towns
in the world!

The mining boom
is well behind the town now,

going from thousands of miners
working to unearth the riches

to about 300 today.

In fact,
the mine was just recently reopened,

having been closed for many years.

The legacy of the mines
can readily be seen in two ways -

the huge mountains of mine slag,
or waste,

that seems to surround the town,

and the much more sombre
Miner's Memorial.

Honouring the more than 800 men

killed in mining accidents
over the years,

you get a shocking feel

at how dangerous
the early years of mining were.

With mining being such a small part
of the economy today,

tourism has sprung up
as an alternative.

Many Australians,
let alone foreigners,

never get to the outback,

and Broken Hill provides an easy,
relatively luxurious way to enjoy it.

Tour operators
have begun to spring up.

One of the local companies,
Silver City Tours,

and their driver, Peter McManus,

were happy to show us around and
expose us to the wild side of things.

Now, the wild side
is not the bars and saloons

that frequented the streets of town
a few decades ago

but, rather, the wildlife
of Kinchega National Park.

Kinchega is made up of a series
of man-made reservoirs and lakes

fed by the Darling River,

which was named for the
former governor of New South Wales

Sir Ralph Darling

and the namesake also
of Sydney's harbour.

The river has become a magnet for
iconic animals of Central Australia.

The state seal of Australia
pictures two animals,

and both of them are found here.

The first is the animal
we all associate with Australia,

and another one of my quests,

the kangaroo.

This national park has the
distinction of being one of the few

where all three species
of big kangaroo are found -

the western grey, the eastern grey

and the mighty red kangaroo.

There is no way
you can visit this park

without seeing one or more
of these largest of all marsupials.

In the same family as koala,

these parched hopping machines
fill the same niche

as antelope or deer do
in the rest of the world.

They are grazers.

Now, I hate to be a myth-buster,

but the old story about roos boxing,

yeah, not true.

They do occasionally
use their shorter front arms

in male territorial battles,

but they scratch each other
way more than they box.

They are incredibly quick,
and when they want to be,

but in the hot outback,
they conserve their energy

and use those bursts of speed
only when it is strictly necessary.

The other animal
on the Australian seal

is actually a bird,
a rather big bird,

in fact, the second tallest in
the world, only trailing the ostrich.

It is, of course, the emu.

A close relative of the ostrich
and South America's rhea,

like other members of
the ratite family, they cannot fly,

but they can run
up to 31 miles an hour.

Though emu are not known for their
intelligence, they have done well

and can be found both in the national
park and the adjacent sheep stations.

'Station' is Australian for 'ranch'.

Talking of sheep stations,
our driver guide, Peter,

had explained that Kinchega
had once been part of a giant station

and the remnants of one of the
old shearing sheds was still here.

Before this was a national park,
it was a huge sheep-shearing station.

Over 6 million shears
could be done in a year.

They would start by bringing all
the sheep together in pens down here,

and then as they needed 'em,

as the sheep shearers
would call for new sheep,

they would drive 'em up this ramp

and put 'em
in holding pens at the top.

Let's go up and see
how those holding pens

then would feed in
to each of the shearers.

The immense size of sheep stations
is hard to comprehend.

Some literally stretched over
100,000 acres across the outback.

Our final destination for the day
was not another national park

but a small town of 100 people
in the middle of nowhere,

and I am not using that
as a figure of speech.

White Cliffs is nearly 200 miles
from Broken Hill,

the nearest town with any service.

So why go?

Because it is home to one of the
most unusual ways to strike it rich.

BILL BALL: Now, you're probably
wondering why even 100 people

would live out here.

Well, it gets even better.

Most of the people live underground

to avoid the summer temperatures

that can reach
120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The draw to stay out
in these crazy conditions?

A gemstone,

specifically
the famous Australian opal.

Pretty much anyone who lives out here

either mines opals, sells them

or caters to the wayward tourist

who wants to see and buy opals
firsthand.

Opals are not mined
like other gems or minerals -

no giant excavations,

no deep tunnels,

and there's no panning for opals.

Well, no panning mainly because

there isn't water for miles around.

Opals are mined by digging a shaft
straight down about 30 feet

then looking for the fiery shine that
is so typical of Australian opals.

There are some pieces of equipment
used by the miners

that work like
common household appliances

that we all have in our homes.

This is the most modern piece
of opal equipment.

Basically,
it's a giant vacuum cleaner

that sucks up all of the material
that is not opal.

It works like this.

The drum is closed.

It sets up a vacuum.

All of the debris pile into it.

And then, when it's full,

it swings open.

So those piles you see
all around here

probably have nothing of value
in 'em.

Over the years,

shaft mining has created
a moon-like landscape of holes

that tourists are both amazed at

and afraid of.

One misstep and you might be
meeting a miner firsthand

or, worse,
end up in an abandoned hole.

The successful miners, though, say
all the digging in blistering heat

and the hauling of rocks
and the shifting through the dirt

is worth it
when a vein of opals is found.

I had to see
what opal mining yielded,

and so a visit to one of
the miner's shops was in order.

The opal prices are way below
those charged in Sydney or Melbourne.

No middleman, no expensive store rent
and no jeweller mark-ups,

just paying the man who found it
for his time.

Some of that time
is making jewellery,

including
cutting and polishing the gems.

It adds value
to the stones they wholesale

and gives them a larger margin for
the pieces they sell in their shop.

The workshop isn't fancy,
but it serves its purpose.

For these shops to make any money,
a minor, and I do mean minor,

tourism industry has developed
in White Cliffs.

Very few Australians
and almost no foreigners

have ever heard of White Cliffs.

But those that do find a tourist
facility that is quite unique.

The tourist establishment
I'm referring to is

the Underground Motel.

This is only one of two
that exists in Australia.

The other is at another mining area
in the outback.

The rooms are large,
so no-one feels claustrophobic,

and most have a skylight,

so you have some natural light.

Good meals, often involving
the Australian staple of lamb,

and friendly company

make this a bucket list items,
to be sure.

The rare tourist
has a couple of other sights in town

besides opal mines and shops.

One of those tells the story
of the earliest settlement days.

The local cemetery paints a picture

of a small boom town

that had its share of bad luck
with disease and death.

It was a frontier town
much like the US's Old West.

The other attraction,
if you can call it that,

was something way different
than opals.

White Cliffs was famous for having
one of the earliest solar stations

that basically supplied
all of the town's electricity.

That was before
the powerlines were extended out.

In those days, a house could run
one appliance at a time,

unless they supplemented it
with an expensive gas generator.

That is just another part
of this unusual town's history.

On the return trip to Broken Hill,

Peter suggested
that we take another route

and visit the old steamboat port city
of 'Walrunda'.

This now mostly Aboriginal town
has seen better economic days.

Once a thriving port city,

it has lost its appeal,
as goods are now shipped over road

and not subject to the 'vagrancies'
of the Darling River.

The vacillating water levels
and swift current

ultimately forced the shift
to land transport.

The old, beautiful
sandstone buildings

are a testament
to the role steamships had

in Australia's interior.

The town's name is an Aboriginal
word for "gap in the riverbank".

This town was prone to flooding,

which spelled its demise
once the shipping ended.

New South Wales is almost
a contradiction in its make-up.

On the one hand, it is the
ultra-modern gleaming city of Sydney

with one of the greatest
performance facilities in the world.

For my first quest,
I had to head out to the big city

and the calm oasis
of Myall Lakes National Park,

known for
their cute population of koalas.

But for a bigger change of pace,
I went to the outback,

where mining was king,

and the nearby wildlife reserves
had my second quest, kangaroos,

as well as emus, that
took a quick camera hand to film.

And, for the biggest contrast of all,

my last quest took us out
to White Cliffs,

where the locals climb into holes
to bring out

some of the most beautiful gems
in the world.