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00:00Try to understand this land, Australia Take her as she is, her moods, her mysteries
00:25Mother of us all, beneath the Southern Cross In her frame of peaceful seas
00:36Try to understand this land, Australia Take her as she is, her moods, her mysteries
00:47Mother of us all, beneath the Southern Cross In her frame of peaceful seas
01:18Cape York Peninsula, a centre of Aboriginal society for thousands of years
01:25Then the cattlemen came
01:28A handful of cattlemen had the peninsula to themselves for most of the last hundred years
01:34Battlers in one of Australia's last forgotten corners
01:38A place even they used to call the last frontier
01:43Today, there's another invasion
01:47Tourists, that could cause the last frontier to vanish forever
02:06Cairns, far north Queensland, the gateway to Cape York Peninsula
02:11A city that has gone from a sleepy port to one of the world's favourite tourist destinations in just a decade
02:23Tourists have always travelled to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef and the islands off the coast
02:34The new attraction is the peninsula itself
02:39In recent years, development has been pushing further and further north
02:45I'd like to show you some of the spectacular things that draw visitors here
02:49We'll travel this road, Cairns, Port Douglas, Mossman, Cooktown and beyond
02:56We'll see Australia's richest rainforest and oldest town
03:01We'll also see how change, this sudden tourist invasion, is affecting people like cattlemen
03:07who had the peninsula to themselves for so long
03:22The road north follows the coast for much of the way
03:27It's Cairns' main link with the old sugar towns of Mossman and Port Douglas
03:39Today, however, Port Douglas is no longer a sugar town, but a holiday paradise
03:50For just a few brief years in the 1880s, Port Douglas was bigger than Cairns
03:55It was the capital of the far north
03:58This was the entry port for adventurers who came to try their luck
04:02and the exit port for the north's riches, sugar, timber, tin and gold
04:09That heyday didn't last long
04:12Cairns' roads and railways improved, Port Douglas fell asleep in the sun
04:17and so it stayed until just a few years ago
04:22In 1983, a group of developers decided to invest five years and millions of dollars here
04:29They changed Port Douglas forever
04:45A resort was created that they called The Mirage
04:49Why Mirage?
04:51The developers say because it's too good to be true
04:54But I suspect local people would have called it a mirage anyway
04:58because they can't quite believe it's real
05:01Even so, I don't think I'll have to roll out my swag here tonight
05:19Whatever you call the Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas
05:22it's an excellent example of a new generation of tourist resorts
05:26that have sprung up suddenly, virtually out of the sea, north of Cairns
05:35The resort covers 122 hectares
05:39It has 300 rooms plus over 100 condominiums
05:44And if you don't fancy playing the 18-hole international golf course
05:49you can always belt a ball into what is called the aquatic driving range
05:57And this is not exactly your average hotel pool
06:01It's an artificial saltwater lagoon that covers over two hectares
06:06There is a real beach, although not many guests seem to get that far
06:11I guess no one wants to break the spell
06:14If you want to play castaway, you can even do that within the resort
06:19What this whole complex is about really is illusion
06:23Not so much Gilligan's Island, but Fantasy Island
06:27Apparently very few guests ever leave the resort
06:30Even when they do, the rainforest on their doorstep isn't always what it seems
06:42BIRDSONG
07:01Am I deep in a rainforest? Well, yes and no
07:05As you might expect, next door to a Mirage resort
07:09This too is something of an illusion
07:13This is an artificial rainforest
07:15At first sight, a surprising attraction to build with the real rainforest only half an hour away
07:24In at least one way, rainforest habitat at Port Douglas can't be matched in the wild
07:31Here, the elusive birds of the rainforest can be seen close up
07:35This is also a paradise for butterflies
07:52Jackie Turner and her husband Michael came to this area to start Australia's first butterfly farm
07:59One of their favourites and one of the largest butterflies in the world is the Cairns Birdwing
08:06We don't often handle them as we're going to now
08:09Because they're an incredibly delicate creature as you can see
08:13But purely for this exercise, we wanted you to be able to see some of the colours close up
08:19On this magnificent male
08:22In fact, one of the most interesting things, Ted, about this
08:27Is that a butterfly really has no colour
08:33It is the shape of the scales
08:35There are scales on the wings
08:38And it's the way in which the light is refracted that actually gives it the colour
08:42There's no true colour in it as such
08:44Well, you could have fooled me, Michael
08:45I know, me too, me too
08:47But believe me, it's true
08:48I've read the books
08:49Look at this one
08:51This is the female
08:53This is interesting
08:54She's not the biggest female we have
08:56But a totally different colour as you can see
08:59And she's quite old
09:00She'd be a couple of weeks old
09:02And she would have laid most of her eggs now
09:04And she just then dies
09:06And the cycle goes on
09:07Exactly
09:08She drops and generally speaking
09:11Because of the ants and other insects
09:13All you find are the wings
09:15But that's it
09:16She just quietly goes down and that's it
09:18That's the finish
09:20Something I didn't know
09:22There's a world market for butterflies
09:24They're sent from here to places as far away as Canada and Europe
09:36The make-believe rainforest does have one other obvious advantage
09:41The more unsociable inhabitants of the region can be kept out
09:55Crocodile attacks do occur on the peninsula
09:59Tourists are constantly warned not to become the croc's weekly meal
10:25All right, now when he grabs his prey
10:29There's only one of two things he can do
10:33Considering that that mouth is just a huge plant
10:36That's all it is
10:37Whammo, grab hold
10:39He's got to get his prey under control
10:42Or break it into little bits and pieces
10:44First thing he does is roll
10:46All right, imagine that on your arm
10:48I know it's traumatic
10:50What you've got to assume is that every creek has got a croc in it
10:53And that way you play safe
10:54You don't go too close to the creek
10:56And if you do, you know, you go in a boat or something like that
10:59So you are careful
11:06At Hartley's Crocodile Farm
11:08Tourists get a taste of what might happen
11:10If they step off the beaten track
11:12And if they're not careful
11:14At Hartley's Crocodile Farm
11:16Tourists get a taste of what might happen
11:18If they step off the beaten track
11:28This is the Daintree River
11:30Just north of Port Douglas
11:32There are crocodiles here
11:34The highly dangerous saltwater crocs
11:37Just the same
11:38It's an open question as to which is the thicker on the ground
11:41Crocs or the people who come to see them
11:47For a century
11:48The Daintree River was a natural barrier
11:50To travellers wanting to follow the coast up the peninsula
11:54Today, there's a ferry
11:56And for the army of tourists who cross the Daintree
11:59This is where the last frontier really begins
12:05It's also where the bitumen road ends
12:08And the stillness of the Daintree Rainforest begins
12:20While there is development here on a small scale
12:23Much of this coast is now National Park
12:27Nature did her best to protect this coast
12:30And succeeded until very recent times
12:34It's dense and impenetrable
12:38All year round
12:39High ranges trap rain and tumble it back to the sea
12:42The Daintree is one of the few places on earth
12:45Where virgin rainforest runs all the way from the mountains to the ocean
12:50At Cape Tribulation
12:52The rainforest meets not only the sea
12:54But the Great Barrier Reef
12:57It was Captain Cook who named Cape Tribulation
13:00Here, Cook said, all his troubles began
13:04He was nearly wrecked on a reef just to the north
13:09Cook and his ship, the Endeavour
13:12Limped up along the coast searching for somewhere to make repairs
13:16We'll see the refuge he found later on
13:19First, we're going to explore something that Cook only ever saw from a distance
13:24The rainforest itself
13:34The Great Barrier Reef
14:05This is one of the richest plant habitats in the world
14:09Two hectares of this rainforest may hold more different species of trees
14:14Than all the forests of Europe
14:17And here are found plants that are the world's most primitive
14:21Scientists call them green dinosaurs
14:25These she-oaks, for instance, are a species at least 60 million years old
14:35The dain tree is also a remarkable animal habitat
14:39And some species are particularly rare
14:43Only two types of kangaroos climb trees
14:46And both are unique to this region
14:51Giant North Queensland scrub pythons lurk on the forest floor
14:59There are also birds to avoid, like the cassowary
15:03Take my word for it, never corner a cassowary
15:07It has ruthless defences, razor-sharp claws that can and have killed humans
15:14I'm on quite a controversial road
15:17It slices right through the rainforest
15:20And many people objected when it was built just a few years ago
15:25Linking Cape Tribulation to the Bloomfield River
15:28It is now the most popular safari trail in the north
15:32And it's one of the few places in the world
15:35Where you can find a safari trail
15:38Linking Cape Tribulation to the Bloomfield River
15:41It is now the most popular safari trail in the north
15:44Right or wrong, the road exists
15:47And maybe that's not all bad
15:49In the long run, the new understanding people gain from a visit here
15:53May be the rainforest's best defence
16:00The new road ends at the Bloomfield River
16:03And it's very definitely four-wheel-drive territory
16:07At idle and at high tide, impassable
16:10Driving through here is not for the faint-hearted
16:38Before we get to Australia's oldest town
16:41I want to show you a very strange sight
16:44You know the expression, no good to either man or beast
16:48Well, this part of the country fits that description exactly
16:57This is the Cape Tribulation
17:00And it's one of the most popular safari trails in the world
17:05The Eerie Black Mountain
17:16The Eerie Black Mountain
17:18A huge pile of granite boulders
17:20Precariously balanced, a kilometre high
17:24Bacteria colours the surface black
17:27Otherwise, nothing grows here nor ever has
17:30The gaps are too wide and deep for soil to collect
17:34Originally, this was one solid mass of granite
17:38Over time, it has slowly cracked apart
17:43In Aboriginal terms, this is a dangerous place
17:49Not just in the physical sense, but it's full of foreboding
17:53Most of these gaps lead down into caves deep in the mountain
17:58Caves full of strange stories
18:10A cattleman looking for lost bullocks went down into the caves
18:14And never came out
18:16Nor did a wanted man, nor did the police tracking him
18:21Then, in the 1920s, two young men decided to solve the mystery of the caves
18:28They also vanished
18:30One explorer did live to tell the tale
18:33Deep in the mountain, he found a granite labyrinth
18:36Narrow tunnels and screeching bats
18:39Five dreadful hours later, he saw a chink of light
18:42And eventually found his way out
18:44He said, it's time to go
18:46He saw a chink of light and eventually found his way out
18:49He said he wouldn't go back for a king's ransom
18:59The mountain calls you to climb higher
19:02The higher you go, the bigger the boulders seem
19:05And the deeper the gaps
19:08As I said, Black Mountain
19:11Not fit for man or beast
19:14But it does wonders for the imagination
19:27Our next port of call is a town
19:29Which claims to be Australia's oldest European settlement
19:33This is the refuge that Captain Cook found after almost being wrecked
19:37Back near Cape Tribulation
19:41The town, of course, is now called Cooktown
19:45Today, the river is named after Cook's ship, the Endeavour
19:56Cook's repairs took 49 days
19:59And he stayed here longer than anywhere else on the Australian coast
20:03That's why Cooktown claims to be Australia's oldest town
20:07Just 20 years older than Sydney
20:09Mind you, there was a slight gap between Cook's visit
20:13And the next European settlement
20:15Just over 100 years
20:24In 1873, with the discovery of gold on the Palmer River
20:28Cooktown was brought back to life
20:31But when the gold ran out, Cooktown became a relic
20:34What one local called a fossil town
20:38No road south
20:40And just one slow boat a week from Cairns
20:43Cooktown, however, refused to die
20:46Today, regular fast cats from Cairns bring tourists
20:50And with them, a new lease of life for the town
20:54Cooktown now even boasts its first resort hotel
21:00One side of this river, however, has never changed
21:03It's still exactly as it was
21:05When Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks landed here
21:09Two people who want to keep it that way
21:11Are botanists Paul Burkett and Vera Scarth-Johnson
21:15Mainly I want to make people realise how important this river is
21:20And to keep it, not let it get filthy and disturbed like everywhere else
21:26Because it's got all these things growing on it
21:30And they've been lost in so many other places
21:33And things, in fact, when I first came here
21:37They were just gone, they'd been taken
21:41Out of various orchids and things like that
21:48Vera, like explorers 200 years before her
21:51Was surprised to find such totally different plant life here
21:55Joseph Banks made his name and reputation
21:58From specimens he collected along the river
22:00Plants European science had never seen before
22:04Vera is an artist
22:06And in her quest to highlight the significance of the Endeavour River
22:10She has decided to collect and paint as many plants of the area as possible
22:30Vera is 77 years old
22:33She doesn't get out on the river that often
22:36She now relies on Paul Burkett
22:38To supply her with specimens for her paintings
22:44This particular one is Hibiscus tiliaceus
22:47And that was mentioned extensively in Banks' journal
22:50What I generally do is I pick a larger specimen
22:54And I put it in the water
22:57What I generally do is I pick a larger sample than that
23:00With a few more leaves and buds
23:02So that Vera can paint the flower, the leaf assembly and the buds
23:07Then I have to come back later when the tree is in fruit
23:10And collect the fruit for her
23:13So that she can paint the whole set
23:27Vera's paintings are being housed in a special gallery in Cooktown
23:31A major tourist attraction
23:33Highlighting the special significance and beauty
23:36Of the plants of the Endeavour River
23:38However, Vera's concern is whether she'll be able to go on painting
23:43Long enough to finish the collection
23:45I've done 110 up to present
23:48I hope, surely hope to get to 200
23:51And I'll go on as long as my life allows
23:54And I'll go on as long as my hands and eyes will let me
23:58Depends how long I live
24:24Music plays
24:50North of Cooktown you get into drier bushland
24:53Cattle country
24:54That a handful of old peninsular families
24:56Had fairly much to themselves
24:58For most of the last hundred years
25:03On the edge of one of Queensland's largest national parks
25:06Lakefield
25:08Between the townships of Laura and Musgrave
25:11Is Mary Valley Station
25:13Owned by the Shepherd family for two generations
25:23Cow moos
25:28This is not beef baron country
25:30At 150 square miles Mary Valley sounds large
25:34But it's just a living
25:36You can run out of land even up here
25:38Morris Shepherd's father had one large station
25:41Which was cut into three for the three sons
25:44And today Morris's own sons help with the mustering
25:53Morris Shepherd and his sons are branding scrub cattle
25:57Wild cattle that have never been yarded
26:03When Morris's parents came here
26:05It really was the last frontier
26:08The only way into the station from Cooktown was by pack horse
26:11And that's how it remained for almost half a century
26:15This is a remote area
26:17And some would say the Shepherds and their cattle
26:20Still lead a tough life
26:24Cow moos
26:34Even in these days of helicopter mustering at Mary Valley Station
26:38They still rely on horses
26:44Well we do all our horse breaking ourselves
26:47The young fellows and I
26:49I thought it was all motorbikes and helicopters now
26:53Well we've tried helicopters and we've tried motorbikes
26:57But we've still got to go back to our horses every now and again
27:14Out this way the electricity comes from a generator
27:17In the back shed
27:20Change comes slowly
27:23The telephone has only just arrived
27:25In the form of a micro-link powered by the sun
27:28Morris is fascinated by the new technology
27:33The two-way radio however
27:35Is still the only link and lifeline
27:38With the Shepherds' neighbours on remote stations to the north
27:41Oh yeah, roger Mary, yeah
27:43Everything's okay out here
27:45It looks all nice and fresh after the rain
27:48Have yous had any up there at all, Ava?
27:51No Carol, we had enough to leave a few marks in the dust
27:55But this is our door
27:57For Carol Shepherd, Morris' wife
28:00Those neighbours can be as far away as 100 kilometres or more
28:04So this open session on the two-way
28:06Replaces the chat over the back fence
28:09When neighbours do come to visit
28:11They come to stay often without any warning
28:14Catering can't be easy
28:16Especially when you don't know how many might turn up for dinner
28:19Or for that matter, a bed
28:21But I'm happy to report
28:23That the level of hospitality is enormous
28:37Monday at Mary Valley Station is mail day
28:41This remarkable operation has to be carried out every week
28:45Just before the plane arrives
28:47Termites build these mounds so solidly
28:50That they've been known to flip over an aeroplane on landing
29:03The mail plane reduces the Shepherds' isolation
29:06Yet, it's a real challenge
29:08It reduces the Shepherds' isolation
29:10Yet, it's a reminder that the peninsula is still a frontier
29:14After all, not many people have to put up a windsock to get their mail
29:21It's too pretty a windsock to leave up all the time, isn't it?
29:24Yeah
29:25Very nice
29:26Weather or fate, it never goes
29:28So how often does the plane come, Carol?
29:30Once a week
29:31Once every Monday?
29:32Every Monday, yeah
29:33And...
29:34Fairly regularly
29:35Does he just bring mail?
29:37Brakes and passengers
29:38Ah, right
29:39Yeah
29:40And how isolated do you feel in a place like this?
29:42Don't feel isolated at all
29:44But what if, say, someone breaks a leg this morning, what happens?
29:48The flying doctor will be here by lunchtime
29:51We get better, quicker service here
29:56Than you do at the public hospitals
30:08100 cattle stations on the peninsula
30:11Now get their mail delivered by the flying mailman
30:14Today, this aeroplane will land at 14 properties
30:18Delivering mail, papers and fresh bread
30:21Right to the front door
30:37Isolation doesn't seem to worry the shepherd's eldest son, Roy
30:41Who's had a taste of city life
30:47Yeah, I've been down to Brisbane
30:49I went down for six weeks, down to Brisbane for holiday
30:51I went out to Mount Isa for the rodeo last year
30:53I go to Mareeville a couple of times for rodeos
30:56Follow a few rodeos around, have a look
30:58So you've got no ambitions to be a mild-mannered accountant down south?
31:01No, I don't think so
31:03I don't like cities
31:05I'm going to town for a fortnight
31:07Then I'm going to come home again and get out in the bush
31:09Yeah, it's peace and quiet
31:15It's not always that quiet
31:17Twice a year, here at the MCG
31:19That's the Musgrave Cricket Ground
31:22Just north of the shepherd's property
31:24There's a cricket match
31:26The two teams come from Laura and Coen
31:29Musgrave Station is halfway between
31:32The pitch?
31:34Well, why not on the Airstrip?
31:39So John, how do you reckon the old pitch will play?
31:41Pretty good, with the bloody rain we had last night
31:44It's settled down the outfield
31:46It won't be so hot today
31:48Not too keen on all this horse droppings around the place?
31:51You've got to have a few obstacles in your course
31:53Natural hazard, is it?
31:55All that play with the Coen boys or the Laura's?
31:57I think it's a bit of both
31:59We're used to playing on it like that
32:01Well, as long as I don't have to field at a silly point
32:04You know what that is, don't you?
32:06Furthest from the keg
32:08That's the main part
32:10All right, well, they've tossed everything
32:12Yeah, the new blokes are going to bat first
32:14The Laura fellas are going to bat first
32:16What's your prediction?
32:18Oh, I think the Coen fellas will beat them again
32:20I think today
32:22Now they've got a bit of fire on their side
32:24We might get beat today
32:26Now I've always loved a country cricket match
32:28Even if the temperature does hit 40 in the shade
32:31They take their game seriously here
32:34Even if they do lack a bit of finesse
32:36Give any Australian a bat or ball
32:39And he sees himself as one of the immortals of the game
32:42That's why I wrote this song about two cricketing greats
32:45The Tiger, that's Bill O'Reilly
32:48And the Don himself, Bradman
32:58When I was a kid each summer meant long days at the MCG
33:03With my dear old dad and his Gladstone bag
33:05And his thermos of sweet black tea
33:08Sandwiches and fruitcake
33:10Sitting up in the stand
33:13With my dad and his mates at the cricket
33:15I tell you, it was grand
33:19There'd be a big post-mortem
33:21As every wicket fell
33:24They'd pick their greatest ever teams
33:26And they wove me in their spell
33:28They'd argue, but there was one point
33:31They all agreed upon
33:33There'd never be a pair to match
33:36The Tiger and the Don
33:38My dad said, feast your eyes upon
33:41The Tiger and the Don
33:43You'll never see a pair like them again
33:47Don is the greatest bat of all
33:50And when the Tiger's got the ball
33:53He puts the fear of God in all us Englishmen
34:03The greatest thing about them
34:05Is a lesson for today
34:08No tantrums, no lair-rising
34:10Just play the proper way
34:13The Tiger and the Don
34:15Were the greatest ever seen
34:18But they always played their cricket
34:20Hard and fair and clean
34:22Feast your eyes upon
34:24The Tiger and the Don
34:27You'll never see a pair like them again
34:31Don is the greatest bat of all
34:34And when the Tiger's got the ball
34:36He puts the fear of God in all us Englishmen
34:41He puts the fear of God in all us Englishmen
34:46He puts the fear of God in all us Englishmen
34:52Well done!
35:12This area was once a huge cattle station
35:15But now it's a national park
35:17It's a place called Lakefield
35:20It's close to the MCG
35:22That's the Marsgrave Cricket Ground
35:24And Mary Valley Station
35:28Lakefield is one of the natural wonders
35:31That draws tourists to the last frontier
35:34Hollies Lake is one of the largest
35:36Stretches of water in the park
35:38A haven for birds, barramundi and crocodiles
35:51Lakefield National Park
36:02Cattle grazing is still allowed
36:04In some areas of the park
36:06Which means the shepherds still have access
36:09To their favourite fishing spots
36:15Lakefield is not only beautiful to look at
36:18Its sounds are captivating
36:21This sound comes from the beating of the wings
36:23Of whistler ducks in flight
36:45Brolgas are the largest birds of the park
36:47And are most famous for their dancing displays
36:50Imitating their movements
36:52Can often encourage them to perform
37:07Of course, sometimes it has the more obvious effect
37:17The sound of the wind
37:43The two dingo pups are hunting for food
37:47The pups know that if they go too close to the water
37:50They'll end up as a meal for the crocs
38:17Lakefield is a key destination for overseas
38:20As well as local tourists
38:22Eager to explore the last frontier
38:25Their guides, the safari operators
38:27Have become the new pioneers of the peninsula
38:40The tourists often come to the park
38:44The tourists often use Mary Valley Station as a base camp
38:48To pitch their tents for an overnight stay
38:51Their arrival has affected the shepherds' lifestyle
38:54It's also had an impact on the wilderness
38:57The new challenge on the frontier
39:00Is to cater to visitors
39:02Without destroying what tourists come to see
39:05One tourist operator who knows only too well of this dilemma
39:09Is John Hardacre
39:13Demand since 1985
39:16Possibly has been the most rapid growth
39:18The general road traffic
39:20Increased something like 200% from previous years
39:23Pressure on the area became very, very high
39:26In general, a lot of word of mouth went away
39:29That it was the last frontier
39:31For four-wheel drivers and general public
39:33To get away from it all
39:35It just rapidly grew in demand
39:38Particularly with tour operators
39:41To the point where it is becoming
39:43The hottest spot in Australia as a destination
39:45But for the average man in the street
39:47I think it's to come and see Cape York as it is
39:50Before commercial development sets in
39:53Before closures of areas with national parks
39:56If the last frontier is vanishing
39:58Some aspects of outback life may not be missed
40:01The droving days that opened up country like this
40:04Were romantic
40:06But often tough and brutal as well
40:09I wrote my song The Drover's Boy
40:11In memory of the many Aboriginal girls
40:13Who were abducted in frontier days
40:15Girls who were forced to pose as boys
40:18On the long droving trips
40:20They couldn't understand why the drover cried
40:23As they buried the drover's boy
40:26For the drover had always seemed so hard
40:29To the men in his employ
40:33A balding horse and a stirrup lost
40:36And the drover's boy was dead
40:39A shoveled dirt and a mumbled word
40:42And it's back to the road ahead
40:44And forget about the drover's boy
40:52Oh they couldn't understand why the drover and the boy
40:55Always camped so far away
40:58For the tall white man and the slim black boy
41:01Had never had much to say
41:04And the boy would be gone at break of dawn
41:07Tail the horses, carry on
41:10While the drover roused the sleeping men
41:12Daylight, hit the road again
41:15And follow the drover's boy
41:20Follow the drover's boy
41:25So when they build that Stockman's Hall of Fame
41:27And they talk about the droving game
41:30Remember the girl who was bedmate and guide
41:33Rode with the drover side by side
41:35Watched the bullocks, played the hide
41:37Faithful wife but never a bride
41:40Bred his sons for the cattle runs
41:42Don't weep for the drover's boy
41:47Don't mourn for the drover's boy
41:52But don't forget the drover's boy
42:05La la la la la la
42:08La la la la la la
42:35They call this Quinken Country
42:386,000 square kilometres of sandstone escarpment
42:41In the Laura Valley
42:43It holds one of the world's greatest rock art treasures
43:06La la la la la la
43:08Impressive, but eerie too, a reminder to me of how fragile a seemingly permanent world
43:37can be. Only a hundred years ago Aboriginal artists were still creating pictures like
43:43this in a tradition that went back thousands of years. In fact, the oldest rock engravings
43:49here have been dated back 13,000 years. Like symbols on a modern map, the meaning of some
43:56of these paintings are very obvious. Plenty of flying fox or emus, good fish here, a complete
44:05storybook of the local knowledge needed for hunting and gathering of food. It's when you
44:17explore with someone like Stephen Tresize you start to feel close to the people who created
44:21these paintings. Stephen takes guided tours through the Quinken galleries. A visit to the
44:28caves needs the permission of the Aboriginal custodians of these sites and they often
44:33accompany the tours. This is Giant Horse Shelter, Giant Horse Gallery and as you can see it's a
44:40very large rock shelter and it's got a very nice flat floor for sleeping, a very generous ceiling
44:47for protection from the weather and in fact it's an all-around a very good camping place. There's
44:52a lot of charcoal in the floor over there. There's been a lot of Aboriginal camps here over many
44:56hundreds and hundreds, thousands of years. The Aboriginal people mainly used these rock shelters
45:03as wet season camps. They camped up in the escarpments when there's water up in the hills
45:07in the wet and of course you camp in this rock shelter whilst you explore the food resources
45:13in this immediate area. A century ago the seemingly permanent world was shattered by the arrival of
45:19Europeans. This painting, believed to be the largest rock painting in the world, clearly
45:25records what must have been a cataclysmic event. Much larger than life. There's no doubt what the
45:32painting represents, a horse. And as you can see it's a yellow painting with a white outline and you
45:41can imagine it takes quite a lot of paint, a lot of ochre pigment to do a painting this big. So
45:45there's a real motivation behind doing this painting. It's not just doodling. I think the
45:50Aboriginal people were very surprised by the size of a horse when they saw one for the first time
45:55and were thus motivated to paint this huge figure.
46:02It was Stephen's father Percy who located these sites and fought to get them protected.
46:10Stephen found his first cave here at the age of 10.
46:14He's still exploring both galleries and the world they represent.
46:18My father, Percy, has uncovered a very large body of art in this area.
46:22He's had a systematic program of exploration since 1960 and has discovered and recorded
46:32hundreds and hundreds of rock shelters spread over several thousand square miles
46:37of this Laura sandstone escarpment country.
46:40The Kwinkin rock art is one of the great art bodies of the world. It's a great body of rock
46:47art put here by Aboriginal people over a very long period of time. And it's one of the few
46:56pieces of Aboriginal heritage which is so lasting and so obvious and there's so much of it.
47:06Living close to nature, Aboriginals also lived in a world that had its fears and taboos.
47:14Other sites hinted a more mysterious Aboriginal world.
47:18For the hunter-gatherers, religion and daily life were closely related.
47:30Presiding over the mysteries of this world,
47:32were the Kwinkins. They were eerie spirit figures from which the country gets its name.
47:51This painting must have been one of the last to be etched on these rock walls.
47:55Again, it shows the intrusion of Europeans into this ancient society.
47:59It's a painting of a trooper being thrown from his horse. It's rock art sorcery.
48:05The artist intended the horseman to be thrown from the horse to injure him.
48:09It's a sorcery painting, either against black police or white police or just white men in general.
48:19The Kwinkin country is still only half explored, so there could be even greater treasures here.
48:26Preservation of these sites is one of the great challenges for the future.
48:33The impact of tourism on the peninsula won't be as cataclysmic as the invasion of 100 years ago,
48:39but it will inevitably bring change.
48:43As the world gets smaller, all the places we think of as frontiers face a new challenge.
48:48Yesterday's frontiers are no longer the same.
48:51All the places we think of as frontiers face a new challenge.
48:54Yesterday's frontier trail can easily vanish and become the highway of tomorrow's tourist route.
49:01On the peninsula, that hasn't happened yet and hopefully it won't.
49:05Otherwise, the frontier we came looking for will always seem to be just beyond our reach.
49:21Take her as she is, her moods, her mysteries.
49:26Mother of us all, beneath the southern cross, in her frame of peaceful seas.
49:37Try to understand this land, Australia.
49:43Take her as she is, her moods, her mysteries.
49:49Mother of us all, beneath the southern cross, in her frame of peaceful seas.