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00:30This time, Backroads is going for a really long walk through an ancient and ever-changing landscape on West Australia's beloved Bibbulmun track.
01:00Stretching almost 1,000 kilometres from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills, it winds its way south through mighty forests and follows the rugged coastline to Albany.
01:18The bush was the survival kit of the Bibbulmun people. It's our song line and our story line.
01:29The Bibb, as it's known, is famous for being open to all comers, first timers and old timers alike.
01:38You get little kids to big kids and they're all out doing the same thing. We're just out having a walk.
01:45Although not everyone's sold.
01:47I was so worried that one day she's going to get bitten by something or she's going to be killed by animals or bad people.
02:01But for anyone who's willing to walk, there's something precious to be found.
02:05I had lunch with an echidna one day and I'm thinking, everyone thinks I'm lonely, I'm not.
02:12Look, I've got so many friends, right?
02:15Might be able to get away with just looking up at the stars.
02:18I'm Rae Johnston, Wiradjuri woman and very keen hiker.
02:25And I want to know, does spending day after day immersed in nature, free from the distractions and pressures of modern life, actually change you?
02:37I'm about to find out.
02:48Zara White is reunited with an unlikely hiking buddy.
03:07Ready to hit the track again?
03:09Don't slow me down, old fella.
03:10I'll try not to, Zara. I'll try not to, eh?
03:13Well, I haven't told you, I've got a boyfriend now.
03:19Have you?
03:20Yeah.
03:21How long have you been seeing him then?
03:23Oh, I don't really know. I probably should have written that down.
03:28In 2023, Zara set off to walk the bib all the way to Albany.
03:33And that's how she met 75-year-old Leo Munkaster.
03:38Interesting.
03:39When I went for that walk was three days before that harvest moon.
03:44Leo's a Vietnam vet who's also a veteran of the bib track.
03:48He's walked it end-to-end many times over the years.
03:52Hello.
03:53Hello.
03:54How are you?
03:54You too with your sticks.
03:55Yeah.
03:56That's great.
03:57I'm great.
03:58Zara.
03:58Hi, nice to meet you.
03:59Leo.
04:00Enjoying your walk?
04:01We are.
04:01Loving it.
04:02I want to get a feel for life on the track with them.
04:05Let's do it.
04:05Let's go.
04:06And find out what possessed a 17-year-old Perth schoolgirl to set off on a solo 1,000-kilometre hike.
04:15So you two met on the track then, eh?
04:17Yeah, just got chatting around the campfire and before you know it, you know, living together.
04:22That was basically it.
04:26We got on well enough to walk together and have a bit of a joke and a laugh.
04:35Zara grew up hiking the Bibbulmun track with her dad and decided to walk it from end-to-end on one of their camping trips.
04:43But here we are.
04:45Here's Hewitt's.
04:45Oh, nice.
04:47Can I have a spell?
04:48Did it feel daunting at all?
04:51Not really.
04:52I mean, I suppose when you spend enough time out here, it just becomes like a little second home.
05:01What'd you do to prep?
05:03I was in Bali clubbing for a week.
05:05Stop prep.
05:07And then I had a day break where I packed and everything and then I came out here.
05:12But the last walk I'd been on, I'd just demolished my shoes, all taped up.
05:17And so I thought, probably should get new shoes.
05:21Yeah.
05:21So I ordered them, but they only came the day before I left.
05:25So I didn't get a chance to wear them in.
05:27Oh, no.
05:28Blisters.
05:29Yeah, all my toenails fell off.
05:30Oh, no.
05:31But you've just got to keep walking.
05:33If you've got a good pace going, it'll go numb in a while.
05:37Just tape up your toes?
05:38Is that all you do?
05:39Yeah, yeah, tape them up.
05:40So you're pretty tough.
05:43I like to think, maybe, when it comes to walking, I suppose.
05:48Where's that come from?
05:50Oh, my father, he was always a bit of,
05:52all right, well, you can just sleep here in the middle of the bush then,
05:55or you can get up and we can go to camp.
05:58Yeah.
05:58I hated it at first, really, but in the end, I love it now.
06:06Where are we?
06:10Oh, there's plenty of spots to camp here.
06:16We've got a proper dunny.
06:18Good water tank.
06:20Can't really ask for much more than this, really.
06:23Nice.
06:23What are you having for dinner tonight?
06:31Two-minute noodles.
06:32Oh, no way!
06:34Always got to do the two-minute noodles.
06:37What am I doing tomorrow?
06:38It's you're waking up, you're eating powdered milk and nurture grain,
06:42and then you're doing a few hours of cardio,
06:44and then the next day you're doing it again.
06:46It's just peace.
06:47It's pure bliss.
06:48I woke up a little early this morning.
06:54It's nice and quiet out there.
06:58And I'll grab my beanie, grab my kitchen bag, go have a cuppa.
07:04So you've got a pretty funky beanie there, Leo.
07:11You've got a story behind that one?
07:12Yeah, yeah.
07:13Courtesy of Zara.
07:15That was when I started to think about the,
07:17what am I going to do in return?
07:19And that's where the stick come in line.
07:20Oh, nice.
07:21So Zara was sort of kind enough to crochet, you know,
07:24nip me something.
07:25Oh, fair enough.
07:26I've got to do something in return.
07:28Oh, there you go.
07:29Your head looked cold.
07:30Well, it does keep it warm.
07:33Yeah, that's good.
07:34That is the point, mostly.
07:37Yeah.
07:38If it's plenty of warmth, you know what I mean,
07:39I think I could rob a bank.
07:41Yeah.
07:41I like that.
07:43It's a nice reminder of your friendship as well, you know.
07:46Like, it's a pretty unusual friendship to have, you know,
07:49like a 75-year-old and an 18-year-old.
07:52That wouldn't happen normally, right?
07:54That's the great thing about the track, though.
07:56Yeah.
07:56To meet people you wouldn't normally meet.
07:57I wouldn't come across Leo on, you know, Instagram or anything like that.
08:02You don't have Instagram, do you know what it is?
08:05I'm still using smoke signals.
08:06Yeah, exactly.
08:08There you go.
08:12I'm hoping to catch up with Zara again further down the track
08:16and find out how her epic walk ended.
08:21For now, I'm excited to discover this beautiful country on foot.
08:27All you've got to do is follow the trail markers
08:36with their distinctive yellow snake.
08:39It's the woggle, the dreamtime creation serpent
08:43that shaped the surface of the land with the movement of its body.
08:46The woggle appointed the Bibbulmun Nation as guardians of country.
09:03So, I thought I should pay my respects
09:05to one of the local traditional owners.
09:09Before anything, we've got to do a ritual, OK?
09:12OK.
09:12James Kahn is a descendant of the Wilman tribe,
09:20known as the Freshwater People of the Bibbulmun Nation.
09:25He says this spot on the Collie River
09:27is the resting place of the Nungangaritch woggle,
09:31the bearded rainbow serpent.
09:33And you watch that wind blow up in a minute.
09:53Come on, old fellas.
09:54Come and join us.
09:55We're asking our ancestors
09:58and the creator of this waterway,
10:01the Nungangaritch woggle,
10:03to come and join us.
10:07Yeah, we got you.
10:13It's nice to get me shoes off for a bit.
10:15Well, there you go.
10:16There's these shoes and that.
10:17You feel the hurt.
10:18Yeah.
10:19This is our budja,
10:21our Mother Earth,
10:23the protector of us all,
10:25along with the freshwater serpent,
10:26the creator of the waterway.
10:30So, if you get them plants there...
10:32These ones here?
10:33Yep.
10:35These honeysuckle ones,
10:38get the nectar.
10:40There you go.
10:40There you go.
10:41That's your lollies.
10:42Bush lollies.
10:43Yes, exactly.
10:44Rub your hands together.
10:49The bush was the survival kit
10:51of the Bibbulmun people.
10:54That's why they named the Bibbulmun tracks
10:56after the Bibbulmun nation.
11:06But is there a God?
11:08Like our God that's in this water.
11:10And we abide by it.
11:12It's our song line
11:14and our story line.
11:16And that's how we want to keep it.
11:19So, there you go, my dear.
11:23You got a photo here?
11:25And the ducks, will you be?
11:27Come on.
11:28I feel like more and more Australians
11:41are keen to connect with country,
11:43especially on foot.
11:45Yes, we're going.
11:46Follow me.
11:46Do it now.
11:51All right.
11:52For anyone wanting to try a multi-day hike
11:55but nervous about going it alone,
11:58there's always the option of a tour.
12:00Here we go, folks.
12:01The start of your adventure.
12:04Steve Sirtis is the lead guide
12:06at the Bibbulmun Track Foundation,
12:08the mostly volunteer-led organisation
12:11that manages the track.
12:14Just come up forward, folks,
12:15because we want to talk a little bit
12:17about this giant
12:18so you get a chance to see it.
12:20None of these WA locals
12:24have much bushwalking experience,
12:26so they've signed up
12:28for a guided overnight hike.
12:30The carry trees
12:32basically spend the first 80 years
12:34of their life or so
12:35getting to the top.
12:36They're competing with all the other trees.
12:38Then they'll go,
12:39OK, I'm happy here.
12:40I'll get a bit fatter.
12:42A bit like we do, right?
12:45Steve says he stumbled onto the track
12:48by accident almost 30 years ago.
12:51Hello.
12:52Very few.
12:53Oh, yeah.
12:54I came across this sign
12:56on a narrow trail through the bush
12:58and the sign said
13:00Perth with an arrow pointing to the left
13:03and Walpole with an arrow pointing to the right.
13:07And I looked at the sign
13:09and I kind of looked up the track both ways
13:11and thinking,
13:12what is this?
13:14And that was the catalyst for me.
13:16That was,
13:18OK, I want to find out more.
13:19People actually do this.
13:20People walk long distances.
13:27Walking is important for me
13:29because you're doing it at a pace
13:31that people have walked for millennia.
13:35You're not in a car.
13:36You're walking through
13:37and absorbing everything around you slowly.
13:42It's how you're meant to do it.
13:43It's how you get to know a place.
13:45Exactly right.
13:51A lot of people I speak to,
13:54it's a life-changing experience,
13:56particularly if you're doing end-to-end.
14:04Wheel's up!
14:0530 minutes, everybody!
14:07Thank you, guys.
14:07I see people who come out for a day walk
14:10for the first time
14:11and they go,
14:12you know,
14:12the bush is this big thing
14:13they just don't know about.
14:15There's a lot of barriers to break down.
14:17Smile!
14:19And they start with a day walk
14:20and then they'll do a longer day walk
14:22to an overnighter
14:23and then you can see it in their eyes,
14:26they're really getting hooked.
14:27And then one day they say,
14:28I've done an end-to-end.
14:30And it's like,
14:31wow, fantastic.
14:35From what Steve told me,
14:37at least a few people have been altered
14:39by exploring the world on foot
14:41rather than from a speeding car.
14:43Perth might sit on the Indian Ocean,
14:56but it's a long walk to the beach
14:57if you take the bib track.
15:02743 kilometres, to be exact.
15:13It's so rugged and gnarly down here.
15:20Imagine what it would be like
15:21to arrive after weeks of walking.
15:24It would be so invigorating.
15:25It's like the beginning of a new chapter.
15:33It's the chapter in which
15:34a young woman from a distant land
15:37finds peace on the Bibbulmun track.
15:40So come to the front here a little bit.
15:42Yeah, because it's a little bit more light.
15:43All right, right there, right there, right there.
15:45There we go.
15:47OK.
15:48I meet Bellamore and Diakase
15:51and her mum Trinity
15:52at the foot of a tree
15:53straight out of a fairy tale.
15:56How big is it in here?
15:58It is huge.
15:59The giant red tingles
16:01have the largest girth of any eucalypt.
16:04Let me tell you,
16:05if mum was to pose,
16:08she would lean on the tree like this.
16:10Yeah, do it then.
16:11Like...
16:12Their family moved to Perth
16:13in 2006 from a refugee camp
16:16in Tanzania
16:17after fleeing a civil war in Burundi.
16:20Shall we hold your pose?
16:22Shall we hold your pose?
16:23I don't know why she's shy, Lace.
16:26She loves photos.
16:28Yeah, that's the one right there.
16:30Bellamore was introduced
16:32to the Bibbulmun track
16:33as a 16-year-old
16:35by the First Hike Project,
16:37which takes young refugees
16:38into the bush.
16:41I loved walking,
16:42but I never said that it's hiking.
16:46I think living in a refugee camp,
16:48like, walking was so normal.
16:49Like, there wasn't any means of transport.
16:52Yeah.
16:53So, walking to school,
16:54walking to my friends,
16:55going into the forest,
16:57it was just a normal part of life.
16:59Yeah.
17:00It was not, like, very safe.
17:04There is wild animals.
17:07Like, where we were in a refugee camp,
17:10a lot of people died.
17:11The first hike we did,
17:16I went with all of them.
17:19But how I feel about her
17:21when she goes by herself,
17:23I was so worried
17:25that one day she's gonna get bitten
17:28by something,
17:32or she's gonna be killed
17:34by animals or bad people.
17:37I'm always let her know
17:40to leave her location open
17:43so I can keep watching
17:47where she is.
17:50Tomorrow, we'll all face our fears
17:53on the track,
17:53or at least above it.
17:55The Valley of the Giant's Treetop Walk
18:10was designed to showcase
18:11the mighty red tingle
18:12while protecting their shallow roots,
18:15which are easily damaged by walkers.
18:19Mama, stop looking down.
18:20Don't do it. Don't do it.
18:20Don't look down.
18:22Mama, don't look down.
18:23It's shaking.
18:24It's shaking.
18:25There's only a few thousand
18:28of these Gondwanan relics
18:30left on Earth,
18:31and they're all found
18:33in this patch of forest.
18:37Would you say that hiking's
18:39a hobby for you,
18:40or is it something
18:41a bit deeper than that?
18:42It's deeper.
18:43I think a lot of people do hiking
18:45for recreational reasons,
18:47but for me, it's life.
18:51Everyone's got different
18:52coping mechanisms,
18:53but for me, it's out in nature.
18:55Like, I've just calmed the breeze,
18:57the birds and the animals,
18:59everything.
19:05Why was it important
19:07for you to find that peace?
19:08I think it, in my head,
19:11it was quite loud.
19:12A lot of anxiety,
19:14especially the childhood trauma stuff,
19:16you know, it carries.
19:19You experience racism,
19:21and then you're trying
19:21to figure out where you are,
19:23and what is this place,
19:24this foreign place?
19:25Once I stepped on the track,
19:30I felt that I could be myself,
19:33because nature,
19:33there's no judgement.
19:35Nobody cares.
19:36Everyone's just walking,
19:38you know?
19:39If you are caring
19:41for the country that you're on,
19:42it will look after you,
19:44no matter where you've come from.
19:45Absolutely.
19:46That's what I was getting at.
19:47Yeah.
19:47Yeah.
19:48Look at the sun.
19:51Look at the sun.
19:52I don't know.
19:53It's just, like...
19:53It's come out.
19:54It's right here.
19:59Will the rest of the walk
20:01feel like an anti-climax
20:02after those magnificent trees?
20:09I'm on my way
20:10to meet a couple from Walpole
20:12who think there's another highlight
20:14of the bib track,
20:15equally precious,
20:16but often overlooked.
20:21Hi, Ray.
20:22Hi.
20:22David, nice to meet you.
20:23David, nice to meet you.
20:24Hi, Ray.
20:26David and Liz Edmonds
20:27are among a passionate group of locals
20:29who run the Walpole-Nornalup
20:32National Park Association.
20:35They want to show me an ecosystem
20:36that covers only 3%
20:38of the world's surface,
20:40but stores 30% of its carbon,
20:42twice as much
20:44as the world's forests.
20:47So this is a peatland
20:48that we're going to head into.
20:50So before we go in there,
20:51we actually do have to clean our shoes.
20:54Protect the plants,
20:55protect the frogs.
20:59So we just try
21:00and walk carefully,
21:02not to trample anything
21:03and not to actually create a track.
21:05Yes.
21:06David's a wildlife vet
21:07and regenerative farmer.
21:09Liz is a scientist
21:10who studies ancient ecosystems.
21:15They share a passion for peat
21:17and the plants and animals,
21:20some incredibly rare,
21:21that depend on it.
21:23Peat is a type of soil.
21:26The plants that grow here
21:27create the soil
21:29that they then grow in.
21:31Basically, it is like a giant sponge,
21:33pretty much a filter.
21:34And just over there,
21:37I've noticed
21:37another really rare,
21:40really, really rare species.
21:42Haemodorum is a blood root.
21:44It's related to the kangaroo paws.
21:47So this one hasn't been recorded here before
21:49because the peat's never been explored before.
21:51So we're recording it now?
21:52Yeah, it's the first time
21:53it's actually been recorded
21:54in this location.
21:55This unique ecosystem
22:00could be 5,000 to 6,000 years old.
22:04But in a rapidly warming climate,
22:06peatlands are under threat.
22:09And when they're hit by fire,
22:11there's a lot at stake.
22:14Peatlands can burn for many months.
22:16We're seeing that happening
22:17on a very regular basis nowadays.
22:19And they're releasing
22:20what is many thousands of years
22:22worth of stored carbon
22:23in a matter of a few days or weeks.
22:25David and Liz
22:27spearheaded a community campaign
22:29to protect the local peatlands,
22:32applying to have them federally listed
22:34as a threatened ecological community.
22:38It started in 2017
22:40and that nomination
22:41was finally successful
22:42last year in 2023.
22:44How did it feel
22:44when you found out
22:45it was successful?
22:48Around the kitchen table,
22:49we were just like,
22:50oh, it was a champagne moment.
22:52It was...
22:53But we were in shock as well.
22:54It was...
22:55It was just wonderful.
22:58Liz fell in love
22:59with this country
23:00and David
23:01more than 30 years ago
23:02when she came on field trips
23:04from the University of WA
23:06to study the peat.
23:08Oh, hello.
23:09You're an artist as well.
23:11I try to be, yes.
23:13She's now an established local artist
23:17who makes her own special watercolours
23:20from dried peat
23:21infused with ancient fossil pollen.
23:25I think this grounds you.
23:27This is a really grounding...
23:29As we chat,
23:30I spot a couple of hikers
23:31heading towards us
23:32on the Bibb track.
23:34Hello.
23:35Hello.
23:35How are you?
23:36Good.
23:36All right.
23:37Come far?
23:38From Kalamanda.
23:39Oh, goodness.
23:40Congratulations.
23:42Yes.
23:42It's just a real treat
23:43to have the Bibb track
23:44coming through this area.
23:45And it's in our backyard.
23:47You can just travel through
23:48at your own pace,
23:49in your own time,
23:50and do your own things.
23:52I'm painting.
23:52They were walking.
23:53I'm only a couple of days
24:02from the end of the Bibb track,
24:04and the young woman
24:04that I met at the start,
24:06Zara White,
24:07is camping up here somewhere.
24:09I'm going to drop in for a cuppa.
24:18Zara completed her epic
24:20end-to-end hike
24:21of the Bibb track in 2023.
24:24Setting a record
24:25as the youngest person
24:26to hike the 1,000 kilometres
24:28in one go.
24:30She also raised
24:32more than $13,000
24:33for the Bibbbleman Track Foundation
24:35and a charity
24:37that rehabilitates
24:38black cockatoos.
24:41Walking up to 38 kilometres a day,
24:44it took the 17-year-old 54 days.
24:49Good to see you again.
24:50You all right?
24:51Good.
24:51Good.
24:51Good.
24:53There you go.
24:54Hi.
24:55Hi.
24:56Wow, look at this.
24:58Yeah, that's pretty nice.
24:59This is real.
25:00This is real.
25:00This is real.
25:00So, you did the whole end-to-end?
25:13Yeah.
25:14What was the hardest part,
25:15do you reckon?
25:16I actually run out of mascara
25:19just coming into Whirlpool.
25:22So, about two days
25:23and that was pretty rough
25:25coming through there.
25:27For real?
25:27I made it, yeah.
25:29Do you reckon you'd do
25:30another end-to-end?
25:31A hundred percent.
25:32Yeah?
25:32Yeah.
25:33I've been thinking about doing a yo-yo,
25:35which is where you go down
25:36and then back.
25:37I knew you were going to say that.
25:38I knew you were going to say that.
25:39I was trying to convince my parents
25:41to let me do one at the start of the year,
25:44but they kind of,
25:45they're like,
25:46nah.
25:47How long do you...
25:48You just got back.
25:49You can't go back again.
25:51How long do you reckon
25:52it'll be before they can't stop you?
25:55I reckon end of next year.
25:57After Everest,
25:59I reckon that's when we're going to do...
26:00Well, you're doing Everest?
26:02Only to base camp.
26:03Only...
26:04Well, that's not the real thing.
26:07Oh, come on.
26:08That's still pretty intense.
26:12I was already in love with the trap,
26:14but especially after my end-to-end.
26:16It's proper love, I reckon.
26:18So, hopefully I'm going to move into
26:21parks and wildlife
26:23and, you know,
26:24spend all day out here
26:25helping out.
26:30I'm now less than two hours
26:32from the end of the bib track
26:34in Albany.
26:36When I set off,
26:38I wondered if long walks
26:39could change you.
26:41And yesterday, Zara told me
26:43they've actually shaped who she is.
26:48Everyone out here knows
26:52there's a magic to the rhythm
26:53of a really long walk
26:55and to the community
26:57of like-minded souls
26:58it attracts.
27:02I found my place.
27:04I got to finally say,
27:06actually, Australia's home.
27:07There's that kind of magic
27:18that just happens
27:18and people go,
27:19ah, wow,
27:21I get it.
27:21Thanks for joining us
27:38on our journey
27:39right around the country.
27:40We're already out
27:41filming People and Places
27:43for our next series
27:44and we hope to see you
27:45somewhere on the back roads.
27:47We'll see you next time.
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