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00:11The Australian Outback, vast, remote, hostile.
00:25For two men, this is the backdrop to a lifelong obsession.
00:31This is what we do. This is who we are.
00:34A childhood pact.
00:38To solve a 100-year-old mystery.
00:42We've been called eccentric and all sorts of different things.
00:46Finding Australia's El Dorado.
00:49A lost fortune in gold.
00:56Clues from one man hold the key.
00:59I think he did find it and he actually wanted somebody else to find it as well.
01:06In 1897, Harold Lasseter staggered out of the desert.
01:14Claiming to have discovered a massive outcrop of gold, known as a reef, worth billions.
01:22Decades later, while on an expedition to rediscover his fortune, Lasseter perished.
01:31Taking to the grave the secret location of his gold.
01:37Now, a new expedition is out.
01:41To discover the truth.
01:43Coming in real fast, eh?
01:46Survive the outback.
01:48Steak, steak. Big brown.
01:49Oh, whoa.
01:50And just maybe become billionaires in the process.
01:55Look at that.
01:55Fair income. Check this out.
01:57We found gold.
01:58Yes!
02:08Last time.
02:10Whoa!
02:11Oh boy, she's shredded, eh?
02:13The team battled extreme conditions to reach Il Pili, base camp for the 1930s expedition.
02:20This is where Lasseter and his camel was drinking.
02:23Wow.
02:24This is awesome.
02:25That's a cross.
02:26Holy moly.
02:27Unearthing the original airstrip.
02:30I think we're the first ones to find this.
02:33Jeff retraced Lasseter's 1930 flight on the hunt for distinct landmarks.
02:39Three hills, looking like three women wearing sun bonnets.
02:43There's one, two and three.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Might be onto something here, mate.
02:48Meanwhile, in the archives, Tanya uncovered some disturbing news.
02:53Lasseter should be detained in the reformatory.
02:57If he's in reform school in 1897, then his whole story about being in the outback discovering gold is not
03:07true.
03:16I can't wait to show the boys.
03:19Jeff Harris believes he has photographs of landmarks identified by Lasseter that will pinpoint the location of the gold.
03:27Oh, boy, you've got something to show you.
03:29How's it going?
03:30How's it going?
03:30Excellent, man.
03:31Hey, look, you've got to have a look at this.
03:33Check this out.
03:35Well, look.
03:35Oh, yeah.
03:36Three hills.
03:37Do you think that's the three sisters?
03:38Well, I blew over it, mate.
03:40But best friend Brendan Elliott and geologist Andrew Biles have bad news.
03:46Before we go too far, we've had a phone call from Tanya.
03:49Yeah.
03:50She says the timeline doesn't seem to be right with Lasseter, because in 1897 he was supposed to be in
03:56reform school,
03:56which puts him not in the desert at the time he said he was at 17 years old.
04:02You know how to bring a man down, don't you?
04:05Well, it's just a reality.
04:07It's a bit of a worry.
04:07It's a reality and this is what Tanya's feeling, so.
04:09We've got to get our story straight.
04:11We've still got some research to do and I think there's going to be some stuff that we have to
04:14go back and have a look at.
04:15I've got to get it right.
04:20Yeah, well, the news about the reform school surprises me.
04:24There has to be some sort of a mistake, I believe, because, I mean, yeah, I know what I've seen
04:28from the plea.
04:30I've seen some pretty good evidence.
04:33I'm not backing out now.
04:34We're going all the way.
04:49I just think we've just got to keep on pushing.
04:51There's three hills here, man.
04:53Yeah, we need to put our feet on the ground and get there and have a good look ourselves and
04:57check it all out.
04:59The team planned to trek 700 kilometres to a remote location in the Peterman Ranges,
05:05where Geoff spotted the three hills similar to those reported by Lasseter.
05:12To help zero in on the reef, the team have recruited a renowned gold prospector.
05:19G'day fellas, how are you?
05:20Hey mate, how are you?
05:21How have you been, Geoff?
05:21Top of the world.
05:22How have you been?
05:23How have you been, alright?
05:24Yeah, good.
05:24I've been lucky to find a couple of bigger discoveries in Australia.
05:27In 2016, cattle musterer and prospector Jonathan JC Campbell discovered a massive $8 million gold deposit in North Western Australia.
05:39So I was out in the Pilbara, had a contract catching wild cattle.
05:42Could see some old workings where a prospector had been, put the helicopter down, had a brief look.
05:47There was so much gold there that I was never ever going to pick it all up, so I had
05:50to peg it.
05:51It sort of led on to helping other people find gold, so the international companies coming over and they'd ask
05:57me to go out and have a look and just lucky enough to find it.
06:02JC's finds proves that large deposits of gold are still to be discovered in the outback.
06:08Everyone loves a lost treasure, and this is Australia's lost treasure.
06:12I don't think you could say that anywhere in Australian history that there's been a reef of this size with
06:18plum-sized nuggets.
06:20It could be a massive, massive deposit.
06:24G'day, Andrew. G'day, Tanya. How are you?
06:26Really good.
06:26Forming the rest of the team is historian Tanya Evans and geologist Andrew Bales.
06:32While he's unable to make this expedition, on the last one, Andrew found gold.
06:38You'd be interested, JC, because there's not been a lot of work done out in that area.
06:42It's not known for us gold, but we found some nice quartz with mineralisation and we crushed it.
06:48Bad.
06:50Two pieces of solid gold.
06:52Oh, really?
06:52So it just goes to show that there's gold in that country.
06:56So, Tanya, while Geoff was up on his flight, you threw us a real curveball as well.
07:00Yeah, Geoff, sorry you weren't there.
07:02I discovered that there are a series of articles from the Colac Herald in 1896 that suggested that Lassiter...
07:08...may not have been in the outback, he may have been in reform school.
07:11How long for?
07:12Look, there are still details I need to discover.
07:17So I think my job really is to go back into the archives and try and answer those questions.
07:22In my heart, I believe he was there.
07:24You know, let's prove that he was right.
07:26Yeah.
07:26That's why we're here.
07:27We find those hills, mate, we find the gold.
07:34Yeah, we'd better get a move on, fellas.
07:36We're in a bit of a race against the weather here.
07:38Yeah, no, we saw that big front coming in, Brandon.
07:41I suppose we'd better get down there as quick as we can.
07:43Catch you fellas off the road.
07:45Joining the expedition, cultural guides Leo Abbott and Lloyd Inkamala and support driver Rex Spencer.
07:54In tow, an all-terrain four-wheel drive buggy.
07:58Where they're headed, they're going to need it.
08:02Just keep an eye on the water and a lot of light and sort of out that north-west.
08:05Yeah.
08:06It's hard to imagine we're worried about weather looking at the sky we've got here, eh?
08:10Yeah, it looks beautiful here but we're going to be heading into a front.
08:14The weather in the Northern Territory is notoriously extreme.
08:20The wet season is fast approaching, bringing with it violent storms, lightning and heavy rain.
08:28The crew needs to cross dry creek beds but flash flooding can quickly turn them into deadly torrents.
08:37Potentially you could end up being stuck in the creek for weeks or lose your car or your life.
08:43When things go wrong, they go wrong and that can kill you.
08:49This thing is floating around a little bit there, boys.
08:52Yeah, right.
08:52Yeah, it's like every time we go down the dip and go over a bit of rice, it's just bottoming
08:57out, floating around.
09:01There, that's it.
09:03Pull over, that's it, we're done.
09:05Pull it around, that's not good at all.
09:07Only 20 kilometres out of Alice Springs, team mechanic Brendan has a car problem on his hands.
09:17Does it feel good?
09:18That's not good at all, mate.
09:24It's a bit soft in the back there.
09:26There's a bit of oil running down these shocks here, Geoff.
09:28Yeah.
09:29I'd say they've done the seals on the inside. It's quite dangerous, actually.
09:35After the last trip, the rough roads and everything else, the two rear shocks are pretty well collapsed inside, I
09:41think, by the look of it.
09:43Let's not muck around. Let's head straight back.
09:45Yep.
09:46The boys are already in front of us, so we've got no time to muck around.
09:48Well, we can't contact them right now, so we're just going to have to catch up later.
09:51We are currently in a bit of a rush with racing this storm, this storm front that's coming in from
09:56Western Australia.
09:57So, hopefully, we can get this fixed up and get back out there and get there in time before the
10:03rain hits.
10:04Heavy rain can close outback roads for weeks.
10:08The expedition could be over before it even begins.
10:19So, I've got to take the rear shock absorbers out, replace them and then get the wheels back on and
10:24get on the road.
10:26Racing against a massive weather front, Brendan, Geoff and JC have been forced back to Alice Springs to replace two
10:34broken shock absorbers.
10:37I'm in a hurry, mate. I'm going to get this done and get out of here.
10:40Big rain coming across.
10:42If we don't get through today, there's a good chance we won't get through all week.
10:48Now they're cooking.
10:49Are we ready to roll, boys?
10:50We're ready to roll.
10:54The pit stop has cost the trio three hours of valuable time.
10:59700 kilometres still stands between them and their planned rendezvous with the rest of the team.
11:06Looks like there's a bit of water on the road here.
11:08Yeah, there is a bit.
11:09It's not too bad. It's still manageable at the moment.
11:12If we get too much more, it might get a bit wilder.
11:18Looking at some of this country here, it's a pretty rough sort of country.
11:21Do you think Lasseter had come through here at some stage in his journey?
11:24Yeah, he did, mate.
11:26They come down from Milbilla and then they started heading this way.
11:30It wouldn't have been fun.
11:38On his 1930 flight from base camp to the Peterman Ranges, Lasseter spotted three distinct hills.
11:46He claimed it was near here his reef lay.
11:50On the ground, Lasseter and the expedition team tried to follow his flight path.
11:56But the brutal terrain proved impossible for their trucks to cross, forcing them back to base camp.
12:05After two months of finding nothing, expedition leader Fred Blakely had had enough.
12:11He declared Lasseter a liar and quit, taking with him the entire team.
12:19Abandoned, Lasseter's next move would prove to be his last.
12:26This isn't looking real good, Barry.
12:28Doesn't look good at all, I can tell you.
12:30Yeah, I thought we dodged the rain, boys, but I think she's got us.
12:33Well, I'm a little bit concerned if we go too far in and it gets any worse, we're not going
12:36to get out.
12:38This looks pretty wet up here.
12:39Yeah, it does.
12:41You want to take it just straight through the guts there?
12:44Yeah, I think so. It looks a bit dry.
12:46You gonna gun it?
12:47Gun it.
12:48We're gonna go.
12:48Alright, hang on. Grab onto something.
12:51With road conditions like these, Brendan knows that whatever he does, he mustn't stop.
13:05No, hang on.
13:11Well, hold on though, Brendan. Hold on though.
13:13I've got it.
13:15Don't stop in here.
13:16Don't stop in here.
13:17Don't stop in here.
13:18I'm not swimming.
13:24I'll give it to her, Brendan. I'll give it to her.
13:26Well, how deep's this one?
13:29How about that deep, bro?
13:30Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:36Oh, that's alright.
13:37Oh, that's alright.
13:39You got it.
13:40Told you I'd fight, didn't you?
13:41No, man.
13:48The trio finally reached the foothills of the 320km long Peterman Ranges.
13:56An indigenous protected area that few get permission to enter.
14:04How you going?
14:06Oh, on the way here, I tell you what, those roads were pretty wild.
14:10They are reunited with the support team, cultural guides Leo and Lloyd, and driver Rex.
14:17How was the trip in?
14:19Yeah, it's pretty wet out there, mate.
14:21Mate, it was that wet, I thought I'd have to swim in here.
14:24Alright, you want to hit the track?
14:25Oh, mate, I'm busting to get out there.
14:27Yeah, same here.
14:30I had a bit of a chat to one of the traditional owners.
14:33It'd be good to catch up and you fellas to meet him too.
14:37That's great, Leo.
14:38Thanks, mate.
14:39I'm very grateful that they gave us permission to come into their country.
14:42Oh, yeah.
14:44Yeah, so the plan is to try to get to the three hills that I spotted from the plane.
14:49Oh, yeah, mate, it's pretty exciting. I can't wait to get there.
15:04There were a series of articles from the Colac Herald in 1896 that suggested that Lasseter, then named Lewis Lasseter,
15:12may not have been in the outback, he may have been in reform school.
15:15So if Lasseter was in reform school, there should be a state record.
15:22So this is what's called the children's registers.
15:24Okay.
15:25So all of the individuals listed are young people who have been what they called either convicted or neglected.
15:31So the state's approach to this was to make them wards and to put them in things like reformatory schools
15:37that could take them through their childhoods.
15:42Wow.
15:43And I think Lewis Lasseter is the person of interest.
15:46So what do we have? So we've got date of birth.
15:4927-9-1880.
15:53Parents dead. Goodness, that can't have been easy.
15:56He was admitted into the boys' reformatory on the 7th of October in 1896.
16:03I'm just looking over here, expiration of term, 1898.
16:07Now that's a problem because he is supposed to be discovering the gold originally in 1897.
16:15Wow.
16:16Then we've got another...
16:18Oh my goodness.
16:20He absconded in October 1897.
16:24A good year before the term was up.
16:28He may have been out in the outback.
16:31Wow. I mean, this is extraordinary.
16:34So he absconds from Pakenham, which, as we're saying, is well out in the southeast from Melbourne.
16:41Okay.
16:41And so you're trying to locate him where and when after that?
16:45We're trying to locate him in the centre of Australia.
16:48Crikey, in two and a half months, is it possible?
16:54For his story to be true, the 17-year-old Lasseter would have had to have made a journey of
17:01approximately two and a half thousand kilometres in ten weeks.
17:09Hi, is that Geoff?
17:10It is.
17:11Hi, good to hear from you. How are you?
17:13I'm all right. Tanya, how are you, mate?
17:15I'm really well. I've been down to the public record office in Victoria, which has Lasseter's details from his time
17:23in reform school.
17:24Oh, cool.
17:25And he was supposed to be there until 1898.
17:28But guess what? The record says he absconded early on the 11th of October, 1897.
17:35Well, there you go.
17:35I mean, that is good news, but look, it's a little bit mixed because it was a journey he had
17:41to make in about two and a half months.
17:44Yeah.
17:45What do you think?
17:45What do you think?
17:47Well, I've done a lot of travelling when I was a young fella around Australia and, yeah, no, that's feasible.
17:5317 years of age and you're running away, I think it's plausible.
17:56Yeah.
17:57Well, that's great work, Tanya.
17:59I think it's important that I keep on digging.
18:02Well, you've made it a good news day for us anyway, Tanya.
18:05Yeah, that's great. Yep.
18:05Take care, guys. Good luck with your stuff.
18:07You too.
18:08Have a good night. Bye-bye.
18:14Nearing that Lester escaped is good news.
18:17It makes it possible that he was out here in 1897.
18:20Today, we're going to be trying to find that roof and, quite frankly, I can't wait.
18:25Back on track, the team are keen to explore the area around the three hills that Geoff spotted from the
18:33air.
18:33This is an all-terrain vehicle, four-wheel drive, so it can get to places where the youth won't take
18:38us.
18:38So we brought it in here to have a good look around.
18:43Don't forget, if you scratch it, you own it.
18:45I'm going to send JC out with Leo and they're going to scout the opposite direction and see what they
18:50come across.
18:52Lasseter wrote in his diary that he pegged the reef as a mining claim.
18:57A key piece of evidence of an old pegged claim are its distinct stone markers.
19:05That's what I'm searching for. I'm searching for his marker stains for his claims.
19:09He put down five to eight claims.
19:12There'll be eight stains in a similar position like that.
19:16One, two, three.
19:17One, two, three.
19:22Oh, got in.
19:27Hey, stop, stop.
19:29What?
19:30What?
19:31Stop.
19:35Hey, you want to have a look at this?
19:40Four rocks that could possibly be marker stains for an old claim.
19:46You're just getting excited, I think.
19:47No.
19:48It's pretty similar to what I found once before.
19:51Take a photograph of it.
19:55Two and a half kilometres north, gold prospector JC is hunting for signs the ground could hold gold.
20:04I'm having, obviously, a look at the quartz.
20:06That's the main interest here.
20:07And I'm trying to find some sort of mineralisation.
20:11The dirtier the better.
20:13It gets dirty because when it was formed, the earth's thrown all those minerals into it.
20:18And the more chance you've got to find a gold, but it's not guaranteed.
20:22But to me, just the quartz is way too clean.
20:26There's no mineralisation.
20:28It needs to be dirty.
20:29Um, you know, it looks pretty plain, to be honest.
20:33But, I mean, we're here, we might as well have a look.
20:45Tell us the story, Jeff. What happened?
20:49I've got something to show you.
20:51I found something similar to these fronts before.
20:54You know how the old-timers put marker stones down?
20:57Because that way, and that way.
21:00And with that rock, which is totally different to these two rocks, is in the corner.
21:05Okay.
21:05And that's pretty similar.
21:06So what worries me is when they used to do, say, corner markers and stuff like that,
21:10they'd have multiple rocks.
21:11Yeah, multiple rocks.
21:11So it wouldn't be just a rock.
21:13So, yeah, to be totally honest, if you look at it, you've got, yeah, three rocks, different rocks.
21:17Yep.
21:17But when they'd do a marker, they'd have rocks lined up like this and like this.
21:21And normally they'd put a couple of rocks on top of each other right on the corner.
21:24Yep.
21:24And then they'd go rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks, rocks.
21:26Yeah, but every bloke's different too.
21:28And every marker's saying, every marker will be different.
21:30Different sized rocks, different amount of rocks.
21:33When you've been studying something for as long as Geoff and Brendan,
21:37you can get very clouded and have your blinkers on a little bit.
21:43You know, if Luster had a walk through here and he'd seen something he liked,
21:47we might have just pegged this place as well.
21:49And if it is the case, why wouldn't I come and bat?
21:53The one thing I can believe is geology.
21:56I want something that sticks out that says that it's got some sort of ore in it,
22:00which I'm just not seeing at the moment, unfortunately.
22:03I don't think there's anything here.
22:18On the hunt for billions of dollars worth of gold, the expedition team deploy a drone equipped with a high
22:26resolution camera to search for stone markers indicating an old pegged gold claim.
22:33Oh, this is, this is unreal.
22:35You know, we could spend weeks trying to look at some of these places and we can do it now
22:39in, in minutes.
22:40If we find those marker stones we went to and then you zoom around there.
22:44Mm-hmm.
22:46It's pretty much down from there, I think.
22:48Yeah.
22:48Come down a bit lower.
22:49Down low?
22:50Yeah.
22:50Alright, I'll zoom down.
22:51Yeah, I think you've got it right there.
22:53Is that it?
22:54That's it.
22:55Okay, you want to get in a bit closer?
22:58That looks good to me.
22:59That's it.
22:59That's what we found yesterday.
23:00Yep.
23:01Like from there, do you want me to go in any direction in particular?
23:04North, if you can.
23:05Yeah, alright.
23:06I'm going to swing around my head north, eh?
23:19Yeah.
23:20It's all just looking like dry ground and bush.
23:22Can't see any diggings, can't see anything coming.
23:24No.
23:25Yeah, I was hoping to find other marker stones.
23:28So, yep, that's definitely an old claim, but it's not looking that way.
23:37Got some good footage here from the drone.
23:39You know, from my view, I'm not excited about the country, but this is your expertise.
23:44I mean, you've studied this for a very long time.
23:46What do you think?
23:47I don't want to just dismiss it.
23:49We've come this far to get to this area.
23:50I'd rather have a good look around.
23:52Yeah.
23:53I mean, we've been around the back of it.
23:54We've been up the side of it, but we haven't been into that area out there, so.
23:58Yeah, okay.
24:00Are you going to take the buggy in there?
24:01No, I'll just take the Prado, I think.
24:03Yeah?
24:03Yeah.
24:05Yeah, so JC, he's doubted me a couple of times on different things that we've already
24:11found here.
24:12He's got his ideas, but, you know, I've got my ideas.
24:19We're all looking for gold, but I'm looking for Lassiter's Reef.
24:23Let's have a look around.
24:25The point in Lassiter's Reef, I've got to find marker stones.
24:28Anything man-made out there is what I'm searching for.
24:32Right, I'm going up for a walk up the hill.
24:34Yeah, no worries, mate.
24:36We'll be back in five.
24:38Don't fall over.
24:40Can't promise anything, you know that.
24:42He's probably the most accident-prone person I've ever seen, Geoffrey, is.
24:49But, yeah, always got to keep an eye on him.
24:56Yeah, I came up here to get a better view of the reef that we've got here.
25:00The way Lassiter described here is it was 14 miles long going in and out of the ground.
25:06I'm looking through here, it's just that flat country.
25:10I'm starting to feel like this isn't the right spot to look.
25:13The three hills we've seen from the plain seem to be the one we're standing on.
25:17The one over there and there behind me, and then another one over to my right.
25:22But they just don't seem to be the right hills.
25:27They don't look like women wearing sun bonnets for one.
25:30And also, 35 miles away is supposed to be another hill.
25:34Shaped like a Quaker's hat with the top cut off.
25:36I'm searching out in the distance here to see if I can spot anything like that.
25:40And that's just barren land right up into the mountain range there.
25:47Who's to say he wasn't standing on this hill looking for his reef, you know?
25:52Well, we're just following in his footsteps.
26:08Hey, Rex.
26:09Hey, how are you, mate?
26:10Hey, mate, are those boys back yet or what?
26:12No, no, I thought they were with you.
26:13I haven't heard from anyone.
26:14No, no, no, no, they should have been back by now.
26:16Well, we've got to go hungry. I'm about to cook dinner.
26:18Well, the sun's going down.
26:20I might get on two-way up there and see if I can get hold of them.
26:23All right.
26:32Jeff or Brandon, you on Channel?
26:37Look, they should have been back.
26:39There's no reason why they shouldn't be back unless they found a big heap of gold.
26:42In this sort of country, you don't want to be stuck out here at night.
26:44I don't know what the guys have got with them, if they've got enough water or if they've got food
26:48or blankets,
26:49because this desert country gets cold at night.
26:51It might be hot through the day, but it could get bloody, mighty cold.
26:55Jeff or Brandon, you on Channel?
26:57Night-time temperatures in the desert can reach freezing.
27:01Without warm clothes or cover, hypothermia is a real risk.
27:06Jeff or Brandon, you got a copy?
27:10Yeah, we got you, mate.
27:12It's Jeffy.
27:13Been trying to get you for a while.
27:16Oh, true story.
27:17I would have probably been out of range, mate.
27:19Are you all right?
27:20Yeah, mate.
27:21We've got two flat tyres and our spares deflated as well.
27:25Oh, you're joking me.
27:26What, two flat tyres?
27:28I'd say we're going to be staying for the night.
27:30We're going to set up a camp in here and get a fire going.
27:33What about water, food, blankets?
27:35You got everything else?
27:36Yeah, mate.
27:37We've got supplies in the back of the car.
27:38I've got a blanket.
27:39Brennan's going to sleep in the car.
27:41I'll sleep out by the fire so I can get a decent night's sleep.
27:43You know what it's like with snoring.
27:46I feel your pain.
27:47I'm just glad you guys are all right.
27:49That's the main thing.
27:50Yeah.
27:50All good here, bro.
27:54Now we know where they are and that they're safe
27:56and they've got what they need for the night.
27:58Big relief.
28:00Just going to have to head out in the morning.
28:01Bit of a recovery mission.
28:13I had a look at the radar about 3.30 this morning
28:17and there's a big front coming up the West Australia coast
28:20and it looks like it's going to be coming inland.
28:22So it looks like it's heading our way.
28:24It might be a good idea to pack up and get out.
28:35You look at the horizon, bro.
28:37Look.
28:37Yeah, it's rolling in this way too.
28:39Yeah, and it's coming fast.
28:42Where's JC?
28:43Is he coming or what?
28:44I've met up and get him on the radio.
28:48If this hits us now, we're not getting across that little swamp.
28:53I know.
28:55JC, you got a copy?
28:58Receiving.
29:00Oh, good mate.
29:02Listen, we've got the light in the thunder.
29:03It's coming in real fast, mate.
29:05How far away are you?
29:08Oh, out of gas mate.
29:09Probably another ten minutes.
29:11Make it five.
29:12Put the foot down.
29:16Let's get out of this rain, Geoff.
29:19We're not going to stop him around fixing it.
29:20We're just going to pump it up and get the hell out of here.
29:27Oh, mate, I think we've got to get going, eh?
29:28We've got to get out of here.
29:30We've got to grab that compressor.
29:31Here he comes.
29:32Look at that water coming off the ground grove.
29:38Get him, mate.
29:40That's awesome.
29:41Here you go.
29:42Cheers.
29:43You know what they say.
29:44You done it.
29:45You fix it.
29:46Alright, I'll get the rest of the stuff packed up.
29:48This rain's going to keep us in here.
29:49Yeah, we'll be back in five, ten minutes.
29:52Come on, mate.
29:53Hurry up.
29:54Let's go, go, go.
30:01Well, hopefully this works.
30:03There's not too much of a leak.
30:04Yeah.
30:21We've still got to get down this road.
30:23We're not safe yet.
30:24We could be ripping the road up.
30:26Water could be flooding down these creeks and we're stuck.
30:29With time running out, the team needs to get to the firmer ground at the main track.
30:35Just got to be prepared all the time.
30:36It's unpredictable.
30:37You know, these places take lives.
30:39The dangers here is the food's already starting to run out.
30:42If we got stuck out here, we'll be in real strife.
30:50Ooh, don't get another puncher.
30:52Do not.
30:53Get another puncher.
30:55We've got a good water hole coming up here, Rex.
30:58So you might want to keep your momentum up getting the trailer through this.
31:02I'll follow you through.
31:14That's what we've been looking for.
31:17Woo-hoo.
31:19It's a good feeling to get here.
31:22Heading west, the team's next target is the nearby Sand Hill Country, where in 1930,
31:30a dramatic turn of events sealed Lasseter's fate.
31:48It hits a big change, isn't it?
31:49All those storms chasing us in there.
31:51We've got the belt and sun cooking us out.
31:55At the foothills of the Petermen Ranges, the bad weather is finally behind the expedition.
32:02The team is now approaching one of the most important sights in Harold Lasseter's story.
32:09A bit of a tough journey for him.
32:11Oh, yeah, mate.
32:12Tough is an understatement.
32:14You can imagine what we're doing now, you know?
32:17We're in comfort.
32:18I mean, imagine walking all this on a camel.
32:22Despite being abandoned by the expedition team, Lasseter was determined to carry on, searching
32:29for his lost reef of gold.
32:32For three months, he scoured the outback, eventually reaching the Petermen Ranges.
32:39His diary suggests that it was somewhere around here that he actually rediscovered his reef.
32:47He was returning to civilisation with the extraordinary news when disaster struck.
32:54After he's pegged the reef, he's loaded up his camels and he's heading back towards Uluru.
32:59He's gotten just up the track here when his camels had done the bulk.
33:05Those camels just took off with all his tucker, basically.
33:08You know, three or four days without food.
33:10It wasn't long before he was, you know, starving.
33:14Now on foot, Lasseter stumbled across the Pichinjarra community.
33:21He was probably the first white man they had ever seen.
33:27They brought him to a cave to recover, now famously known as Lasseter's Cave.
33:37Have we?
33:38How'd you go?
33:39So, now we've got our old mate Sidney and Norman too?
33:42Yep.
33:42Then we can sit down and have a bit of a yarn and...
33:44Sounds good.
33:45Yep, we'll see you up the road.
33:49Leo has negotiated a meeting with the descendants of those who encountered Lasseter in 1930.
33:56I can't be more grateful, really.
33:59I mean, they've opened up to us and they've welcomed us into their country,
34:03which means the world to us.
34:06Sidney James has knowledge of Lasseter's time here.
34:09Oral history passed down from generation to generation.
34:14Do you know what happened to his camels?
34:31The men helped him here?
34:33Yeah.
34:34And he got sick here, is that right?
34:36Yeah.
34:37Oh, okay.
34:38Do you have any stories passed down from how he died?
34:42He died.
34:44He died.
34:45He died from hunger.
34:46Anger.
34:46Starvation.
34:48Yeah.
34:49Yeah.
34:53Well, here we are lads.
34:56This is the place.
34:57This is Lasseter's Cave.
35:00In this cave, Lasseter would spend nearly a month waiting for rescue.
35:06Watched over by the wary Pichinjarra people.
35:10They would have freaked out thinking because seeing a white fella.
35:14Thought they were white devils?
35:15Yeah, that's right.
35:16You know, they would have thought, oh, monster or something like that.
35:19And that's why they would have been watching him and, you know,
35:22just keeping a distance from him until they worked him out.
35:26Yeah, right.
35:29He struggled to find food and water and became afflicted with trachoma,
35:35an eye infection that can cause blindness.
35:40If I was Lasseter and I was sitting here looking out there,
35:44it would have been a lonely place.
35:45It would have been lonely.
35:46That's for sure.
35:51In March 1931, a rescue team finally found Lasseter.
35:58They were two months too late.
36:05With permission from the traditional owners, Brendan and Geoff scour the area for more clues.
36:12Yeah, so a lot of the time Lasseter would carve into trees, dig under campfire.
36:19So the locals in the area wouldn't dig it up.
36:21They wouldn't notice that something was actually buried there.
36:25The 1931 rescue team photographed a marked tree.
36:30Dig in campfire.
36:32Geez, that looks like it.
36:34Does that tree there look like that tree there in the background?
36:40I'm looking for that, right?
36:41And that looks very similar to that there.
36:45Actually, to have that tree behind it, that far away, you'd have to move over there.
36:50Oh yeah, I see what you're saying.
36:53You reckon it's that tree maybe?
36:55No, it looks like it from here.
36:56And if I use that as my guide, there's a tree in the background.
37:02That's it.
37:03There's a big white ants nest here about the size of that tree.
37:06It is too.
37:07It's about that round.
37:08I'd say the two mikes have gotten to it or the fire's blown it out.
37:11But this is where the dig tree was.
37:14This is definitely it and it's all gone now.
37:16Yeah.
37:21Another marked tree was discovered that read,
37:24dig floor, top end of cave.
37:27Bob Buck, leader of the rescue team, did just that.
37:32There he discovered Lasseter's diary.
37:35One of his last entries reveals his despair.
37:40Why do I cling so to life,
37:43when a shot would end my torment?
37:47To die a lonely, horrible death is bad.
37:51But not to know why is worse.
37:57Three weeks of his end of his life was here.
38:00He's writing his final letters to his family.
38:03He's thinking of his kids.
38:06I can imagine how he feels, you know.
38:08Like he missed his family.
38:10And he's here on his own, you know.
38:11And that'd be a scary, lonely, miserable moment in his life.
38:18For me and Brendan to come to this place and think, you know,
38:22we're two ten-year-old kids.
38:23And we heard about this cave.
38:26And here we are, 40-odd years later, sitting in that cave.
38:31This is pretty much a dream coming true for me and Brendan.
38:36We're here to, in a sense, pay respect to Lasseter.
38:48The quest to walk in Lasseter's footsteps continues.
38:54The team's been given new information.
39:00So it's not too far up the road here, is it Geoff?
39:02You're looking for a radio tower that's up here.
39:04The exact location where Lasseter was stranded.
39:09Sydney's given us some information that's where the sand dunes are,
39:13that Lasseter lost his camels where they bolted.
39:16The vast sandhill region is a series of sand ridges
39:20covering hundreds of square kilometres.
39:22To get this information, you were pretty privileged to get it,
39:26you know what I mean?
39:28There's a radio tower.
39:31Lasseter could only carry what he could carry.
39:33So I know he buried other stuff there where the camels did the bowl.
39:37You know, imagine finding something there.
39:47Old camel tracks there.
39:48Yeah.
39:49He's gotten to this point here.
39:51This is where the camels have done the bowl.
39:53And that's where the story starts to end for Lasseter.
39:57It is like looking for a needle in a haystack, brother.
40:00Oh, mate. It's huge out here.
40:01There's a lot of country.
40:04While the team have narrowed the search area down,
40:07finding evidence of Lasseter's trek across these sandhills
40:11after nearly 100 years seemed slim.
40:15We only need one little clue, bro.
40:17And where are only this little dot on the sand here?
40:19That's it.
40:21Yeah, I'm just walking across the top of the ridge here.
40:24Just thinking that the old-timers would have been crossing this ridge
40:26and just trying to find some hollows or tracks where they come through.
40:46Oh, God.
40:48Got something?
40:54Hey, fellas. Come here.
40:56You got some?
40:57Yeah.
40:58Here we go.
40:59Here we go.
41:01Hey!
41:04What have you got?
41:04Have a look at this!
41:05Come here, come here.
41:06Awesome.
41:08It's an old tin.
41:10Holy moly.
41:12That's great.
41:13How good's that?
41:13Good find.
41:13That's pretty good, mate.
41:14This is a good find, eh?
41:16Wow, that's great.
41:17That's awesome.
41:18Looking like the right era.
41:20Yeah, like, things don't rust very much out here,
41:22and that's looking like that'd be about that age.
41:25I honestly didn't think we'd find anything out here.
41:27Yeah.
41:27I'm totally honest with you.
41:28I think that's a great find, mate.
41:29Bloody oath.
41:29That's really good.
41:30Yeah, give it here.
41:31Yeah, yeah.
41:31Bloody oath.
41:32On you, mate.
41:33On you.
41:34And what's the chances to find it here?
41:36All the way out here?
41:38Yeah, where Sydney said to come and have a look.
41:40Exactly where you said the kembals ran through.
41:41Yep, yep.
41:41Good find.
41:42Good find.
41:43Got the numbers here, so we should be able to date it somehow.
41:47And hopefully it'll come to around 19.30.
41:50Oh, my heart skipped a beat.
41:52I mean, I'm not saying this is from Lasseter,
41:54but this is something Lasseter would have carried.
41:59So when we get this tin dated,
42:00and if it does come from that era of Lasseter,
42:03this location itself will become a key mark on the map for us
42:07just to say, yep, this is the point where Lasseter lost his kembals.
42:12We know that we're definitely 100% closing in on Lasseter's roof.
42:21Two little kids got a dream.
42:2340-odd years later every year, you know?
42:26Extraordinary scenes.
42:27I don't know how to interpret that.
42:29That is truly, truly terrible.
42:32Oh.
42:34That's gold.
42:35This could be Lasseter's roof.
42:39Hzeter's roof is a huge little bit longer.
42:50This is a huge thing for us.
42:50A lot of people are unhappy.
42:52We have a lot to understand.
42:52We can't even go back to this place.
42:52This is the film that's being held right for us.
42:53It's the film that we've just watched.
42:53That's fine.
42:55I get hit.
42:57The film that we're talking about.
43:03The film is titled The Film and The Film and The Film.
43:05The Film and The Film and The Film and The Film,
43:09You
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