(Newswire.net — 2nd August, 2013) Brisbane, QLD — What is Australia like today?
Australia is the size of a continent. Simon’s travels will take him thousands of miles across a country that is 30 times the size of the UK.
It is a vast land with extraordinary wildlife. Hundreds of thousands of species here exist nowhere else on Earth. What is the long-legged outsider.
A rich booming country on the edge of Asia.
It’s not just cricket and kangaroos.
Thinking of Australia, think again.
On his first leg of the journey he will travel form the heart of the country to the south coast, and then across the country to the capital of Western Australia.
Follow him as he joins an extraordinary roundup on a vast outback ranch … rounding up camels. Why are they being rounded up? Are the Camels causing damage to the environment in Australia? Do fences restrain Camels?
Find him with an environmental engineer as he travels along a river with catchment size twice the size of Spain. It’s Australia’s Mississippi. It is being threatened. Why are hundreds and hundreds of tree dead next to the river?
A legendary winemaker gives him a tasting lesson in the driest state, South Australia. Lesson one: how do you get more flavour out of wine? Which wine is generous? Simon learns some of the wine industry language. Find out how the vines are irrigated. Visit the biggest vinery in the southern hemisphere.
Simon visits the fishing capital of Australia. The town has grown rich fishing tuna. He takes out to sea to learn and see about tune ranching. A Southern Blue-fin tuna can reach up to two meters (6ft) in length. Are the fishermen really farmers instead? Due to the demand of this fish, it has been heavily over-fished from our oceans. Is breeding tuna the answer? Simons visits a secret facility that is trying to answer that question.
From the south coast he travels west on the Indian Pacific railway a trip of 2700kms. It carries 60,000 people a year.
He joins a real-life 21st century gold rush … he finds gold. People are finding gold. After the financial crisis gold prices jumped. A kilo of gold is worth $55,000. Not too long ago a man found a 24kg nugget. How much is that worth? Simon visits a family who moved to Kalgoorlie to find their fortune. People say Kalgoorlie lies on the richest square mile on Earth.
You’ll see a side of Australia you’ve never seen before. The show was produced by BBC and aired in Australia just recently on SBS.
Follow the journey of the intrepid traveller, Simon Reeve, as he travels across Australia in this first of a three-part documentary.
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