S01E01 Arnhem Land
Major Les Hiddins of the Australian Army explores Arnhem Land, northern Australia, and learns Aboriginal survival methods. He's on a mission to record the many bush foods and medicines of northern Australia. Les travels to...
Bush Tucker Man
S01E02: The Wet in Port Keats
Northern Territory: south west of Darwin - Daly River to Port Keats - monsoon growth after 4 weeks rains - the wet January to April - mud 'roads' under water for miles and miles - excellent Land-Rover scene running along flooded tracks - everything comes to life - high grass growth and lush bush, fruit growing everywhere - wet weather, well sourced base camp needed - rebuilds favorite base camp at Port Keating - sets up sappling racks, benches, roof supports, clothes hangers, clothes line, bush strainer - works on foot - best way to gather specimens despite rain and - leeches caution - fish handline and bait/fruit from Syzyieum tree - fruit is tangy - polynesian arrowroot bulb - native grapes - root is local snake bite cure untested - clear sunny mornings mostly leading to afternoon rainstorms - high daytime temps, mid 40°C, builds sauna conditions - perspire 4 litres daily - lightning show every evening during wet - locals compete with birds and animals to harvest fruit, bird eggs etc - basis of nomadic culture relates to food chain - local Johnnie Tchula and family from Wadeye - excellent Land-Rover scene, tackling mud on boggy track - show tucker gathering in mud 'n mangroves - mud crabs - eats Teredo or mangrove tree worm (mollusc) - Les not impressed - back to base camp - considers this time of year so stirring - "When the time comes to leave, I'll be flat-out dragging myself 'way from th' place..."
Overview
Major Les Hiddins of the Australian Army was born in Queensland and was always interested in Aboriginal customs and practices and how those practices helped a people survive in a hostile environment for thousands of years. When he joined the Army he developed this interest into a skill and put it to good use. Learning how to survive in the Australian bush and then to teach others the same skills. He wrote various survival manuals for the Australian Armed forces and added survival notes to the back of maps used by pilots flying over the Australian bush. In this series of programmes Les shares that knowledge with us, teaching us some of his survival skills and his great respect for the Aboriginal people that taught him.
Episodes
S01E02 The Wet in Port Keats
Northern Territory: south west of Darwin - Daly River to Port Keats - monsoon growth after 4 weeks rains - the wet January to April - mud 'roads' under water for miles and miles -...
S01E03 Desert
Northern Territory: central Australia west of Alice Springs - Papunya - desert types - dry times - no wet season for some years - need tribal knowledge to find water - fierce competition for food...
S01E04 Prince Regent Gorge
Northern Western Australia: (end of wet season - start of dry) by chopper into the Kimberly sandstone plateaus - Prince Regent River gorge - boab tree and nuts - carved history on trunk by sailors...
S01E05 Rainforest
Far North Queensland: dry season in rainforest near Cooktown, similar to where Les grew up and started Bushtucker studies - Les used rainforest experience in Vietnam - Meg Waterfall, fast flowing river drops 1000m to...
S01E06 Northern Queensland Coastline
Les goes coastal. Bush Tucker Man, Les Hiddins is dropped into the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula and travels via chopper, on foot and even via blow-up mattress along the Jardine River to...
S01E07 Doomadgee
Crash survivors could have prevented starvation. In this episode, Les Hiddins is in the Gulf Country of Queensland around Doomadgee. In 1942, an American bomber crashed not far from here. Les relives the extraordinary story...
S01E08 Aurukun
Les Hiddins joins a group of soldiers on an expedition into the Bush to learn first-hand about the survival techniques of Aborigines
Cast
Les Hiddins
