Coast Australia

Neil Oliver boards an iron ore carrier to discover only a tiny margin of error allowed in docking and loading these enormous vessels.

On this lush-green island, 1500kms from the mainland. Neil Oliver wanders amidst penal ruins, as he discovers the legacies of two historic figures; an audacious convict, and the second a reforming commandant.

Neil Oliver travels from Perth to Augusta. He begins in the rigging of the Duyfken, a replica 16th Century Dutch ship, the first known European vessel to visit Australia.

Neil takes to the air on an RAAF training mission to seek and destroy submarine invaders. Palaeontologist and explorer Professor Tim Flannery has a close encounter with history as he uncovers an unlikely meeting between two French and English navigators at Encounter Bay. Landscape architect Brendan Moar visits the moody Coorong to remember the ground-breaking Australian film Storm Boy. Neil investigates the quest to preserve Adelaide's mother-ship, freshly saved from Scottish ruin. Marine ecologist Professor Emma Johnston dives deep into the stunning underwater caverns of the Limestone Coast. In Robe, historian Dr Alice Garner gets a taste of how Victoria's gold rush was the making of this coastal town across the border, and Neil examines new archaeological evidence of a wild fur trade that sprung up on remote Kangaroo Island, and its lasting impact on the endangered sea lions of Seal Bay.

On this wind-swept coast, Neil Oliver investigates why no one survived the attack on HMAS Sydney in its dramatic battle with a German raider in 1941. Xanthe Mallett heads to the Houtman Abrolhos islands and unearths the gruesome tale of the Dutch Batavia murders of 1629. In Shark Bay Tim Flannery finds 3 billion year old life, while Neil Oliver explores why Carnarvon's jetty was once the life-blood of the Gascoyne region. Emma Johnston witnesses why the world's largest fish keeps returning to the crystal waters of Ningaloo Reef, and Brendan Moar catches up with coastal nomads off the grid, on the edge of the continent.

Along this historic stretch of coast, Neil Oliver explores Cape Otway and the beacon that helped birth a nation. Tim Flannery scours the water for evidence of the marine mega fauna that roamed ancestral Port Phillip Bay. Brendan Moar uncovers the history of the Great Ocean Road, and, armed with his pick, grasps the challenges of building a now world famous coastal road in the 1920s. Emma Johnston hunts for the delicate Weedy Seadragon and discovers a tragic tale of one artist much captivated by its vivid beauty. On the historic Loch Ard wreck, Xanthe Mallet dives for clues about how and why disaster struck, with only two lives saved, while Miriam Corowa discovers why the coast at Bells Beach keeps pumping out the perfect waves.

In the tranquil south-east of Tasmania, Neil Oliver probes Port Arthur’s harsh penal history. Brendan Moar examines the dramatic grip of lighthouse life on a remote Island. Emma Johnston dives into an underwater battleground to see how science and industry are saving the marine neighbourhood. Neil joins the southern hemisphere’s largest wooden boat festival. Tim Flannery investigates Hobart’s long and illustrious role in Antarctic exploration. Finally, Xanthe Mallett delves into the violent history of whaling, and the legacy that helped build a colony.

Across the glittering waters of Sydney, Neil Oliver explores the network of fortification to protect "Fortress Sydney", and discovers how close the city came to being taken in WW2. Xanthe Mallett learns how to make lime as the convicts did in her quest to understand the importance of oysters in building the early colony. Tim Flannery reveals the geological secrets of the city's vast and sprawling harbour and unlocks the riddle of the rivers that had Captain Philip baffled in 1788. Brendan Moar examines an international icon in engineering and design, and reveals the story of those who made the greatest sacrifice. Emma Johnston hunts for tropical fish in Sydney's temperate and diverse harbour.