Back Roads

Back Roads returns to take you on a road trip along Waterfall Way, one of the most beautiful drives in Australia. This spectacular journey stretches from Coffs Harbour to Armidale, across the northern tablelands in northern New South Wales. The road winds through lush rainforest, woodland and five national parks, down to the sea at Sawtell. Along the way, there are gorges, rivers and waterfalls galore, including the second-highest waterfall in the country. But it’s not only the scenery that’s spectacular – you’ll also meet some equally striking people, from an internationally-celebrated pianist, to a bird-call enthusiast and a foreign horse woman who has fallen in love with Australia’s brumbies. But whether they shine on the main stage or off it, these very different individuals have found serenity and even sanctuary along the Waterfall Way.

This week, Heather Ewart and the Back Roads crew embark on a voyage of discovery along the southern Murray River. Life on the Murray might ebb and flow from day to day, but Heather’s met the locals who’ve weathered both the droughts and floods. Drifting through South Australia, Heather experiences the many shades of the Murray from its bountiful Riverland, to the spectacular golden limestone cliffs of Big Bend and the sometimes-stressed wetlands that are the key to keeping the river healthy. The Millennium drought has challenged the river communities as well as the Mighty Murray itself. Many settlements have had to fight to keep services as crucial as the ferries that connect them all. Others have diversified their farming ventures, whilst still other groups are working to recharge both the fragile landscape and its cultural heritage. One way or another, they have all been determined to find a way to continue living along the river that dominates their lives.

Back Roads heads to the small, yet spectacular, town of Natimuk in Victoria. While Heather Ewart is off visiting another part of the country, guest presenter Paul West, a chef and food grower, is in the driver’s seat. Paul grew up in the small NSW town of Murrurundi. He loved to scramble over a few rocks as a boy, but isn’t prepared for the challenge he faces at ‘the Rock’. Mt Arapiles or ‘the Rock’ as it is affectionately known is Natimuk’s favourite playground and one of the most challenging climbing destinations in the world. Paul West discovers that two worlds have actually collided in Natimuk, where the community is an unlikely mix of rock climbers and German-Lutheran farmers. Paul sets out to find out how or if they get along. He also arrives in Natimuk just in time for the famous Nati Frinj festival, three days of music, silo art and snails.

Heather and the team are in Tasmania this episode, visiting Scottsdale in the island’s north east. It’s a former timber town in a valley of rich, alluvial soil. However, after losing two major sawmills, a milk factory and a vegetable processing plant, the area’s unemployment figures doubled. With the only options to move or to innovate, locals started searching for alternatives. Now an unlikely combination of beer, golf and perfume are amongst the locally-driven tourism and agriculture initiatives that are revitalising the community. They’ve even created their own, new tourist attraction! While other communities might have a Big Banana or Big Pineapple, a local resident carved the Big Thumb from a fallen tree. It now sits proudly at the entrance to the town.

Back Roads heads to the the tiny Queensland town of Thallon. With Heather Ewart exploring another part of Australia, her ABC News colleague Joe O’Brien takes over the reins. Joe grew up in regional Queensland, and he gladly leaves the studio behind to head back into the outback. Thallon is a little town on the brink. At one point, even the town’s only pub was at risk of closing. But Thallon dug in, refusing to give up, and has come up with some BIG ideas to rescue their town. Thallon is also proof that home is where the heart is. Leading the charge to save Thallon is a remarkable woman who lives 9 hours drive away!

Heather Ewart visits Robinvale, in Victoria, which was named after a local soldier, Lieutenant George 'Robin' Cuttle, who was killed at the Somme during the First World War, near the town of Villers-Bretonneux in France.

While Heather Ewart is off exploring another part of Australia, guest presenter and triple J newsreader Brooke Boney is taking over the Back Roads reins, journeying to the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin. Originally from country New South Wales, Brooke Boney has covered stories all over outback Australia. Internationally known for its influential arts, as well as for producing a string of AFL legends, Bathurst Island and Melville Island are only 80 kilometres from the Northern Territory capital. However, their culture is a million miles away – a fascinating mixture of Art and music, fishing and football, and, of course, wildlife.

Back Roads heads to the surprising little town of Nyngan, in the dead centre of New South Wales. Nyngan is the gate-way to the outback, but more memorably the town sits on the banks of the Bogan River. Some ideas locals have come up with to boost the town’s profile have divided the community. Some love their giant bogan statue, others can’t stand it! In this sheep and wheat growing country, locals know how to laugh at themselves. They’re big hearted and full of even big ideas. From this isolated spot on the map, Nyngan locals are changing the lives of others. Nyngan is on a mission to help people on the other side of the planet.

Heather Ewart is on a road trip in Queensland with a much-loved travelling greengrocer. For 30 years, Fari Rameshfar has travelled through droughts, cyclones and floods to deliver fresh food to people living in isolation.

Heather Ewart heads to the NSW outback town of Lightning Ridge, a place of dreamers and drifters, with most residents lured by the black opals. Heather discovers the many stories of Lightning Ridge's outback grit.

Guest presenter Paul West visits the Furneaux Islands, a wild and windswept group of islands in Bass Strait, just off Tasmania. The cold ocean waters are full of treasures like lobsters and abalone, plus rusted shipwrecks.

Heather Ewart travels to the historic Victorian town of Beaufort, which is halfway between the two 'rats' - Ararat and Ballarat. 160 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, it's a place where old and new collide.

Back Roads travels to Marble Bar, known as the hottest place in Australia. Singer-songwriter and ABC Radio's Saturday Night Country presenter Felicity Urquhart takes the wheel as we visit red-dirt country in the Pilbara, WA.

Heather Ewart visits The Coorong, an area spanning 130kms of South Australian coastline. It's a stunning mosaic of wild ocean beaches, lagoons and wetlands, but in many ways it's become the forgotten end of the Murray River.

ABC's Joe O'Brien visits the remote Northern Territory community of Finke, traditionally known as Aputula and famous for the Finke Desert Race, a 460 kilometre off-road endurance rally, one of the toughest in the world.

The small town of Windorah in Queensland’s Channel Country is between Longreach and Birdsville – but as Heather Ewart discovers, it’s still more than ten hours from either.

Heather shares a couple of her favourite recent stories from Tasmania: Lawnmower Racers in Bream Creek and a wood chopping Grandfather and Grandson in Cygnet.

Heather shares a couple of her favourite recent stories from Victoria: A cheeky public artwork in Warrnambool brings two colourful characters together and rival footy teams in Corryong makes for plenty of local banter.