Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL YOU KNOW YOU'RE

WATCHING TELEVISION THAT'S EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL.

THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: I M DYLAN DREYER, JOIN ME ON AN ADVENTURE TO

THE LAND DOWN UNDER; THE ISLAND NATION OF

AUSTRALIA.

WE LL EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF THIS ANCIENT LAND AND

WE LL MEET UNIQUE AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS

STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE FROM KANGAROOS TO KOALAS,

EVEN THE PLATYPUS.

WE LL REVEAL HIDDEN CAVES UNTOUCHED BY HUMAN BEINGS.

AND WE LL TRAVEL TO THE OLDEST AND MOST INCREDIBLE

FOREST ON EARTH WHERE TREES HAVE GROWN SINCE THE

TIME OF DINOSAURS.

DYLAN: AUSTRALIA IS HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST UNIQUE

SPECIES ON THE PLANET; ISOLATED FROM THE REST OF

THE WORLD FOR MORE THAN 40 MILLION YEARS.

AUSTRALIA IS THE EARTH S SMALLEST CONTINENT,

HOME TO A MEGA DIVERSE COLLECTION OF ANIMALS,

BUT OVER 70 PERCENT IS CLASSIFIED AS DESERT WHERE

VERY LITTLE GROWS.

IT S AN ANCIENT LAND HOLDING SECRETS TO SOME OF

THE OLDEST MYSTERIES ON EARTH.

DYLAN: TOWARDS THE END OF 1994 EXPLORERS FOUND A

SMALL GROVE OF ANCIENT TREES; REMNANTS OF A

SPECIES THAT WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN EXTINCT FOR

65 MILLION YEARS.

IT S CALLED THE WOLLEMI PINE.

FINDING THIS TREE WAS ABOUT AS LIKELY AS FINDING

A SMALL DINOSAUR WANDERING THROUGH THE FOREST.

THEY ARE THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE FIRST

TREES TO EVER GROW ON EARTH.

THE WOLLEMI PINES ARE AMONG THE RAREST LIVING

THINGS ON OUR PLANET.

THEIR EXACT LOCATION IS A CLOSELY-HELD SECRET.

ACCESS IS STRICTLY CONTROLLED.

UNTIL NOW, THIS WILDERNESS WAS ENOUGH PROTECTION FOR

THEM BUT IN OUR MODERN WORLD NOTHING IS SAFE FOR

LONG.

DYLAN: WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA, THE LAND DOWN UNDER.

THIS IS THE OLD WORLD.

WHEN EUROPE WAS YOUNG THIS WAS ANCIENT.

WHEN THE GRAND CANYON WAS A SHALLOW CREEK THESE

VALLEYS LOOKED MUCH AS THEY DO TODAY.

OVER EONS OF TIME AUSTRALIA EVOLVED AN

EXTRAORDINARY DIVERSITY OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS UNTIL

THE ARRIVAL OF MANKIND.

ALL OF THE VERY LARGE ANIMALS ARE NOW EXTINCT.

SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS ANOTHER 100

SPECIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS HAVE VANISHED;

5,000 MORE ARE NOW CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION.

DYLAN: IN 1931 A LOCAL FARMER WAS CHOPPING DOWN TREES IN

THIS OLD GROWTH FOREST.

HE HAD A FIELD OF CROPS TO PLANT AND THE TREES WERE

IN HIS WAY.

BY CHANCE, A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CALL THEMSELVES

BUSHWALKERS WERE HIKING THROUGH THE SAME FOREST.

WHEN THEY SAW WHAT THE FARMER WAS DOING THE

BUSHWALKERS OFFERED TO BUY THE FARMER S LAND.

THEY HAD NO MONEY AND IT TOOK 2 YEARS OF DESPERATE

STRUGGLE TO RAISE THE CASH.

THEY SUCCEEDED AND THEY GAVE THE FOREST TO THE

PEOPLE OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

THEIR STRUGGLE GAVE US THIS;

A MILLION HECTORS OF WILDERNESS WHERE EVEN

TODAY IT IS POSSIBLE TO WALK WHERE NO ONE HAS EVER

WALKED BEFORE, AND TO TAKE YOUR LIFE INTO YOUR OWN

HANDS.

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: DEEP IN THIS WILDERNESS IT IS STILL

POSSIBLE TO BE CONFRONTED BY THE PARADOX OF THE

PLATYPUS.

THIS IS A STRANGE AND FURRY LITTLE CREATURE WITH

A DUCK S BILL AND WEBBED FEET.

ALTHOUGH IT LAYS EGGS, IT STILL FEEDS MILK TO ITS

BABIES AFTER THEY HAVE HATCHED.

PLATYPUS ARE RARE NOW; GONE FROM THE POOLS AND

CREEKS WHERE THEY WERE ONCE COMMON.

WILDERNESS IS A SPELL THAT IS EASILY BROKEN.

DYLAN: SYDNEY IS A CITY OF 4 MILLION PEOPLE,

SPREADING EVER WESTWARD SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF

EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT.

BUT AT THE WALLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS THE CITY

STOPS AND THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK BEGINS.

THIS IS HANGING ROCK.

WITH MODERN EQUIPMENT, TECHNIQUES AND KNOWHOW,

ROCK CLIMBERS CAN DO WHAT THE FIRST EUROPEAN

SETTLERS AND EVEN ABORIGINAL PEOPLES WOULD

NEVER DREAM OF ATTEMPTING.

♪ MUSIC CONTINUES ♪

♪ MUSIC CONTINUES ♪

DYLAN: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK COVERS MOST OF THE

CONTINENT LIKE AN OCEAN OF RED DESERT.

THIS BARREN INTERIOR RECEIVES LESS THAN 5

INCHES OF RAIN A YEAR; ONE OF THE DRIEST REGIONS ON

EARTH.

BUT AUSTRALIA IS A LAND OF SURPRISES WHERE LIFE IS

FOUGHT HARD TO SURVIVE.

LIKE A WINDOW INTO THE ANCIENT PAST,

THIS LAND HAS MUCH TO TELL US ABOUT THE GREAT

MYSTERIES OF OUR PLANET.

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, WE LL MEET SOME OF

AUSTRALIA S MOST ANCIENT MAMMALS AND LEARN ABOUT THE

UNIQUE BOND BETWEEN A MOTHER KANGAROO AND

HER BABY JOEY.

AND LATER, WE LL WANDER DEEP INTO THE AUSTRALIAN

WILDERNESS AND EXPLORE HIDDEN CAVES UNTOUCHED BY

HUMAN BEINGS.

DON T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE

RIGHT AFTER THIS.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: WELCOME BACK TO JOURNEY,

I M DYLAN DREYER.

THE FIRST HUMAN BEINGS ARRIVED IN AUSTRALIA MORE

THAN 40,000 YEARS AGO.

THESE ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS DEVELOPED A

RICH AND EXTRAORDINARY CULTURE THAT REFLECTED THE

ANCIENT LAND WHERE THEY LIVED.

THE FIRST EUROPEANS DISCOVERED AUSTRALIA IN

THE EARLY 1600 S AND UPSET THE NATIVE ABORIGINAL

SOCIETIES IN PROFOUND AND PAINFUL WAYS.

PRESENT DAY AUSTRALIANS ARE STILL STRUGGLING TO

UNITE THEIR DIFFERENT TRADITIONS AND LEARNING TO

VALUE EACH OTHER S DIFFERENT WAYS OF LIFE.

FOR ANCIENT AUSTRALIANS THE GREAT SANDSTONE WALLS

OF HANGING ROCK WERE DIVINE TOWERS WHERE GODS

RESTED AND THUNDERED THROUGH TIME.

BUT TO THE NEW EUROPEAN SETTLERS OF THE COAST

THESE WALLS WERE SIMPLY A BARRIER STANDING BETWEEN

THEIR COLONY AND ITS FUTURE.

IN 1813 AFTER MANY FAILED EXPEDITIONS INTO THE

VALLEYS THREE EUROPEAN SETTLERS FOLLOWED THE

RIDGETOPS AND WERE ABLE TO RIDE THEIR HORSES ACROSS.

THEY WERE HAILED AS HEROES.

THEIR JOURNEY WAS UNEVENTFUL AND SEEMS TO

HAVE FOLLOWED AN ABORIGINAL TRADE ROUTE.

BUT FOR THE NEW COLONY IT WAS A DEFINING MOMENT.

DYLAN: LABORERS CUT THROUGH THE ROCK,

BUILT BRIDGES AND OPENED THE ROAD TO THE SEEMINGLY

LIMITLESS PASTURES OF THE GOLDEN WEST.

IN 1901 AUSTRALIA BECAME A NATION AND AUSTRALIANS

BEGAN TO EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE OF BEING A NEW

PEOPLE IN A NEW AND DIFFERENT LAND.

SOME BEGAN TO LOSE THEIR UNEASINESS WITH THIS

STRANGE PLACE, TO APPRECIATE THE WILDERNESS

FOR ITS OWN SPECIAL QUALITIES...

...BUT MOST STILL SAW AUSTRALIA THROUGH EUROPEAN

EYES.

THE BUSH, AS THEY CALLED IT,

NEEDED WEEDING.

ON RARE PATCHES OF VOLCANIC SOIL THE SETTLERS

DID THEIR BEST TO PRETEND THEY WERE STILL AT HOME.

IN THE TRANSPLANTED ENGLISH CULTURE OF

TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIA THE WORD GARDEN MEANT A

PIECE OF LAND FROM WHICH EVERY TRACE OF NATIVE

VEGETATION HAD BEEN REMOVED.

NATIVE PLANTS WERE REPLACED WITH THE FLOWERS

AND TREES OF 19TH CENTURY EUROPE.

IN THEIR DETERMINATION TO BUILD A NEW ENGLAND IN THE

SOUTH SEAS THE SETTLERS REFUSED TO NOTICE THAT

AUSTRALIAN RAINFALL FOLLOWED NO PATTERN AT

ALL.

THAT THE PATCHES OF FERTILE SOIL WERE SMALL

AND RARE.

THE HARSH CLIMATE DEMANDED THAT EVERY LIVING THING

MUST BE TOUGH AND INGENIOUS IF IT IS TO

SURVIVE.

DYLAN: NO MATTER WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE,

WHEN WATER IS SCARCE LIFE IS HARD.

ON THE OUTBACK CLEAR SKIES,

PARCHED EARTH AND SEARING HEAT BECOME THE RULE OF

LIFE.

THE YOUNG AND THE OLD ARE FIRST TO FEEL THE EFFECTS.

LIFE HERE BECOMES A TENSE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL

BEFORE THE NEXT RAINS COME.

DYLAN: NATIVE LIFE RESPONDED TO THIS

CHALLENGE WITH FANTASTIC RESULTS.

THERE IS A PLANT OR AN ANIMAL FOR EVERY

CONCEIVABLE ECOLOGICAL NICHE NO MATTER HOW SMALL

THAT NICHE MIGHT BE.

MOST OF AUSTRALIA S NATIVE ANIMALS ARE UNIQUE.

THEIR JOURNEY ON THIS CONTINENTAL RAFT HAS TAKEN

THEM THROUGH COOL FORESTS AND FIERY DESERTS AND

CHANGED THEM FOREVER.

DYLAN: THE WOMBAT IS ONE OF THE WORLD S GREAT

ENERGY MISERS.

IT CAN WEIGH AS MUCH AS A SHEEP BUT ACHIEVES THAT

SIZE EATING ONLY A THIRD AS MUCH.

KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES EVOLVED HOPPING AS THE

MOST ENERGY-EFFICIENT WAY OF COVERING LARGE

DISTANCES.

DYLAN: IN SUCH AN UNPREDICTABLE

ENVIRONMENT IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE READY FOR BAD

TIMES BUT ALSO TO BE READY FOR GOOD.

DYLAN: FEMALE KANGAROOS ARE ALMOST CONSTANTLY

PREGNANT.

THEY CARRY A SUPPLY OF FERTILIZED EGGS AND A

DEVELOPING EMBRYO SO THAT THEY CAN QUICKLY PRODUCE

AN OFFSPRING IF A SEASON SEEMS PROMISING.

THE KOALA COPES WITH THE SCARCITY OF RESOURCES BY

DOING VERY LITTLE.

IT AVOIDS COMPETITION BY EATING NOTHING BUT THE

LEAVES OF A FEW SPECIES OF GUM TREE.

BUT THOSE LEAVES ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO

DIGEST.

KOALAS SPEND AS MUCH AS 20 HOURS A DAY SLEEPING.

DYLAN: INCREDIBLY, THESE DWARF PINES EVOLVED TO

LIVE IN THE SPRAY OF THIS WATERFALL.

IF THE HABITAT IS LOST SO IS THE SPECIES.

AS RARE AND ANCIENT AS ALL THESE SPECIES ARE,

NO ONE EXPECTED THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK TO BE

HIDING PERHAPS THE MOST UNLIKELY LIVING THING EVER

FOUND; A LIFE FORM SO ANCIENT NO HUMAN HAS EVER

SEEN ONE UNTIL NOW.

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, OUR FILM CREW HAS BEEN GIVEN

SPECIAL ACCESS TO THE OLDEST FOREST ON EARTH,

A PLACE SO FRAGILE AND PROTECTED THAT SCIENTISTS

WON T EVEN TELL US WHERE WE RE GOING.

STAY TUNED, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS THE

EARTH S FORESTS WERE FULL OF GIANT FERNS AND

PRIMITIVE TYPES OF PINE TREES.

NEARLY ALL OF THOSE ANCIENT PLANT SPECIES WERE

OVERTAKEN BY MODERN FLOWERING PLANTS SOME 60

MILLION YEARS AGO.

BUT IN THE MOST REMOTE CORNERS OF THE WORLD

REMAINS OF THE DISTANT PAST STILL ECHO THROUGH

TIME.

DYLAN: FOLLOWING THE FEW GREAT RIVERS AND

STREAMS THROUGH AUSTRALIA S FORESTS YOU LL FIND THE

WORLD AS IT WAS 90 MILLION YEARS AGO.

DYLAN: BUT THE ONLY HOPE OF EXPLORING THIS WORLD ON

FOOT IS GOING STRAIGHT THROUGH MILES AND MILES OF

ANCIENT AND DANGEROUS CANYONS.

DYLAN: FOLLOWING THIS PATH DEMANDS EXPERIENCE

AND CAREFUL PREPARATION.

AT LEAST 4 PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THESE

CANYONS.

THESE ROCKS CAN BE AS SMOOTH AS GLASS.

IT S EASY TO LOSE YOUR FOOTING.

FLASH FLOODS CAN FILL THESE CAVES IN MOMENTS.

CURRENTS CAN LEAD TO TIGHT SPACES WITH NO WAY OUT.

BUT ONCE YOU MAKE IT THROUGH A NATURAL

CATHEDRAL AWAITS.

DYLAN: SILENT AND PEACEFUL, THESE VAST ROOMS HAVE BEEN

UNDISTURBED FOR COUNTLESS YEARS.

THIS CAVE IS FULL OF CONE-SHAPED FORMATIONS

CALLED STALAGMITES AND STALACTITES.

THEY ARE THE RESULT OF TINY DROPS OF WATER AND

CLAY BUILDING UP OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

AN EASY WAY TO TELL ONE FROM THE OTHER IS

STALAGMITES GROW UP FROM THE CAVE FLOOR AND MIGHT

REACH THE CEILING; WHILE STALACTITES HOLD TIGHT TO

THE CEILING.

TRAVELING THROUGH THESE CAVES,

A GROUP OF DARING BUSHWALKERS MADE THE MOST

AMAZING BOTANICAL DISCOVERY OF THE CENTURY.

THE WOLLEMI PINE; A TOTALLY UNEXPECTED

SURVIVOR FROM THE TIME OF THE DINOSAURS.

DYLAN: OUR FILM CREW WAS LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM

NUMBER OF PEOPLE POSSIBLE, AND WE NEEDED TO

WEAR BLINDFOLDS FOR THE FLIGHT IN ORDER TO ENSURE

THAT WE COULD NOT REVEAL THE LOCATION.

♪ MUSIC ♪ [HELICOPTER NOISE]

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, THE WOLLEMI PINES CONTINUE

TO FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL AS CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS

SPECIES ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES NEXT.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: AUSTRALIA IS A LAND BALANCING ON THE EDGE

OF SURVIVAL.

ITS ANCIENT SOIL RECEIVES SO LITTLE WATER EVERY YEAR

EVEN THE SMALLEST CHANGES IN THE CLIMATE CAN HAVE

MASSIVE EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE.

TODAY A SHOCKING 1,700 SPECIES OF PLANTS AND

ANIMALS ARE AT RISK OF EXTINCTION.

THIS HIDDEN CANYON IS THE ONLY SANCTUARY ON EARTH

FOR THE SURVIVORS OF A SPECIES THAT DOMINATED THE

WORLDS FORESTS FOR MORE THAN 100 MILLION YEARS.

THE TREES LOOK LIKE NOTHING ELSE IN THE

FOREST.

THEY GROW TO MORE THAN 120 FEET HIGH.

FEWER THAN 40 ADULT TREES HAVE BEEN FOUND.

THEY ARE A KIND OF PLATYPUS TREE,

MEANING THEY DON T FIT INTO ANY SINGLE CATEGORY.

THEY ARE PINES BUT THEY ALSO HAVE FRONDS LIKE A

PALM TREE.

AND THEIR BARK IS ALIVE, COVERED IN A MILLION

SPROUTING TIPS.

TREES LIKE THIS WERE THE FIRST TO EVER GROW ON

LAND.

THE SURVIVING TREES ARE MONITORED AND PROTECTED

WITH GREAT CARE.

AS A FINAL LINE OF DEFENSE SCIENTISTS HAVE CAREFULLY

NURTURED SEEDS AND GROWN SEVERAL TREES BACK IN THE

LAB.

TODAY THERE ARE MORE TREES IN THE LABORATORY THAN IN

THE WILD.

BUT AFTER HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS THE

RAREST TREES ON EARTH ARE STILL FIGHTING TO STAY

ALIVE.

THIS MAY BE THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE

EARTH THAT HUMAN BEINGS HAVE WATCHED THESE TREES

SHED THEIR SPORES.

WE DON T EVEN KNOW IF IT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR.

THEY HAVE SO MUCH TO TEACH US ABOUT OUR ANCIENT PAST

AND HOW TO SURVIVE OUR FUTURE.

♪ ADVENTUROUS MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: GIVEN THE NUMBERS OF SPECIES THREATENED IN

AUSTRALIA IT S TOUGH TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE

FUTURE OF THIS ANCIENT LAND.

BUT THE PEOPLE AND CREATURES OF AUSTRALIA ARE

USED TO FACING GREAT CHALLENGES.

HOPEFULLY THE NEXT GENERATION WILL BE EVERY

BIT AS TOUGH AND CREATIVE AS THOSE WHO HAVE COME

BEFORE.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR ADVENTURE TO THE LAND DOWN

UNDER.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ MUSIC ♪