Back Roads, Series 5, Ep 3 - Woolgoolga, NSW
Monday 1 July 8:00pm
This time, Heather Ewart explores a vibrant coastal community in northern New South Wales, where East meets West and which the locals affectionately call Woopi.
It’s where former banana growing locals are riding a blueberry wave of prosperity, with beachfront shacks giving way to million-dollar mansions overlooking spectacular ocean views and marine parks.
Leading the town’s economic transformation is the local Indian Sikh community, who’ve called Woolgoolga home for at least four generations.
Their stunning Temple on the hill has become a local icon to rival the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, half an hour south. It’s a symbol of a community that’s reaping the benefits of embracing cultural differences.
Key to the Sikh community’s success is its belief in the concept of sharing. On Sundays, there’s a standing invitation to the entire town, including visitors, to join their Sikh neighbours in a delicious, traditional feast at the Temple. You don’t even have to attend the prayer rituals beforehand to get a free feed, although that’s an experience not to be missed.
Sharing is also central to the ethos of the wider Woopi community. These are neighbours who look out for each other in many different and practical ways. When Heather arrives in town in an unusual but typically Woopi way, she finds herself in the middle of one that’s a riot of colour and fun in the surf.
What’s going on she asks?
Well, you might say the locals are really ‘making Woopi’.
Back Roads, Series 5, Ep 4 - Burketown, QLD
Monday 8 July 8.00pm
Guest presenter, chef and farmer Paul West heads to the Gulf of Carpentaria to see one of the world’s most extraordinary weather events.
The local traditional owners, the Gangalidda-Garawa people, call it Mabuntha Yipipee. Others call it the Morning Glory. Everyone looks forward to the arrival of this spectacular and mysterious cloud formation that travels over the Gulf country once a year. It’s one of the rarest meteorological phenomena on the planet and Burketown is the best place to try and see one.
Glider pilots from around the country travel to the tiny settlement of Burketown to drift along the waves of cloud and experience what they call ‘riding the Glory’. They can ride this cloud for hours as it may stretch to a thousand kilometres long and two kilometres high.
Paul West turns ‘cloud chaser’ as he discovers just how elusive the cloud can be. Locals give him the lowdown on the tell-signs as he tries to see ‘a glory’ for himself but, when you’re chasing a cloud, nothing’s guaranteed.
Up here all eyes are on the sky. While Paul West is waiting for ‘the glory’ to appear he travels with the local aboriginal people onto the vast salt pans that surround Burketown for some serious stargazing. The Gangalidda-Garawa have created a boutique tourism operation that shows off the stars and shares their Dreamtime stories.
Paul West then takes to the skies and travels to a nearby island where he discovers a group of Indigenous artists who have been inspired by a local grandmother. Sally Gabori, who was forcibly removed from her home on Bentinck Island, didn’t start painting until she was in her 80s but in just a few years, her large, colourful landscapes of her island home took the world by storm.
Before Paul West leaves he travels back to Burketown to try and find the magical cloud formations one more time. Will he finally get to ‘ride the glory’?