Back Roads

[TV.Cynic]

Series 9, Episode 12

Monday 24 July 8.00pm

Heather Ewart heads to the sleepy Victorian mountainside town of Walhalla frozen in time, with movie-set looks, a cricket pitch that defies all logic, and nearby creatures straight from the Dreamtime.

Heather Ewart arrives in Walhalla, Victoria, on the historic Goldfields Railway. She is welcomed by Brian Brewer, who with his band of volunteers, works tirelessly to keep the railway and other parts of the historic town in top shape.

Set in the snow-covered mountainous area of Gippsland, Heather meets some of the region’s oldest locals at nearby Mt Baw Baw - a group of extraordinary Alpine dingoes.

Heather also discovers this town’s surprising journey of changing fortunes, from 4,000 during its Victorian gold rush peak to about 35 permanent residents now.

Heather is determined to find out if there really are ghosts in Walhalla, or if the town is simply haunted by a fascinating but tragic past.

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

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In the series return, Heather Ewart takes an epic journey on the remote and historic Strzelecki Track in South Australia.

The Strzelecki Track 'can rattle you to pieces'. Heather Ewart learns the...

[TV.Cynic]

Series 9, Episode 13

Monday 31 July 8.00pm

Back Roads heads to Cunnamulla in south-west Queensland with guest presenter, 24-year-old TikTok star, Tom Forrest aka ‘Outback Tom’. He discovers a town transforming itself from a dark past to a brighter future.

Join Back Roads on an adventure to the far south-west Queensland town of Cunnamulla. Guest Presenter is young Yorta Yorta man Tom Forrest. Known as ‘Outback Tom’ he has developed a huge TikTok following when he explores bush cooking and other antics with his grandad.

Tom hits the road and discovers a town that’s determined not to let a dark past define it. Once a segregated town, which has had its fair share of controversy, Cunnamulla is undergoing an incredible transformation.
Tom meets local artist and Kooma man, Uncle Andrew Nelson, who reveals the uncomfortable truths of the past but also shows how art and self-determination can help heal old wounds.

Locals show Tom how Cunnamulla’s next generation is being empowered through sport, literally, when he takes on the kids of the Cunnamulla Junior League.

Even the Queensland Police are building bridges. In how many towns do you find police driving a car that kids have covered in graffiti? Tom meets police liaison officer Nik van Niekek, and goes for a spin with him in this much-loved car, which helps local teenagers clock up their learner driver hours.

Tom explores the local delicacy of a camel burger and meets James Clark, the owner and editor of one of Australia’s last independently owned newspapers, the Warrego Watchman. James is also a sheep grazier and puts Tom to work mustering on a motorbike and turning his hand to sheep shearing. Can ‘Outback Tom’ live up to his TikTok name?

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

[TV.Cynic]

Series 9, Episode 14

Monday 7 August 8.00pm

Back Roads is heading to Western Australia’s vast wheatbelt region, to the little town of Darkan. Deep in the golden plains of sheep country, Heather Ewart discovers how a very small community saved itself from extinction.

Back Roads travels to Darkan, a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ town deep in Western Australia’s wheatbelt region. Presenter Heather Ewart discovers that, not long ago, it was a very small community with a very big problem. The locals had lost their high school, their pub, and even their football team. And they were in danger of losing their identity, until a group of dynamic women got together and hatched a risky plan to shine a light on Darkan. They took a chance, not on an arts or sports festival but, a sheep festival.

However, Sheepfest is not your average agricultural show. As one of the organisers, Jodie King explains, it’s a back-to-basics affair where practically everything is free. There are no fancy rides or showbags, instead you’ll get a glimpse of what Darkan does best – sheep and wool.

So, when Heather arrives there’s loads of sweat flying around in the shearing competitions, farm kids battling it out in the wool handling and of course there’s plenty of sheep.

Heather is roped into judging a pet sheep competition with a difference. Some contestants have glitter horns and others are dressed like rappers. And just when it seems to be all over, all eyes are on the skies as a group of colourfully clad local sky divers sail silently down to earth only to be mobbed by squealing kids.

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

[TV.Cynic]

Series 9, Episode 15

Monday 14 August 8.00pm

Heather Ewart heads to Tasmania with two intrepid line dancers who are on a boot scootin’ line dancing tour around the country holding ‘Hoedowns for country towns’, lifting spirits and raising money to help others along the way.

Claire Harris and Kate Strong quit their jobs in early 2022 and set off on a Boot Scootin’ line dancing tour of Australia. Raising money for local charities, they travelled through WA, SA, QLD and the NT. Now, Heather Ewart is joining them as they Boot Scoot their way through Tasmania.

Living in their car as they go, their nights are filled with hoedown crowds of 100 or more, teaching newbies what the veterans learned years ago; that line dancing can make you feel pretty good.

Author Rachael Treasure is one convert. She found the Boot Scootin’ girls on Facebook and it changed her whole perspective on life. She invited them to hold a hoedown at her farm near historic Richmond in Tassie’s south, which like all the others is about raising money.

In Tasmania, they’re helping a not for profit, mental health charity called Rural Alive and Well – or RAW. RAW is a charity that works with different country industries to keep an eye on people’s mental wellbeing. Heather meets Paul Jordan, respected skipper of the ‘Diana’ fishing boat moored in Hobart, whose life was turned around with the help of RAW.

With the final Hoedown near Smithton in the states north, Heather visits The Grumpy Goat Co. run by Alyssia and John Coates. They take a slightly different approach to mental health, running a care farm where local youths reap the benefits of helping to look after 80 goats!

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

[TV.Cynic]

Series 9, Episode 16 of 16

Monday 21 August 8.00pm

For the first time, Back Roads leaves Australian shores and travels to our closest northern neighbour, Papua New Guinea. Guest presenter Tania Bale introduces us to Rabaul, a community with close ties to Australia.

Guest presenter and Papua New Guinea national, Tania Bale, takes us on the first Back Roads to leave Australian shores. Just a three-hour flight from Cairns, Rabaul was once the capital of the Australian Territory of New Guinea. It was known as the ‘Pearl of the Pacific’ for its spectacular deep-water harbour and natural beauty. Incredibly, this community has survived not only a hostile invasion and daily bombings but also being buried by volcanic eruptions…twice.

Tania explores why some locals or ‘leftovers’ as they call themselves, keep returning and rebuilding despite everything that’s been thrown at them.

She’s welcomed by the quintessential ‘sound of PNG’ – performed by world renowned singer-songwriter, Sir George Mamua Telek, and his Moab Stringband. ‘Telek’ is a Tolai, one of two groups, indigenous to Rabaul. Later, Tania enjoys a mouthwatering feast of Aigir, a traditional Tolai method of cooking using hot stones wrapped up in the food itself.

In the nearby mountains, Tania has an unforgettable encounter with Rabaul’s other original inhabitants, the Baining, celebrated for their breathtaking fire dances.

While Back Roads was filming in Rabaul in April this year, an 81-year-old World War Two mystery made international news, with the discovery of the Montevideo Maru in the South China Sea. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by an American submarine in June 1942.

This made for an incredibly moving ANZAC Day service in Rabaul as many locals had personal connections with those lost at sea. The sinking of the Montevideo Maru is still regarded as the worst maritime disaster in Australia’s history.

Production credit: Story Producer: Gerri Williams.

[TV.Cynic]

Renewed for another season in 2024.

[TV.Cynic]

Exciting news. #Backroads will increase by 10 episodes next year, from 16 to 26 over two seasons ⁦@ABCTV⁩ News series will start early Jan https://t.co/LTsD8a9zqJ

— Heather Ewart (@heatherewart1) November 9, 2023

[TV.Cynic]

New season of Back Roads Premieres Tuesday 9 January 2024 at 8pm

[JohnsonTV]

A new night for the show. It has mostly aired on Monday and Thursday nights.

[TV.Cynic]

Season 10 - Episode 1 of 13, Brunswick Heads, NSW

Tuesday 9 January 8.00pm

Presenter Heather Ewart starts the summer season in the idyllic beachside village of Brunswick Heads in northern New South Wales and discovers the surprising joys of life in a holiday town.

This week, Back Roads returns in its new timeslot of 8.00 pm on Tuesday nights.

Like Australians around the country at this time of year Heather Ewart heads off on the great Australian summer holiday, travelling to the beachside village of Brunswick Heads in northern New South Wales.
She discovers a charming laid-back coastal community nestled between Byron Bay and Mullumbimby, that’s managed to preserve the ‘simple pleasures’ of life in the little town despite the surrounding development pressures.

Heather soon finds some delightful surprises including a restored picture house that’s attracting world class acts. Heather meets Brett Haylock and Chris Chen, who gave up life on the international stage to recover ‘a little piece of 1950’s Australiana right here in the middle of paradise.’

Brunswick Heads has become a safe harbour for Andy Graeme-Cook. The former marine biologist’s deep connection to the water led him to surf tourism and life in Brunswick Heads, but he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was in a wheelchair within three years. But he says ‘Bruns’ is the place to be for accessibility and he’s worked to make the town even more inclusive including helping create disability access to the town’s stunning beaches.

Heather follows a magical trail of hidden fairy houses and finds ‘Fairy Grandmother’ Ollie Heathwood who created 27 tiny fairy homes.

She also meets ‘Bruns’ locals who have been camping at the beach with family for been five generations, a tradition shared by thousands of families across Australia.

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 2

Tuesday 16 January 8.00pm

Naracoorte, SA

Join ‘Back Roads’ on a journey to Naracoorte on SA’s Limestone Coast. Guest presenter, Amanda Shalala discovers a heartwarming community that’s welcoming newcomers, changing lives and inspiring its young people to dream big.

In the South Australian town of Naracoorte, Back Roads guest presenter Amanda Shalala finds a charming streetscape that brings its history as a pastoral hub to life. But nowadays, surrounded by three wine regions including the iconic Coonawarra, it’s better known as the heart of wine-making country.

The promise of work outdoors among the picturesque vineyards, has attracted migrants and refugees such as Mohammad and his wife Adela. They are two of many Hazaras fleeing persecution from their home country, Afghanistan, who have settled in Naracoorte over the past 15 years and raised families there.

Aware that many of their new neighbours are not only carrying past trauma but were also at sea in a completely foreign land and culture, Naracoorte’s ‘old guard’ came up with a unique initiative to embrace and heal them - The Circle of Volunteers and its offshoot, the wonderfully named Human Library.

Not only that, the locals have also used sport, particularly soccer, to foster a sense of belonging, camaraderie and ambition in its young people.

The community encourages them to aim high no matter how impossible the goal may seem or whether they have to leave one day to follow their dreams.

Sisters, Masoma and Ferishta desperately want to play for the Matildas while Mohammad and Adela’s son, Jamshid, has wide and distant horizons in his sight…he wants to be a pilot for an international airline one day.
In Naracoorte, each one of them has a home that gives them the chance to chase their dream whether it be on the ground or in the sky.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 3

Tuesday 23 January 8.00pm

Uralla, NSW

Heather Ewart heads out to the New England region in NSW and the former gold town of Uralla where she discovers the locals are uncovering a different kind of treasure these days. They’re finding riches everywhere and using that to invest in a sustainable future.

This week Back Roads heads to the farming region of New England in NSW and the former gold town of Uralla. Presenter Heather Ewart discovers that locals are unearthing riches from other sources these days.

Uralla is a Z-Net town, part of a scheme that helps rural and regional communities to reduce their energy use and cut their costs. That’s led them to create other clever solutions to helping build a sustainable future.
Heather Ewart hitches a ride in an old Studebaker with Garry Byers, who has a surprising and entertaining take on recycling. He gives Heather a tour of his eclectic collection of everything and anything built with pride, including a 1970’s steam roller, the fishing boat he’s turning into a spa, and a recycled pig named Daisy.

The town’s shoemaker, Kath Caddy, crafts her designs from recycled materials such as old leather couches, and even uses a material made of pineapples. There’s a Co-Op where hard waste is given a second chance to avoid landfill, and a local café that composts almost everything left on the table.

In Uralla, it seems everyone is doing their own little bit to help save the planet.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 4

Tuesday 30 January 8.00pm

Home Hill, Qld

Back Roads heads to north Queensland sugar cane country and the town of Home Hill. Presenter Heather Ewart discovers the heartwarming, and at times heartbreaking, stories of the families that first came here to cut cane.

Back Roads heads to the town of Home Hill, in the heart of Queensland’s sugar cane country.

Presenter Heather Ewart discovers a town that has grown up around one of the country’s largest sugar cane mills and the rich legacy created by the Italians who came here to cut cane in the early 1900’s.
Heather meets the Musumeci family, descendants of Italian cane cutters who keep their legacy alive today through strong family ties and amazing Italian food.

She joins them to celebrate the ‘Sweet Days and Hot Nights’ Festival’, which celebrates the start of the sugar cane season. The event kicks off with the community coming together to watch the first crop of the season set alight and burning into the night. The weekend festivities include a fiercely contested hand cane-cutting competition and Heather joins descendants of the early immigrants, who it seems have inherited their skills with a cane knife!

But not everyone came to the region willingly. Across the bridge in the sister town of Ayr, Heather meets Les Henaway. His grandfather was from the Pacific Island of Tanna and was brought to the area to cut cane against his will. Known as Black Birding, thousands of South Sea Islanders, like Les’s grandfather, were conned or forced into coming to the region to cut cane. Heather learns how Len and his wife Denese have struggled with the legacy of those times their whole lives.

And it’s not all about sugar in the region. Heather meets local elder Jim Gaston, of the Gudjuda Reference Groups Sea Ranger program. Len and the team monitor sea turtle population numbers along the coastline. Heather takes a trip off the shore of Bowen about 100km away, to see the incredible process of catching and tagging the turtles up close.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 5

Tuesday 6 February 8.00pm

Timber Creek, NT

This week Back Roads heads to Timber Creek in the Top End where guest presenter Kristy O’Brien finds an unlikely partnership is creating positive spin offs for the town and meets locals who’ve found love in the most unexpected places.

This week, join guest presenter Kristy O’Brien as she flies into one of the biggest live fire training areas in the world. Near the NT town of Timber Creek, the Australian Defence Force conducts large scale military exercises, often with its allied partners.

But on arrival Kristy finds a different kind of friendship is being forged, this time between the ADF and the traditional owners of the land, the Ngaliwurru Nungali and Jaminjung people. The elders have fond memories of growing up here when it was a sprawling, privately owned cattle station and the army welcomes them back on country to hold a culture camp, to teach their children and grandchildren the old ways.

In recent years, they’ve invited the soldiers and US sailors and marines to join in and this special friendship is having positive spin offs for neighbouring Timber Creek.

One of the elders, Daniel Jones, started a contracting firm in town in 2008, doing fencing, road grading and cultural burning for the Army. Nearly all its employees are Indigenous. Daniel’s sister Lorraine worked as a Police Liaison officer in Timber Creek in the 1990’s. She says permanent work has given the young men a great sense of pride.

And Kristy discovers Timber Creek’s connection with the military dates back to WW2.

She meets Bazza Burrowes, who’s 81, the colourful caretaker of the local police museum, and learns about the little- known unit that patrolled the region on horseback.

The special friendship between the ADF and the traditional owners isn’t the only surprise in store. Kristy stumbles across the locals who’ve found love in the most unexpected places.

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 6

Tuesday 13 February 8.00pm

Back Roads sets out to discover the wildlife carers of Western Australia’s Northern Wheatbelt. Presenter Heather Ewart meets the fascinating people who have dedicated their lives to helping animals.

Back Roads sets out to discover the wildlife carers of Western Australia’s Northern Wheatbelt. Presenter Heather Ewart takes an outback journey, travelling from the pioneer farming town of Wongan Hills to the tiny outback settlement of Paynes Find. Along the way she discovers the fascinating stories of those who have devoted their lives to helping animals.

Heather hitches a ride with vet Dr Kirsten Tunstill who takes her critically important mobile vet clinic to small rural communities. Her patients range from working sheepdogs, vital to the running of any station, through to birds, snakes and even tiny lizards. She’s seen it all!

In the near-ghost town of Buntine, Heather visits Blue Bush Wildlife Rescue. It’s run out of a suburban home by Sue and Steve Rose, and Heather finds them nursing a fruit bat, a bobtail lizard, and many baby joeys. Usually saved from the side of the road in the dead kangaroo’s pouch, Sue and Steve look after joeys for around 12-months before releasing them into their very own sanctuary called Little Bluebush.

From there, Heather heads north to Paynes Find, with just 26 residents. Two of the locals, Dave Rocke and Gail Pilmor, run a wildlife orphanage and rehabilitation park known as PilRoc Retreat. This remote work requires them to be the fire brigade, the flying doctor contact and the callout for car crashes. Now they have added wildlife carers to the list, which has led them to having a front room full of recovering kangaroos.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 7

Tuesday 20 February 8.00pm

Guest presenter Lisa Millar goes fossicking on the central Queensland Gemfields, where anyone can strike it lucky. Lisa discovers a unique way of life and meets the miners who are keeping a slice of Australian history alive.

Guest presenter Lisa Millar heads to central Queensland and the renowned Gemfields. Lisa discovers this is a place where shanty towns dot the surface, but what lies underneath is hallowed ground…and the holy grail is the precious sapphire.

Gem baron Ray Richardson takes Lisa on a tour in his classic 1957 pink Cadillac. Ray made a pile in the 1970’s and 80’s when sapphire prices were booming and talks about those crazy days, when the Gemfields had a reputation as the wild west.

Lisa also meets a couple of newbies, Debbie Wouters and Steve Pitts, from Victoria. They fell under the spell of the Gemfields on a visit in 2022 and now spend their days digging away underground. Lisa joins Debbie in her search for what she calls the “sparkles”, taking a nervous ride down a narrow 45-foot mine shaft. The couple mine using simple hand tools, not big machinery, keeping alive a 150 -year-old tradition. But small-scale miners like them are worried proposed new mining rules could “blow it out of the water and destroy it”.

Something Lisa didn’t expect to find in a remote mining area is a Mardi Gras festival. She joins local drag queen Heidi Hole at ‘Blingo’ night at the Rubyvale pub. Heidi is the alter ego of Willow, a singer songwriter and former soldier. It’s a long way from the days when he did it tough as a young gay kid growing up on the Gemfields. A sign this place might love its traditions but it’s also ready to embrace change.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 8

Tuesday 27 February 8.00pm

Eugowra Recovery, NSW

Back Roads returns to Eugowra, NSW, one of the first towns the program visited when the pandemic hit in 2020. Two years later, it was almost wiped out by a terrifying flash flood. Heather Ewart discovers how they survived, and what’s driving their recovery.

Heather Ewart returns to Eugowra, a small town at the centre of a vibrant farming community in the central west of New South Wales. One of the first towns the program visited after the pandemic hit in 2020, disaster struck again in November 2022. A flash flood inundated the town and nearby farms, damaging at least 80 per cent of local properties and businesses. But the people of Eugowra refuse to give up. They have nursed their wounds and are pulling together, determined to get their town back on the map.

Farmer Jason Smith tells the terrifying story of almost drowning with his horse Bootleg as he tried to move a herd of cattle ahead of the deluge, but the floodwater inundated his stock yards. The footage he filmed at the time has to be seen to be believed.

Hugh and Lyn Ellis, who Back Roads met in 2020, had just finished renovating their dream home when the floodwaters exploded through their windows and walls. Friends and strangers rushed to help them rebuild, buoying their spirits as they gradually piece their lives back together.

In the wake of this disaster the people of Eugowra have lost so much: homes, livelihoods, and loved ones too. But in amongst the mud and muck the flood left behind the people of Eugowra are finding riches too – strength, loyalty and love for the place they call home.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 9

Tuesday 5 March 8.00pm

East Arnhem Land Pt1, NT

Guest presenter Rae Johnston discovers a remote and tiny community that punches above its weight on the international stage, in music, art, science, politics and culture… all while tackling a growing environmental and ecological crisis.

How does a tiny, remote community on the coastal fringes of East Arnhem Land become world renowned for its music, art and culture? And how does it manage to punch above its weight in – wait for it – robotics?!
In the first of a special Back Roads two-part series, science journalist and Wiradjuri woman, Rae Johnston, travels to Yirrkala and surrounding communities to meet these high achievers, the proud Yolngu.

If you’ve never heard of the Yolngu, you may have heard of Yothu Yindi, King Stingray, Baker Boy…all Yolngu. On a Yirrkala beach, founding member of Yothu Yindi, Witiyana Marika, tells Rae that their strong, unbroken cultural traditions lie at the heart of Yolngu prominence.

Further north on the Gove Peninsula, she meets rising music stars, the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band and revels in a private concert on one the regions many stunning beaches.

But when she’s invited by respected elder, Mandaka Marika, to one of the most remote coastal stretches of East Arnhem Land, Rae is shocked to find an ecological disaster unfolding. Wave after wave of plastic waste is washed up on the white sands every year and it’s an uphill battle for the Yolngu rangers, men and women, who work tirelessly to preserve country, rich in culture, food and bush medicine.

In Yirrkala itself, Rae meets two rising stars of the art world at the prestigious Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre. She discovers the Yolngu aren’t afraid to move to the future, even while holding dear their cultural traditions.
This thought is bolstered by youngsters from one of the local primary schools whose team of 10-year-olds made it to the World Robotics Championships in Texas in 2023 – despite robotics only being introduced as a subject the year before.

There is one more secret to Yolngu success – and when Rae is invited to attend a Bunggul, Yolngu for ceremony, she realises the dance encapsulates that in the most spectacular and heartwarming fashion.

[TV.Cynic]

Episode 10

Tuesday 12 March 8.00pm

East Arnhem Land Pt2, NT

Back Roads heads deep into the heart of East Arnhem Land, to two remote communities: Gapuwiyak and Galiwin’ku. Rae Johnston finds the Yolngu people’s lives are deeply connected to their culture, the land and each other.

Guest presenter Rae Johnston continues her journey to East Arnhem Land and two very remote communities that people rarely get to see: Gapuwiyak and Galiwin’ku.

This is the land of the Yolngu and Rae is invited in to experience firsthand, their incredible culture that stretches back tens of thousands of years. This is a river that flows deep – where traditional law, kinship and relationship to country is everything.

Isolation has helped the Yolngu keep their culture strong. However, these days it’s getting harder to pass on this knowledge.

Rae’s first stop is Gapuwiyak. Surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of bush, this small, close-knit community has a secret weapon – creativity. Despite the lack of jobs, people here are finding inspired ways to thrive. Master weavers Lucy Wanapuyngu and her daughter Anna Malibirr take Rae out on country to collect pandanus leaves for their art. Back at the local Arts Centre Rae gets a lesson in just how hard it is to learn this ancient craft. Anna tells Rae she’s lucky, her Mum has been teaching her since she was a girl.

A short plane ride takes Rae to her next stop, the small island of Galiwin’ku or Elcho Island. Here the local school is helping teach Yolngu kids about their culture. Rae joins them for a day out to experience their Learning on Country program. Elder Marcus Lacey thinks it’s hard for kids to maintain their connection to their culture in the modern world. To motivate the class, they get students to paint themselves with ochre and perform a spectacular bunggul (or ceremony) on the beach.

Before Rae heads home she flies back to Gapuwiyak for one special night. The town gets its glamour on as the local artists’ fibre fashion hits the catwalk. It’s a night of music, song, and dance – a celebration of all things Yolngu.

Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan.