Back Roads on ABC and ABC iview S10E12 – Back Roads explores the fishing town of Port MacDonnell, on the rugged and most southerly point of South Australia.
Presenter Tom Forrest discovers a remarkable place of plenty that has sustained people for tens of thousands of years and journeys far into the ocean fishing for lobster, across the plains to swim in crystal-clear waterholes and deep into the hinterland to scale a volcano.
Port MacDonnell calls itself the Southern Rock Lobster capital of the world, and Tom hitches a choppy ride on a fishing boat with fourth generation fisherman Jeremy Ievens and his son Kai, and discovers Jeremy is also an incredible surfboard and street artist whose work is on public display all along the Limestone Coast.
Traditional elder Uncle Ken Jones explains the Boandik people have been fishing in this area for thousands of years and shares the important stories his ancestors have passed down – of trees turned to stone at the ‘drowned forest’, and the legends behind Mount Schank, a huge dormant volcano in the hinterland. Ancient stories that place Aboriginal people as witnesses to huge changes in the landscape.
Tom joins in some of ‘Port Macs’ traditional pastimes, joining Jeremy to surf the local break and snorkelling in the stunning Ewans ponds where the water has travelled for a thousand years before ending up in pristine pools and finds out how those who love the region are working to protect it for the next generation.
Production credit: Executive Producer, Brigid Donovan
Back Roads on ABC and ABC iview – Tuesday 5 November, 2024 at 8.00pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
Back Roads on ABC and ABC iview S10E12
