World's Most Dangerous Roads - Australia : Wild Bush

[Music] kitty [Music] [Music] is [Music] um in the australian desert kangaroos have learned to watch the trucks go by or rather trucks that look like trains two types of drivers share the tracks and the marsupial is not invited to the party there are the go-getters that nothing can stop like russell we don't seem to worry too much about kangaroos but um or cattle can can damage the truck but also a beast like these could be worth two to three thousand dollars to the station owner so the last thing we want to do is kill one of these cows [Music] and then there are the kangaroo hunters on the tracks timmy is on the lookout he does not hesitate to accelerate when a good opportunity appears in front of his [Music] bumper [Music] my family australia is not just an island it's a continent 14 times bigger than france [Music] the second most developed country in the world at least in the south and the east the north and the centre remain wild [Music] to connect these two different worlds giant trucks are constantly traveling over australia's most remote roads and trails between the south and the north of this island continent two opposing ways of life coexist one is that of the english settlers who arrived in the 19th century one that never stops spreading the other belongs to the aboriginal people trying to preserve their culture that has existed for 50 000 years [Music] before crossing the desert or the bush it's best to plan your trip the australian tracks are full of dangers and surprises [Music] [Music] it's a paradise unspoiled by the modern world we're in the north of australia in the territory of the yongnuo tribe they are the fiercest defenders of the aboriginal culture their entire life is based on tradition which is not to say they refuse all of the comforts of the modern world their village bauer kane does not feature on any map but there is however electricity timmy dreams of a brand new car his is in a pitiful condition but for the moment he has to make do with the means that the community provides you've got no battery trucks battery so i'm i'm going to try and fix it but i'm going to the ceremony i've got ceremony to do meet my tribe my mother tried to clean groups so i'm going there someone actually family passed away it's a little too twins baby the majority of aboriginal people are unemployed like timmy most live off government support a sort of compensation for colonization old cars provide spare parts for these pickups with their inconceivable mileage simple mechanics isn't enough to get them going at least not in timmy's car to stack the odds in his favor he calls the mechanics on the other side the spirits of his ancestors [Music] the aboriginal territories have very few tarmac roads the funeral ceremony he is attending is taking place in bakira 200 kilometers of sand and track almost a 10-hour journey if everything goes well and it begins badly the black smoke rising in the distance doesn't look good as he goes further the air becomes pungent the smell that is tickling his nostrils suggests the worst the bush is on fire [Music] the flames swallow up the plants on both sides of the trail in the dry season it's often lightning that sets off the blaze so big ones all the all the trees fell down [Music] coming fire coming then i turned around went back again wait for the tree chop three then right there more fire cutting [Music] this fire has now been burning for two days and there's no one to stop it australia is a country of fantastic proportions the aborigines territory spreads over nearly a million hectares but has only three inhabitants per square kilometer so by the time the firemen have been alerted they often arrive too late and the fire has had the time to grow and become more powerful every year flames devastate kilometers of bush and sometimes even villages today jimmy isn't too worried luckily there is practically no wind and the fire spreads slowly he has time to get out of the blaze the water won't be an obstacle for the flames however for timmy's old 4x4 it's another story [Music] [Music] [Music] going from one village to another in australia is an epic journey its great landscapes are untouched by the west only the aboriginal people have the right to cross their territory non-aboriginal people have to ask for special authorisation otherwise they risk ending up in jail and these are not empty threats as this sign indicates there is a strong rejection of westerners in this remote region this piece of land was snatched from the settlers after bloody battles epidemics caused by european illnesses and the ravages of alcohol the aboriginal people who were nearly a million in the 18th century are now only 366 000. today they're divided among the various reserves which have been granted to them by the government they told me like when they first saw white people they were confused saying who is this people they thought it was a ghost before they came they i think they kill aboriginal people your people right across they kill them and then they took the land off them he's now been on the road for three hours [Music] the track becomes more and more challenging [Music] um when you get stuck in the sand timmy takes a lesson inherited from the english sang foie stay calm in all circumstances [Music] if he accelerates too quickly the wheel will sink even more on the other hand gently and with a bit of patience [Music] whatever the state of the road timmy has to get through at all costs without him the ceremony won't take place the tribe has elected him traditional chief [Music] that's the name of the duty my duties it's meaning speaking after the our eldest looking after the law tribes comes you know come together ceremonies and dancing teaching young kids remember their lives remember our ancestors it's a very important [Music] in these forgotten lands a simple stop can end in disaster toilet stops must be done on high alert [Applause] [Music] crocodiles are never far from the tracks that run along the oceanfront [Music] even though the government has offered the aboriginal people refuse to have their trails tarmacked [Music] they make their lives more complicated and make it more difficult to visit neighbouring villages but they respect the land the bush is the same as that of their ancestors unlike the landscapes that can be found 2 500 kilometers to the south the contrast is striking in the middle of the desert an island of modernity alice springs the city was born in the 19th century [Music] at that time it was supplied by caravans of camels which were imported from afghanistan today the camel colour has been replaced by sparkling chrome these beasts no longer run on water they are thirsty for petrol these unusual trucks pull three trailers and 100 tons of goods the equivalent of 300 camels [Applause] because of their interminable length of 53 meters australians have nicknamed them road trains kevin is conveying a load of bricks to alice springs 1400 kilometers of asphalt that he attacks at full speed [Music] the road train is this young 27 year old driver's vocation [Music] my uncle's a truck driver and when i was about nine years old i went for a trip with him and that's insane i've just been obsessed with trucks 600 horsepower engines carry the biggest trucks in the world and their 100 tons of goods at average speeds of 80 kilometers an hour but driving these monsters requires keeping a cool head it takes a lot longer to speed up takes a lot longer to slow down you gotta be boys kangaroos cows other cars you gotta be careful with your steering [Music] just driving slow trying trying to get the best fuel economy and checking tires checking the load every couple of hours just making sure it's all still strapped on tight and gets there the customer not damaged [Music] road train drivers don't just use their tyres on the tarmac the pothole tracks of the bush are a part of their daily routine bush went through a river crossing and got stuck on the ramp coming out and there's crocodiles in the water i'll stop there for about seven hours till the grader came down to the community hooked on and pulled us out of the river uh it's good unless you break down the side of the road in the summer it can get a little bit scary then the heat and if you haven't got all the water and food with you you can give a lot of trouble pretty quickly [Music] these steel monsters cost a small fortune around 1 million euros so in order to make them profitable the trucks never stop moving the transport companies hire out the vehicles [Music] once he's arrived in alice springs kevin goes to rest but not his truck once it's unloaded it gets away from the tarmac it's in new hands here is the new master on board russell nicknamed the scrap yard king of the desert at this time it's certain the road train will defeat the desert [Music] he can be found outside alice springs where he has one of the biggest scrapyards in the region thousands of tires and cars are piled up here a trove of rubber and steel which is a source of envy in the region two weeks ago we had an arsenal attack set fire to a crater one pile of cars here and another bigger pile down here and then a third pile of cars just a little bit further around the corner totally unnecessary they're going to be crushed anyway but yeah i was very lucky within 20 feet of the car crusher here i would be devastated even if it's by far not his main concern this old trucker is environmentally friendly in his own way he collects the old wrecks that litter the desert the residents of the region have become accustomed to abandoning their irreparable or old cars there russell had to hire a truck because the last time he ventured into the bush it was very costly the heat caused the motor of his road train to explode um as all trucks are they're right on their limit everything the diffs are red hot the gearbox is red hot and motor is red hot pulling over 100 tonne sometimes more in 50 degree heat on some of the worst roads in australia so it's a punishment every time they go out they're getting punished russell is a sort of dr frankenstein the only difference being that he gives life with the mechanical organs he's salvaged he has made this incredible machine a transportable car compactor this this machine here we manufactured ourselves it um compacts cars so that we can get um maximum weight onto a semi-trailer we we designed this machine for the outback what it has the ability to do is lift itself off of this trailer and then that leaves the trailer available to bring back 30 odd abandoned cars mainly the components are out of a 30 ton excavator the engine the hydraulic pumps [Music] this unique machine is like something straight out of a mad max film it needs to be checked before each trip as it's just a little bit temperamental it works now all that's left is to assemble the three trailers which isn't easy and then i gotta move some stuff they've dumped in front of one trailer take a fridge off get that trailer ready [Music] [Applause] [Music] with everything cleared there is just the electric ramp to start up [Music] a good tap on the battery and it works [Music] we've got the front trailer here we have our front end loader with uh forklift attachment this we use to pick up the cars attaching the trailers requires a lot of skill and above all good judgment [Music] we're just putting a few warning warning flags on here it's only a little bit over with but we'll just let the people know that it's big it's a fair bit involved getting them all hooked up and then making sure all the airlines are correct um just gonna make sure i don't forget anything after three hours of maneuvering the convoy is ready to leave rodeo let's go and smash some cars 10 am and the heat has already crushed the last cool breezes of the morning 40 degrees in the shade and the temperature is still to increase russell hopes the mechanics of his rental truck won't suffer in the desert [Music] the scrapyard's best clients are the aboriginal villages with the poverty that reigns there their surroundings overflow with old car wrecks [Music] every time he goes russell checks to see if there is a ceremony or a burial otherwise his wallet risks taking a blow the aboriginal people have imposed very specific rules for the road and they are very strict especially when the road crosses a sacred site [Music] lawmakers index ireland which wants to close the road saying you can't go to everybody's district there must be a risk management you know it's a code of combat for for the law [Music] and make sure you're paying attention the aboriginal people have the highest fines in the world this sign tells drivers that they'd better make a detour or risk paying a fine of nearly 15 000 euros for the aboriginal people's spirits created nature and the elements these spirits still circulate in certain places a forest a mountain can be proof of their passage well special for this land and a special for your people where we have four sacred sides but that six seconds out could be a hill a land galleries um rocks trees in that land this talks about the significance of that culture sacred sites are very um it's like you respect the land you can't kill the land you can't kill that you know the mother earth instead of way on the land the land owns us very very important because land is part of you when you kill the lamb you die timmy has been driving for 10 hours without air conditioning under a blazing sun tiredness is starting to kick in and his eyelids are heavy he loses his concentration he starts to zigzag dangerously [Music] these signs announce safety ahead [Music] we're arriving to the salomon area this place called so we're gonna go and dance to the family [Music] the funeral ceremony is planned for the following morning [Music] the village where the funeral is taking place is one of the most isolated villages in australia to make it more accessible the villagers have mapped out this landing strip but very few pilots dare to risk it bakira remains as remote as ever far from civilization [Music] the village only has a dozen families no hotels or bed and breakfasts [Music] tents have been set up to house the guests of the funeral ceremony bakura isn't really a little corner of paradise especially since the inhabitants have to fight with ferocious mosquitoes over this dusty spot since being converted in the 20th century the bush spirits are happy to mix with the saints and rights of the christian religion but i don't know we are free because you jesus we set us free timmy's family mourn the loss of two [Music] babies [Music] the mother and older sister dance in honor of the lost children the plastic bottles that they carry symbolize the two deceased [Music] before the english arrived the yongnuo had a different way of honoring their dead in olden days they used to put it in the back like back leave it there they run big graves put it in a bag [Music] that [Music] [Music] after reading the gospel tradition takes over again the tribe begins the dance of the dead to contact the lost twins [Music] oh [Music] to listen to the earth because there is a spirit the land is the spirit land talking to people currently a good thing good life good living good movement when you dream the will of the spirit that can come because they can talk to you a couple of years the spirit starts to move and sometimes that spirit come back like telling you that something good thing coming up [Applause] the chanting will last all night man and spirit in perfect harmony early morning on the edge of the gibson desert there is a light wind from alice springs trying to cool the temperature unless this breeze is the spirit of an ancestor who's going home or turbulence from the portable scrapyard which is tearing up the trail foot to the floor [Music] once we venture off of the uh the main roads and head out onto the uh onto the what we call the dirt roads or the outback tracks our main companion is our fellow road train drivers the slightest hint of trouble or mechanical dramas we rely heavily on our mates pulling up to lend a hand if we didn't have that um comrade ship it would be extremely difficult to to operate these road trains in these uh harsh outback conditions the desert still holds some unpleasant surprises for travellers [Music] like this device which seems like a lifeline ready to bring a smile to any desperate broken down motorist's face this old telephone in the middle of nowhere hasn't worked for a long time [Music] if you have a problem it's better to rely on a good cb radio do it now or the next one after this hill is that big sand hill after 200 kilometers on the tracks russell reaches the first wreckage that he's heading for a car accident that took place several months ago i'll move them back onto the third trailer put my loader back on i'll go further down the road and find a few more [Music] so [Music] we work closely with the aboriginal people the cars that are in the dump are clearly don't finish with sometimes they're in their yards or on the on the surrounding streets or over behind a tree usually i go directly to a community which should be at the end of this road and then i'll either have another truck with me and he will collect 100 cars or i will take all of my equipment off and i will put 100 cars on my road train and i will go home and then unload them and then i'll go back and collect my equipment or more cars the next rack can be found 100 kilometers away [Music] according to russell if you hadn't opened a garage as well as the scrap yard he would already have closed down [Music] selling metal does not bring in enough money he'd like the region to declare him as a public service provider [Applause] after all clearing the desert of its wrecks is beneficial for everybody [Music] we need to be subsidised to make a living out of this when the times are good when a car like this gets to adelaide it is worth maybe 200 but the times aren't good and adelaide is a long way away there's 1600 1700 sometimes as far as 2000 kilometers we have to carry these cars before we can sell them [Music] [Music] uh [Music] i've been self-employed most of my life it's either involved fixing road trains buying and selling road trains driving road trains it was a combination of all of that that led me to manufacturing my own equipment repairing and operating this whole business the road train's 500 horsepower engine roars like a lion [Music] far away from this uproar is the silence of the boaca village's beaches [Music] after the baby's funeral timmy returned home he and other members of his tribe are trying to fish for the evening meal with these strange cries they can hear us voice that we're calling to them to give us some fish it sounds like so good luck calling for the great ancestors to give us hear his voice and give us some fish the spirit of the ancestors started timmy's car and this time it seems to have guided their spears [Music] the yongu's fishing technique has been the same for thousands of years [Music] [Applause] a small tree valley the turquoise water beckons you in to swim but in this part of australia it's better to spend as little time as possible in the water [Music] stingray i just caught it as you can see spear mark the dangerous is sharp with the bob from the tail um that's very dangerous um it's poison the bad bit is very very poisonous and very painful for them and not only that the poison can be deadly for the weakest in the water the hunter becomes the [Music] sharks all prey the land um crocodile as well but for us um we never cares about it and we just just hunt for those fish and other animals we'll never worry i never worry the crab and the few fish they've caught won't feed the whole group the fishermen head deeper into the mangrove [Music] this is where the biggest prey can be found but also a fearsome predator [Music] crocodiles is back this way some chances on india but because we have to really careful we stayed really really dangerous if you play around in a territory we'll come invite you they can go and get fish mostly fish and sometimes like if they're lucky they can get buffalo they can get you know they're gonna get dingoes they're gonna get kangaroo if they're very very lucky in these quiet and well-stocked waters far from the modern world the crocodiles have plenty of time to grow some of them are over 6 metres long and weigh almost 700 kilograms is dangerous but you have to learn to live with crocodile for many thousands of years if you tease crocodile you don't believe crocodile crocodile can kill if you play around with your crocodile [Applause] this enormous animal which likes to graze on the algae at the bottom of the sea is almost the size of a crocodile nothing that would scare the reptile [Applause] this is chugong silk cow how can i be eating this very big and strong timmy hasn't found any fish in the mangrove the crocodiles seem to have cleaned up for the yongo crocodiles are far from being the enemy in some ways they are even part of the same family [Music] the spirits of the dead of ancestors are sometimes reincarnated in these animals the culture of their ancestors is passed on through chants and dances today it's a teenager who is initiated to the dance of the crocodile [Music] it's impossible to know which of the tribe's stories it's telling perhaps this dance explains how to talk to the crocodiles the aborigines believe in telepathy according to them it's a means for speaking to the animals from a distance i could see crocodile i could talk to the crocodiles you saw here today is all this oldest culture in the world did you do lipsticks and sounds fire tells you the statement what you believe in what you see fire actually tells you your philosophy of thinking [Music] see you today it's a library bush library each one of these you saw when you see this is the layers the layers is written our ancestors it's written for a thousand seventy thousand years where we want to share this we want to share our beliefs our thoughts to the dominant world now they just have to wait for the crocodiles to come out of the water have they heard the tribe's calls this little shark will make the perfect bait it will convince even the most hesitant crocodile to join the noise of the chance nothing left to do but be patient australia looks like a film from the far west several parts of the continent are still virgin territories russell drives like a conqueror at the wheel of his road train as if pushed by a strong wind [Music] these roads are just like they were a hundred years ago it's like dirt not many people traveling on them any sort of troubles you could have you could break things um it's this this is just totally different um traveling to uh in the cities or um on the coast [Music] a bitumen road is nicer to drive on but there's a lot more people using them yeah i just prefer to drive out here for instance if i want to stop i don't have to wait for any traffic or see who's coming or going i'll just pull up [Music] [Music] after his crocodile dance the young man enters the water to show his bravery but then what would he be afraid of during the dance he spoke to the crocodile and the animal seemed prepared not to hurt him [Music] but the young man remains careful and stays away from the shore [Music] the animal heard his call [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Show Me the World

Views: 66,312

Rating: 4.7908163 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, deadliest roads, australia, bush, adventure, truck, outback, kangaroo, road, desert, danger

Id: OQR5pLDcfGw

Length: 49min 48sec (2988 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 31 2021