Beyond the Reef (2022) Movie Script
[soft music]
..
[instruments click]
[pilot]
Prop exercised.
..
Directional gyro set.
Fuel gauges checked.
Altimeter set.
Flight controls free.
Requesting clearance
to take off
out beyond the reef.
[air traffic control]
Granted. Will do.
Enjoy the ride.
[helicopter engine starting]
[helicopter blades whirring]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[bright music]
Wow, you can see
all the coral!
You can see the coral
so clearly.
The water is so beautiful.
That is where we're landing?
It's like my own island.
It's so beautiful.
[helicopter blades whirring]
[gasps]
We're landing!
[helicopter blades whirring]
[shrieking, giggling]
Okay, that was
a pretty soft landing.
[chuckles]
[pilot]
Welcome to Vlasoff.
[Shuang]
Thank you very much, kind sir.
Wow.
Oh my goodness.
We are in the middle
of the Great Barrier Reef
on my own little island!
This is amazing!
[gasps]
Look at how clear the water is
and how soft the sand is.
[moans]
Ooh, look, they have
a little picnic set up for me.
Woohoo!
[soft music]
Wow, I've never had breakfast
surrounded by
the endless coral sea.
I'm Shuang, actor, writer,
and part-time adventurer,
and together,
we're going to be exploring
this magnificent destination.
[majestic music]
[energetic music]
Welcome to one of
the Seven Wonders of the World,
the Great Barrier Reef.
Located in
Tropical Far North Queensland,
this is where ancient forests
meet the coral sea.
A land of natural
and historical significance
where humanity and nature
collide.
We are on a journey
to learn more
about this wild corner
of the planet,
and perhaps our place in it.
This is Pablo,
he's our skipper for the day.
He's gonna take us out
on the reef
and find us
a really beautiful spot
-for me to do my first dive.
-Oh yeah.
So we're gonna go
all the way to Flynn Reef,
which is one
of our favorite locations
here in Cairns.
The marine life is incredible,
and we have such good
weather conditions.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[Pablo]
We're hoping to see
a lot of the highlights
that the World Heritage area
has to offer.
[majestic music]
[Shuang]
We are currently floating on top
of the world's
largest coral reef system,
the Great Barrier Reef.
And today we have Patcy with us,
she is our friendly
local dive instructor.
And she's going to be teaching
me everything I need to know
to get my open water
dive certificate.
[Patcy]
Welcome to Flynn Reef.
This is such an amazing place
for us to be.
It's one of the furthest reefs
from Cairns,
so we're actually really close
to the continental shelf.
And because of that,
there's a lot
of gorgeous fresh water
flushing in
through the currents.
And as you can see,
it's just
an absolutely amazing day.
We've got the perfect weather,
we've got amazing visibility.
This is one
of our further sites,
and it's actually
very popular with turtles.
So hopefully today
we get a turtle into our cert.
So when we're starting
our diving today,
we're just gonna go
nice and shallow,
check out
some beautiful reef fishes,
and see how you go,
and you're just gonna love it.
Okay.
Just put your shoulder blades
together there for me.
Have you ever done
any snorkeling before
-or swimming?
-I have.
[Patcy]
So it's pretty much the same.
You're still gonna be
swimming around.
It's gonna be different,
though, and way better,
because we're actually going
to take the air down with us.
So I'm gonna strap a tank
to you, and to myself,
and then we'll go down
and we'll be able
to actually explore
the underwater world
for way longer than you
would be able to snorkeling.
Welcome to your scuba equipment.
We've got our air tank.
This essentially mimics the air
that we're breathing here, 21%,
it's just highly pressurized
and put into
a nice compact form for you.
With scuba diving,
the reason that it's so amazing
is that even though we're
putting all this heavy equipment
on you for you to explore,
once you're down there,
it's this feeling
of weightlessness
that you've never
experienced before.
You feel like--
almost like an astronaut.
As we're descending
into weightlessness,
you become part
of that marine world.
-Like Aquawoman!
-Yeah.
-I become Aquawoman.
-Like Aquawoman.
So, in the next four dives
I'm gonna get you certified,
and we'll get you certified
as Aquawoman.
[Shuang]
Yeah, that's what I want
on my certificate.
[Patcy]
Okay, so we've got our fins,
we've got our masks,
we've got our dive buddies,
and we are mentally
and physically okay to dive.
-Okay, yes, I think so.
-Okay!
Good, that's so--
you always want to hear that,
-that they're ready.
-Mentally,
'cause I'm a little bit nervous,
I'm not gonna lie,
but I'm very excited
to see the fish.
[Patcy]
So the way that we're gonna
roll into the water,
all we have to do is lean back
and enter the water that way.
Sounds good, right?
-Easy enough.
-Easy enough.
So go ahead and put
that regulator in.
Hold your mask
and regulator like so.
-Mm-hm.
-And...
hold your other hand
to your belly.
[excited exclamations]
Okay, three, two, one, roll.
[majestic music]
[shrieking, cheering]
Put your face down
and see what the--
the ocean's all about.
Wow, it actually
is super beautiful.
Holy.
-Wow!
-I know, right?
[Shuang]
My God, it's so beautiful.
[soft music]
Look at all these damsel fish
and mesmerizing coral.
It's a whole new world
under here,
and one that belongs
to fish and turtles
and mermaids in training,
like me.
The Great Barrier Reef
is a spectacular ecosystem.
Hundreds of species of fish
can live in just a small area
of the reef.
Patcy is so right.
It is magical down here.
You are weightless and seeing
the ocean like never before.
[music stops]
Check it out, I'm a natural.
This is my first ever dive,
but it sure won't be my last.
I have four more dives to go
to get my certificate
and become
the official mermaid
of the Great Barrier Reef.
[soft, bright music]
[bubbling]
Woo!
With my first dive complete,
Captain Pablo sets course
for our next destination,
the Outer Reefs,
where we're going to catch up
with my new friend,
marine biologist Eric.
[pensive music]
-Hi, Eric.
-Hi, Shuang.
-Nice to meet you.
-Welcome to
the World Heritage
Great Barrier Reef, yeah?
-Welcome to you.
-Thank you.
Oh, I'm so excited
to be here.
Where are we, exactly?
[Eric]
This reef itself
is called Moore Reef.
Moore Reef sits around about
55 kilometers east of Cairns.
This reef is on the outer edge,
so it's close
to where the continental shelf
drops straight down.
It's only about 10, 15
kilometers that way.
[Shuang]
Oh, wow, so this is the edge
of the reef--
[Eric]
Pretty well, yeah.
Yep, past that,
there's nothing more.
And it's full of life.
The biodiversity
is through the roof.
So this is where you've got,
like, over 40 species
of fish aggregate there,
and you can get over 10,000 fish
in this one spot.
Yeah, and we got a very special
wrasse in here too,
the Maori wrasse is one
of your largest wrasses.
Gets up to, like,
almost two meters in length.
A little bit bigger than you,
so not too bad--
[Shuang]
Very much bigger than me.
[Eric]
All right,
let's go check out the reef.
[Shuang]
Let's do it!
Time to channel
my inner mermaid,
although I always imagined
my inner mermaid
would be wearing
a slightly more magical crown,
but I guess this will do.
[excited squealing]
[Patcy]
All right.
Wanna take a seat
right at it?
Yeah, we're just gonna
hook you up right here.
You've got a dive computer here,
and this will
calculate everything
that's actually going on
once we go under.
[Shuang]
It's like you're proposing
to me almost.
[Patcy]
I propose for you to go
on this dive with me.
-Do you accept?
-I do.
[Patcy]
And then make sure the strap
goes underneath your ponytail
so that it's not too in the way.
I'll help you up,
it's a bit heavy.
[soft music]
[Shuang]
I just have
a really important question,
it's something
I've always been wondering.
Is there anything I can do
or individuals can do,
any little things
we can do to help you
and help the reef stay
in the condition that it is?
[Eric]
Totally,
one of my greatest passions
is promoting science in tourism.
-Yeah.
-Right?
And I find
the biggest way
to get people
to help the reef is,
first of all,
form a connection.
Get people, like,
even through our storytelling
or showing them.
Because when people
become connected to the reef,
they feel a lot more passionate
and want to conserve it.
They actually want
to do something for it.
You know, the greatest pressure
to the Great Barrier Reef
is climate change.
Without a doubt,
that is it.
But forming connections,
see the reef,
fall in love with it.
Once you fall in love
with it,
you want to do everything
you can for it.
[water bubbling]
[gleeful squealing]
Hey, well done!
[Patcy]
How was that?
-You did awesome.
-Nice one.
[Eric]
Really, really good.
[Patcy]
Aw, you were so good.
[Shuang]
Oh, I saw Nemo!
I saw Nemo and his whole family.
His daddy, his sister, uh,
his auntie.
[laughs]
I saw them all.
There were so many fish
down there.
[Patcy]
There were so many.
There were tons of parrotfish
as well.
And they were blending in
with the colors of the corals.
[Shuang]
I thought I was gonna, like, do
a really magical swim
through them,
[Patcy]
You looked magical,
you looked majestic.
For your first time,
it was truly majestic.
You did an amazing job.
[Shuang]
Thank you.
It took me a while--
I kept like sinking.
My body couldn't decide
whether I wanted
to float or sink.
I was, like, doing these ones
in the water.
[laughs]
[bright music]
The Great Barrier Reef
is made up
of over 3,000 individual reefs,
and we've only seen two.
Today, we head out
to Pressure Point.
[music stops]
Now it's time to talk
about this guy right here.
He is a beloved local,
and his name is Wally.
Wally is a Maori wrasse
and is nearly as big as me.
He's been following us around
for quite some time,
and let me just say,
Wally loves the camera.
Just look.
Here, here, and here.
[boat engine humming]
With just one dive left,
Patcy said she knew
just the spot to send me:
The Three Sisters.
[bright music]
[Patcy]
I'm so proud to say
that you're officially
a certified
open water scuba diver.
[Shuang]
Yeah!
And just like that,
I'm officially
a certified mermaid.
-Nice one.
-Thank you.
[Patcy]
How did you feel
about that today?
How was it?
[Shuang]
Today being the second day
was much easier
than the first day,
I've gotta say.
I was very nervous
the first day.
[Patcy]
I think one thing
that is just amazing
is that you got to do
your course
in one of the most amazing,
pristine reefs,
and some
of the most famous dive sites
that you normally only get
to see on the internet
or in a book, you know,
in a magazine
at the coffee shop.
[Shuang]
I know, I feel so lucky.
And there were so many fish
and corals,
and so many things down there
to distract me.
Otherwise I think if I realized
I was 10 meters underwater,
I would have, like, freaked out
a little bit.
-At the start.
-At the start.
[Patcy]
What was your favorite part
of the course?
[Shuang]
Uh, probably, um,
ooh, the turtle.
We saw a turtle today.
[Patcy]
The turtle today.
[Shuang]
Which has been, like, my dream,
as you all know.
The whole time I've been like,
"Let's see a turtle.
Where is that turtle?"
Finally saw it today.
[Patcy]
It did take a couple of dives,
but we officially saw
the turtle,
and it was so in love with you.
I think it really, really,
really liked you a lot.
-We had a connection.
-Had a deep connection.
And that means a lot,
especially because
that means they've made it.
One in a thousand turtles
make it to adulthood.
[Shuang]
That is so sad.
[Patcy]
But that's why today
was so amazing,
'cause that turtle loved you
and was, like, ready to be
on our dive with us together.
So that was amazing, amazing.
[Shuang]
I looked in his eyes.
[Patcy]
And he looked in yours,
and he was super happy.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[classical music]
[Patcy]
Another thing were
those massive schools of fish.
How amazing was that,
to just be swimming through?
[Shuang]
Yes, and there was just
this nice hurricane of fish
just going around
this pinnacle.
And there was
this slight current.
And it was thousands of fish,
beautiful colors.
It's so hard to describe
the feeling,
but it was just
pure tranquility,
like, just from watching
the fish.
It was--it was--I don't even
know how to explain it, guys,
but you have to come.
All of you have to come
to the Great Barrier Reef
and ex--just explore
and experience
the water for yourself,
and experience the reef
for yourself.
And become a diver like me,
so you can actually see it,
I think the proper way.
This is the only way
to see the reef as a diver.
[Patcy]
Absolutely.
[Shuang]
I'm sold.
[Patcy]
Woo-hoo!
[Shuang]
With my new dive certificate
in hand,
it's time to say goodbye
to Patcy and Captain Pablo
and head
to our next destination.
[majestic music]
[soft music]
We've made our way
to Green Island.
Green Island is sanctuary
for a vast array
of land and marine life.
No one understands
the impact
us humans have
on the Great Barrier Reef
better than the person
I'm about to meet,
Jennie Gilbert,
marine biologist and cofounder
of The Cairns Turtle
Rehabilitation Center.
So, I have to say, I've been
diving for the last few days,
and I've been seeing a lot
of amazing sea animals.
But I must say, the most
memorable has been a turtle.
[Jennie]
I know, and they're beautiful
out in the ocean, aren't they?
And that's where they belong.
They don't belong in tanks.
But unfortunately,
we run the Cairns Turtle
Rehabilitation Center,
so we get to see very sick
and injured turtles.
And they're in tanks for,
you know,
extended periods of time,
sometimes up to years
before they recover.
[Shuang]
What are some
of the main reasons
why turtles end up
at the rehabilitation center?
[Jennie]
The turtles are under
enormous threat
every day in their life
out in the ocean.
The main thing that we see
is Floater Syndrome,
and that's a term
for air under their shell.
And that's caused
by them eating plastic,
microplastics,
fishing line.
[Shuang]
How do we help these turtles?
[Jennie]
Look, there's many ways
we can help those turtles.
Say no to single-use plastic.
Watch what we put down the sink.
Dispose of your fishing gear,
you know, properly.
[Shuang]
Yeah, that sounds easy enough.
[Jennie]
And also, the other thing is,
why they're so important
to the reef is,
if we've got a sick reef,
those turtles can tell us.
-Really?
-So what happened was,
we had a mass stranding event
of green sea turtles.
Now, green sea turtles
eat seagrass,
and we found
that due to the cyclones,
the seagrass beds
were wiped out,
and that's what
green sea turtles eat.
And so
when we started getting
so many turtles
and juveniles in,
we knew there was a problem.
So they actually--
they actually tell us
when there's a sick ocean.
[Shuang]
The other day,
I met a hawksbill turtle
in the wild.
[Jennie]
That is really lucky
to see a hawksbill, yes.
[Shuang]
Oh! Why is that?
[Jennie]
Well, hawksbills
are critically endangered.
[Shuang]
Oh, I hope I get to meet
another hawksbill turtle.
[Jennie]
Well, today you're gonna
meet Billy,
and you're gonna help me
release Billy
back out into the wild
where she belongs.
-Uh, wow, really?
-Yes.
And also,
the thing about Billy is,
she actually has
a satellite tracker on her back,
so we can actually follow her,
and that's used
for her health profile.
So when she goes in the water,
we know that
she's gone back to eating,
we know how far
she's traveled,
all of those sort of things.
And that gives us a great view
on what is actually happening.
And you're gonna help me
release Billy
back out in the ocean
where she belongs.
[Shuang]
Well, I'm so excited to do that.
[Jennie]
She will be too!
[laughing]
[bright music]
Shu, now I'm gonna run through
what we're gonna do, okay?
You're gonna have your hand
around the flipper there
and the back of her shell.
[indistinct chatter, shrieking]
[Shuang]
Oh my God!
Aww!
[unintelligible squealing]
[water splashes]
Since her release, Billy has
swum over 2,000 kilometers.
I wonder what adventures
she's having right now.
Whatever she's doing,
I'm sure she's thankful,
and we should be too,
to Jennie and her team
for doing all they can
to get turtles like Billy home.
[soft music]
What better way to explore
the Great Barrier Reef
than by sail?
I'm about to meet Steve
on his boat,
the Sailaway IV.
Steve knows these waters
like the back of his hand,
and he's taking us
to one of his favorite places,
so it's anchors aweigh.
Steve might be the captain,
but on this yacht,
everyone lends a hand.
-Can I join you today?
-Hey, come.
Yeah.
Would you like to have a go,
do some steering?
-Am I allowed to?
-Yeah, take the wheel.
Looking ahead.
Hardest thing
is to go straight,
so look straight ahead.
Then you can feel--
feel the pressure on the wheel.
So this is where we can control
the whole boat.
Now, a little bit of trivia.
I wanna tell you, how do you
know which side's which?
So when we're talking about,
"Let's put the sail out,
let's do something,"
we have to give it a name.
Because if I'm facing this way,
left and right can be opposite.
[Shuang]
Oh, that's true.
-So, on this side is port.
-Okay, this side is port.
[Steve]
It's colored, normally, red.
-Red?
-Yeah, like a red light
would be a port light.
And on the other side,
we have full starboard.
-Starboard.
-And when you go into the land,
you need to make sure
you get the right side
of the lights,
to either red or the green,
which is called the starboard,
otherwise you could be
on dangerous water
-that's shallow.
-Don't want that.
[Steve]
So let's feel the pressure
on the rudder
if we go a little bit
to starboard.
-Ooh.
-Yeah?
-It's very stiff.
-Yeah.
So you feel the strength,
feel it, yeah.
[Shuang]
What am I moving?
[Steve]
You're moving this,
this goes to a wire,
and to the rudders,
and that's pushing
against the water.
So let's go to port.
This is better,
nice and smooth and straight.
And a good secret way is, see,
see this?
That's the rudder angle
indicator,
and that tells us
where the rudders are
so we don't start
going like this.
Yeah, we go nice and straight.
What we're gonna do now
is we're gonna get
the main sail up.
So if I can ask you
to press that button,
give you a tie there,
yep, go for it.
That's it, yeah.
Excellent, keep going.
Excellent, yes,
hoisting the main sail.
That's good.
Good.
[rope winding]
Okay, stop, stop.
Perfect.
Well done.
Give yourself a clap.
[laughing]
-High five.
-Excellent.
[seabirds calling]
So now we're underway,
I want to explain
a few little things
about how cool it is,
where we're going.
So, remember, we started off
in Port Douglas.
This is incredible coastline,
the Daintree National Park.
World Heritage rainforest.
Right next to it
is the World Heritage
Great Barrier Reef,
so we're actually going
between the two of them,
out across the shipping channel
to the clear water
of the Outer Reef.
So we're gonna actually aim
to get out to these
incredible snorkeling sites
just up here.
We'll look out
for some turtles.
We've got white sandy caves.
They're pretty exciting places
to look at.
The only living thing
you can see from space
is the Great Barrier Reef.
So two and a half thousand
kilometers
of the most incredible sites.
[Shuang]
It's quite amazing how close
the shoreline is to the reefs.
[Steve]
Yeah, I mean, these are
two World Heritage Sites
that actually collide
in this area,
so that's why it's so special.
And going through
this gap here,
it enables us to see
some incredible sites.
[Shuang]
So we're heading
to Mackay Reef today.
[Steve]
Yes, yeah, that's
a really nice combination,
so there's a whole mixture
of the white sand
and the aquamarine colors.
We can't wait to get you
in the water there.
Every day's different
on the reef, yeah,
so we don't know exactly
what we're gonna see.
[Shuang]
How long have you been
going to Mackay Reef?
[Steve]
Well, about 19 years now.
I've been at sea
all my life,
so this is one part
of the world we enjoy,
and it's absolutely stunning.
We hope you'll fall in love
with it just as much as we do.
[bright music]
[music stops]
[Shuang]
See this rusty-colored streak
right here?
This is coral spawn.
Just once a year,
after a full moon,
the coral on the reef
release a multitude
of tiny particles
into the ocean,
where they follow the currents,
find a safe spot,
and grow into new coral.
Isn't that amazing?
Anyway, where were we?
[bright music]
Born from a mountain range,
growing from ancient forests
of coral,
sculpted by little fish,
the Great Barrier Reef
is an absolute masterpiece
of organic engineering.
And as guardians
of this planet,
it is our responsibility
to take care of it.
[soft music]
[sighs dreamily]
It has been truly an eye-opening
and mesmerizing last few days,
to say the least.
Before I came on this journey,
I always thought
of the Great Barrier Reef
as an iconic
Australian landmark
or popular tourist destination,
or even the land
of Finding Nemo.
And don't get me wrong,
it is all of that.
But it's also so much more.
It's a complex,
living, breathing organism.
And we as humans
of this Earth
are not just surveyors of it,
but we're a part of it,
which means we also have
our part to play.
And it could be as simple
as declining a plastic straw
next time you go out,
or taking those fabric
reusable bags with you
when you go shopping,
or even just taking a moment
every now and again
to breathe and really take in
this environment and...
...appreciate
this wonderful ecosystem
that we're all a part of.
And I think
you'll agree with me
when I say that protecting
our beautiful oceans
are definitely worth
making those small little
sacrifices for, right?
[birds chirping, squawking]
[soft music]
This place is teeming
with noise and energy.
This dense, rich jungle
is basically a living relic
of the Gondwana,
which is
an ancient supercontinent.
And basically what happened was,
180 million years ago,
that supercontinent
broke away into pieces,
and those pieces
became smaller continents
known as Africa,
South America, Antarctica,
the Indian subcontinent,
the Arabian peninsula,
and, of course, Australia.
So, basically, this isolated
part of the jungle
is a living relic of
an ancient rainforest paradise,
and I get to hike it.
Lucky me.
[birds chirping, squawking]
[majestic music]
The Daintree Rainforest.
Over 180 million years old,
it is the oldest rainforest
in the world.
The Daintree
is a breathtaking sweep
of jungle-clad gorges,
dense forest,
rivers, and waterfalls
that travel 95 kilometers
from Port Douglas
to remote Cape Tribulation.
[birds chirping]
Wow!
I made it!
This is amazing!
Woo!
[soft music]
Hi!
Hello!
[insects chirring]
Woo!
Hello, rainforest!
[water splashing]
[soft music]
Since 1891,
Kuranda Scenic Railway
has been carrying
people and goods
through the World Heritage
listed rainforest.
The famous railway
winds its way
from Cairns in the south
to Kuranda,
a village in the rainforest
in the north.
Wow!
What a spectacular view!
You can see
the Daintree Rainforest,
the Barron Gorge.
You can also see
the ocean from here.
Ah, after being on a boat
for the last few days,
I'm thoroughly enjoying
this change of pace.
And the fact that I get
a view like this
without having to hike
is a bonus.
[birds chirping]
One of Australia's
most recognizable waterfalls,
Barron Falls, is fed
by the mighty Barron River,
70 kilometers outside
of the Daintree National Park.
It's over 100 kilometers
of wild water
that heads out
to the Coral Sea.
And what better way
to get introduced
to this impressive rainforest
than from the river itself?
[dramatic music]
[water rushing]
I'm so excited for this!
Let's go!
[unintelligible], friends.
[excited clapping]
[unintelligible]
Oh my God!
I'm not ready for this!
[laughing]
High five!
[laughing]
If we want to say, "Stop,"
is there, like, a stop?
[laughing]
Oh my goodness.
Hold on!
Woo!
I'm not ready for this!
[screaming]
If there's any more than that,
I don't want it.
Okay!
[laughing]
[screams]
[exclaiming]
Okay.
[water rushing]
I did not sign up for this.
Hold on!
[screaming]
[laughing]
Now is as good a time as any
to introduce my awesome crew.
You've got me up front,
Sophie, my exceptional
wardrobe supervisor,
awesome Emily,
hair and makeup artist,
and ever-amazing Beckie,
one of our producers.
This is my all-girl
whitewater adventure crew.
Right, let's get back to it.
[laughing]
Oh, oh!
[water rushing]
[screaming]
[splashing]
[screaming]
[laughing]
[cheering]
[mellow music]
This is actually...
a great way to get introduced
to the rainforest.
[tranquil music]
This is an amazing view.
As we head towards
the Daintree Rainforest,
we make a quick little stop
to meet local chefs
Ben and Rachael.
Ugh, all this adventure
has made me incredibly hungry,
and I've been told
just the place to go to
for an incredible meal.
Ah, today I'm at Oaks Kitchen
with Rachael and Ben.
-Hello, hello, hello.
-Hey, how are you?
[Shuang]
Good, thank you.
And they're gonna show me
how to bring
this incredible produce to life.
[Ben]
So, today we're
gonna be doing a dish
using the local coral trout
that's just been caught
off Oak Beach.
[Rachael]
Some Thai basil,
some green mango,
some kaffir lime leaf.
So, yeah,
let's get cooking, hey?
[Shuang]
I love all this stuff.
My day-to-day diet.
[Ben]
Very good.
[Rachael]
So, just a little bit
about what we do.
So we're organic and we use
permaculture methods to grow,
so that's really supporting
the ecosystem,
and I don't use
any fast-growing fertilizer
or anything like that.
[Ben]
So, to start with,
this is a Nam Dok Mai,
which is a Thai type
of green mango.
So we want to do about
four slices down that side,
and then if you want to,
we want to chop it up finely.
That's it.
Move this guy aside for now.
And the next guy
we're gonna chop
is the chilli, ginger, garlic,
and then the kaffir lime leaf.
So now we're on to making
the nam jim.
[Rachael laughs]
[Shuang]
This is bigger than my head.
[Ben]
So I'm gonna get you
to be my smasher.
-Can do.
-And what we're gonna do is
we're gonna use garlic...
[clacking]
...a little bit of ginger now,
and then the last bit
we're gonna be smashing up
is the green chilli.
Cool, and then we have
our palm sugar here,
some lime juice,
little bit of fish sauce,
and now we'll have
a little try-on.
[bright music]
-Cool, that's good.
-Oh, good work.
-Yeah, thank you.
-Good one, yeah.
[Ben]
So we've got
our coral trout now,
and what we wanna do is,
with this one,
we're just thinly slicing it.
So we've probably got
about enough there
for what we wanna do now.
[Shuang]
Are you sure?
I'm very hungry.
[laughter]
[Ben]
We can slice a little bit more.
[laughter]
Now we're pretty much up
to the plating-up stage.
-Gonna use this guy here.
-Oh, pretty.
[Ben]
So we're just gonna make like
a line down the middle here.
[Shuang]
This is how I'm gonna serve
myself sashimi from now on.
It's plated and beautiful.
[Ben]
And then we've got our nam jim
that you smashed as well,
and what you wanna do is,
I want you to just get
spoonfuls of the nam jim,
and you're just going over
the top of the fish like this.
[Shuang]
That looks delicious already!
[Ben]
And we've got all the little
bits that we chopped earlier.
We want to get a little bit
of the green mango,
and we're just kinda
just letting it randomly
just go over the fish like that,
and then we wanna go
with the lemongrass as well.
And then we will get,
actually, a few leaves
of Rachael's Thai basil,
which we have here.
[Shuang]
There's an art to this,
my friends.
[Ben]
And then we have our green ants,
which is gonna add another
little zestiness to the dish.
[Shuang]
I used to get bitten
by green ants a lot
when I was younger.
[Ben]
Yeah, this is how
we get back at them.
-Yeah!
-This is payback.
[Shuang]
This is revenge time,
green ants!
[Ben]
And then we just have
a kaffir lime.
Yeah, so that's our coral trout
with green nam jim,
green mango, green ants,
Thai basil, and kaffir lime.
-It's just a lot of green.
-A lot of green.
[Rachael]
A lot of green and herbs
and fruit from the garden.
-Shall we try it?
-Yes, let's try it.
[Shuang]
So I notice
we didn't cook the fish.
[Ben]
No, we didn't.
So, yeah, it's using
the lime juice
that's in the dressing,
that little bit of the acid
from that's gonna help
cook it a little bit too.
[Shuang]
Okay.
Oh, I'm getting a lot
of green ant in mine.
Oh, I love that lime smell.
Oh, I can smell
the Thai basil as well.
-Really fresh.
-Really fresh, zesty,
with that mango, Thai basil.
[Shuang]
Oh!
There are so many flavors
in my mouth right now.
The texture is amazing.
The mango is very crispy.
It's really nice.
[Rachael]
And that coral trout, I mean,
it just--it is its own.
-Yeah.
-It's delicate,
it's beautiful, fresh.
[Shuang]
The lemongrass is amazing.
I feel like I'm eating
a Thai sashimi.
-Yeah, that is.
-Yeah, it pretty much is.
[Shuang]
Yeah, I've never had
a Thai sashimi before.
Mm, and the green ants.
I want to have a green ant
just by itself.
Here we go.
Oh, it's very limy!
-Yeah.
-Ooh, crunchy.
[laughter]
Crunchy lime.
Mm.
That is really delicious,
and it wasn't that hard to make.
This is going to be a staple
in my house from now on.
-Thank you.
-Appreciate it.
-No worry.
-All right, now that I'm fed,
on to the next adventure.
[vibrant music]
[birds chirping]
Welcome to Wildlife Habitat,
home of the Tropical Animal
Rehabilitation Centre.
Here, we're getting the chance
to be up close and personal
with the Daintree's
best-known inhabitants.
[animals chirping]
Right now
I'm with some kangaroos.
They're native to Australia,
and they're
the friendliest animals!
This is a cute joey.
I love joeys,
they're so adorable.
Oh, they're so friendly!
[animals chirping, squawking]
This is an eclectus parrot.
This is my new friend.
He's gonna come home with me.
Aren't you?
Yes.
[chirping]
Say hello to the most famous
Australian animal, the koala.
This is Romeo, and I think
we just became best friends.
Koalas rarely drink water.
They get all the hydration
they need
from the eucalyptus leaves
they munch on.
They can eat a kilogram a day,
and then they have a nap
for up to 18 hours!
Lucky them.
[gentle music]
[chirring]
It's a magical morning
on the Daintree River,
and today, we join David
to track down
the Tropical North's
most prehistoric resident,
the saltwater crocodile.
[David]
This is the Daintree River,
and we're about nine kilometers
up from the sea,
which is down behind us.
The whole thing's
about 120 kilometers long.
Big river, very wide river,
but really shallow,
so at low tide,
we have to zigzag up here
so we don't hit the bottom,
and on the very low tide,
you can actually walk across it
if you wanted to
from one side to the other,
but that's not recommended
because those crocodiles
live in it.
[birds chirping]
[Shuang]
And, David, I notice
that your boat is very quiet.
-Can you tell me why?
-It's an electric-powered boat,
so we're nice and quiet
and clean.
So it's quite ideal
for being in nature
because we don't have
any exhaust or fumes,
and we can sneak up on things
and get close to them
without scaring them, and, uh,
good for the environment.
No impact on the river at all.
So over here on the left,
just under these trees,
you can see the top
of a head of a crocodile.
[gasps]
It's a crocodile!
It's so big!
[David]
Yeah, deep under here.
Biggest crocodile in the world.
[Shuang]
It's really camouflaged.
You can't even see it.
It's so hard to see.
[birds chirping]
Can you tell me a little bit
about crocodiles,
like what they eat?
[David]
Crocs like to eat fish and crabs
most of the time,
that's their normal diet,
and, um, they wait
till it's low tide.
At the moment,
we're at about three meters
of tidal difference here,
it's about three quarters full.
As it gets lower,
there is a beach
along the edge of the river,
so the water's down
away from the mangrove roots,
there's nowhere for the fish
and the crabs and the prawns
to hide.
The crocodiles take advantage
of that low tide,
and they swim along the beach
with their legs stuck out.
They stick their front leg out
and make a dam
between their face,
their leg, and the shore.
Anything that bumps
into their leg or their face,
they feel it and they swish
their head around
and they grab it.
They've got
really sensitive skin.
The skin on their face is more
sensitive than our fingertips.
Crocodiles have
an endless amount of patience.
If they don't get it today,
they'll get it tomorrow,
the next day, the next week,
the next month, the next year,
'cause they are reptiles
and they're very,
very efficient.
They rely on the sun
to get their body heat.
They don't have to generate
body heat like we do.
They don't need a lot of fuel
to keep them going.
[Shuang]
How long can a crocodile
hold their breath under water?
[David]
Well, the record is seven hours.
When they're under the water,
you can't tell.
There's no bubbles,
there's no ripples.
You've got no idea
if they're there or not,
but they know where you are
'cause they can feel
the vibrations.
So, uh, they're really good
at hiding.
They're like
the ultimate predator.
[laughing]
[mellow music]
[David]
No one's really sure
of the life span of a crocodile.
So they're
very understudied animals.
They're dangerous,
they are very secretive animals,
and they do live
for a long time,
so they often outlive
their researchers.
And the animal itself
has been around, you know,
for millions of years.
They predate dinosaurs.
They've seen the dinosaurs come,
they've seen them go again,
and they're still with us.
[chirping]
[Shuang]
This is called
river drift snorkeling.
It's a crocodile-free zone
because this water
is much too cold
for our scaly friends.
We are pulled downstream
by a natural tide,
giving us the same vantage point
as all the other creatures
hanging out
in the relative safety
of the river.
A pretty chill place
to call home, don't you think?
It's time to take things
down a notch
and move at a slow enough pace
to take in
this complex, biodiverse,
and otherworldly place.
[sighs]
You know what?
I think the crocodiles knew
what they were doing
with the sunbaking.
[sighs]
[bright music]
[birds trilling]
David Attenborough once called
the Daintree Rainforest
the most extraordinary place
on Earth.
We're about to go find out
for ourselves
exactly what makes this place
so incredibly special.
Daintree, it's nice to meet you!
[wildlife sounds]
To get to the heart
of the Daintree National Park,
I met up with
environmental expert Matt
who is going to show us
what makes
this ancient tropical rainforest
so special.
[Matt]
I understand you've been
to the world's oldest reef.
-Yes, I have.
-Well, welcome
to the world's oldest
rainforest, the Daintree.
[dramatic music]
How good is this?
Have a look around.
[Shuang]
It's beautiful.
[chirping]
[splashing]
[Matt]
Have a look around, have a look
at the beauty of this place.
The Daintree Rainforest,
how good is it?
You will not go anywhere
in the world
and see anything like it.
This is essentially
a living museum.
There's plants here
that have been around
longer than dinosaurs,
when dinosaurs
were walking the Earth.
It's absolutely mind-blowing.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[Matt]
Oh, I'll bet you're starting
to feel that humidity.
It's definitely coming through.
As you can imagine,
the rainforest is a wet place.
As you can see, this is
a really, really unique habitat,
and it's dominated
by these huge fan palms.
Now, just one
of these fans alone
can be around two meters
in diameter.
[Shuang]
That is taller than me!
[Matt]
It's pretty big,
but only two percent
of the sunlight
actually makes it
to the forest floor.
And as you can see, this canopy
closes over very, very nicely.
So because not much sunlight
makes it to the forest floor,
these trees need
to be able to adapt,
so some of them can climb
very, very well.
And have a look
at that tree over there.
That is actually what we call
a strangler fig.
Starts off as a small seed
planted in the top
of the tree by a bird,
sends its roots all the way
down to the forest floor,
and eventually consumes
the host.
It completely eats that tree.
-Unbelievable, isn't it?
-Yeah.
[Matt]
And did you know
that the Daintree Rainforest
is around 180 million years old?
-That's old.
-It's unbelievable, isn't it?
[Shuang]
What's your favorite tree, Matt?
[Matt]
It's funny you say that.
This guy right here, actually.
It's the Hope's Cycad.
He is so slow,
he grows one centimeter
every single year.
So that plant right there
is about a thousand years old.
[Shuang]
Wow, I'm sure that plant
has a story to tell.
[Matt]
I bet.
[vibrant music]
[chirring]
[soft music]
[Shuang]
Now it's time
for something really special.
Juan is a proud
First Nation Kuku Yalanji man
and has offered to take me
on a unique culinary adventure.
[Juan]
Hey, Shuang, before we head off
and go walking to the mangrove,
I'm gonna do a quick
smoking ceremony,
Welcome to Country, and this
is just a special thing to do
as a way of letting
the old people know
that we're traveling
through Kuku Yalanji Bubu.
[speaking native language]
This area here,
this is my stomping ground.
Mangroves, if you have a look
at the root systems,
how thickly tangled they grow
and bind together,
these are like giant filters.
-Yeah.
-So the mangroves filter
all of the sediment
from mainland
and protect
our Great Barrier Reef.
So, Shuang, you see here?
This is an edible snail.
[Shuang]
Oh, that's the Kunkun.
-How do you normally cook it?
-Me, I'll fry 'em,
a little bit of coconut oil,
garlic, and chilli.
Okay, so, Shuang, so,
now you've got your spear.
The next thing is
how to spear stuff.
So with the crabs
and small stuff,
you can get very close to 'em.
I can get two, three meters
from them.
If you get close enough,
hold the spear long,
so hold the point
away from your body,
put the point as close
as you can to the animal.
Once you have it lined up,
just stab straight through
and hit it as hard as you can.
The harder you hit it,
the better chance
of the spear piercing it
and you pinning it
to the ground.
Once you have it pinned,
hold the spear in the ground,
and then we can walk over
and pick the animal up.
So that's how we spear
small things or crabs
that are close to you,
so if you want to practice,
hold the spear long...
-Long?
-Yup, that's it,
right down on the end,
one hand,
keep the other hand away,
line it up,
look down the spear,
once you have it lined up,
bang, stab through.
-[grunts]
-That's it!
That's it,
so that's Crabbing 101, easy.
[Shuang]
All right! Can be done.
[mellow music]
Oh, I see one, I see a crab!
It's over there!
No, it's over there!
[laughing]
[Juan]
There it is, back at your feet.
-Okay, don't move.
-There it is, there it is.
[Shuang]
I can see, I can see, I can see.
[Juan]
Remember,
take that bottom hand away.
[Shuang screams]
-Okay.
-You did well, you did well.
[Shuang]
Wait...
[Shuang screams, laughs]
This is really hard!
I keep stepping on it!
-Gotta stay still.
-Sorry.
Okay, now,
what you can't see here
is that every time
I aim for a crab,
they run straight for my feet.
Apparently they do this a lot.
Juan told me later
that what I'm doing
is affectionately known
as the crab dance.
I think I did
a pretty good job anyway.
Check this part out.
[Juan]
Lift that bottom hand
when pulling the spear away.
Go on, give it a shot.
Yeah, smashed it!
Straight through the middle,
so lift him up.
-Really, do I really have him?
-Oh, yup.
Keep your hands--spear there.
[Shuang]
Spearing.
[Juan]
Okay, pull your spear out.
-Pulling out.
-Hard.
Keep going, hard.
[Shuang]
Oh! I got him!
Did you--
[laughing]
I got him!
I caught us dinner, guys!
We're not gonna starve tonight!
[laughing]
I caught one!
[Juan]
All that hard work,
it'll taste even better.
So we got this one
in a mangrove,
and we found him in a hole,
so checking the hole,
I put my spear in
and just hooked him
and I pulled it out.
All right, so you ready
to go and cook up?
-Yes, I'm ready!
-All right, let's go back.
[Shuang]
Woo-hoo!
Dinner time!
[birds chirping]
So we've caught our crab.
When I say "we," I mean me.
Caught our crab,
our dinner for tonight.
And Juan's gonna teach us
how we're gonna make it.
[Juan]
Yeah, so, um, quite simple.
This is a local family recipe.
So we're gonna do a garlic,
chilli, and coconut mud crab.
-Ooh, that sounds delicious.
-Yeah, should be really nice.
But, starters,
got some fresh damper,
so I baked this
this morning.
That's for all of the sauce
once you're finished.
[Shuang]
That's smart.
[Juan]
We've got some limes here
as well,
and I'll get you
to slice up the limes.
While you're doing that,
I'll clean the crabs
and kick the gas cooker on.
[Shuang]
Okay.
[Juan]
All right, now, have you ever
cleaned a crab before?
[Shuang]
I can't say I have. Yeah.
[Juan]
So, normally people
just throw 'em in boiling water.
Today I'm gonna take 'em apart
before we cook 'em.
The phallus comes off,
then we pull the carapace off.
[Shuang]
Okay.
[Juan]
But then inside of this here
is all the fat.
Always cook with the fat,
it gives it--
that's where all your taste
comes from.
So, all of that orange in there.
-Orange part.
-That's all the fat in there.
[Shuang]
This is very Chinese.
We cook with woks.
[Juan]
Yeah, we have a strong Asian
influence in all of our food.
So, yeah, this is
some coconut oil,
um, garlic, minced garlic,
and then some chilli vinegars.
Okay, and then
to get the fat out,
you just have to get dirty,
so get your finger in there,
squeeze,
and all of that comes out.
[Shuang]
Delicious, my mouth is watering.
[Juan]
Yeah, to make sure you get
the flavor through the shell,
so with the claws,
especially these big ones,
give it a hard tap
until it cracks and opens all up
so you get flavor
all through it.
[Shuang]
Ah.
[Juan]
And last thing to go in
are these little Kunkun.
So these are those little
tree snails that we got earlier.
[Shuang]
I'm very excited to try this.
Ah, okay, my stomach
is grumbling.
[sizzling]
[Juan]
I reckon we can get in
with the soft-shell crab,
you don't even have to peel it.
You can just grab it.
Mm!
That is delicious!
That lime is perfect.
I can taste the garlic,
I can taste the coconut oil,
a little bit of chilli,
it's got a kick to it.
This is so tasty!
Okay, I'm gonna try it
with the damper.
-Yeah, yeah, please do, yeah.
-Would you like some?
-Okay, ready?
-Yup.
[laughing]
[Shuang]
Mm!
[Juan]
You get all that fat.
-It's lovely.
-This is so tasty!
[sizzling]
[birds chirping]
[insects chirring]
[fire whooshing]
[gentle piano music]
[birds chirping]
We have seen the Daintree
from almost every angle,
and now there's
only one more left.
However, to start our journey,
we need to beat the sun
because we've been told
that sunrise
is the most magical time
to see Mother Nature
at her best.
[majestic music]
[fire whooshing]
It is absolutely breathtaking
up here.
You can see so much!
I tell you what,
this was worth conquering
my fear of heights for.
It is unique
to Far North Queensland
to see the pristine blue
of the ocean
peeking through the rainforest.
There are few places on Earth
where a powerful,
dominating rainforest
gives way to the ocean.
Prehistoric rainforests thrive
alongside the kaleidoscopic
Coral Sea
where Australia's
First Nations people
lived in harmony
with the environment
for more than 50,000 years.
The writer Alan Watts once said,
"You did not come
into this world.
You came out of it,
like a wave from the ocean.
You are not a stranger here."
If this journey
has taught me anything,
it's that we are part
of something
much bigger than ourselves,
and more importantly,
we're not alone.
From the crocodiles
to the turtles
to the sweet little damselfish,
we're all in this together.
This place that we call home
has been millions of years
in the making,
and now it's time
for us to protect it
so that the people
coming after us
also have a chance to enjoy
this wonderful world.
The smallest actions,
when all put together,
make the biggest impact.
Your life will leave a mark
in this world.
Now it's time to decide
what that mark will be.
[laughter]
[grand music]
[vibrant music]
..
[instruments click]
[pilot]
Prop exercised.
..
Directional gyro set.
Fuel gauges checked.
Altimeter set.
Flight controls free.
Requesting clearance
to take off
out beyond the reef.
[air traffic control]
Granted. Will do.
Enjoy the ride.
[helicopter engine starting]
[helicopter blades whirring]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[bright music]
Wow, you can see
all the coral!
You can see the coral
so clearly.
The water is so beautiful.
That is where we're landing?
It's like my own island.
It's so beautiful.
[helicopter blades whirring]
[gasps]
We're landing!
[helicopter blades whirring]
[shrieking, giggling]
Okay, that was
a pretty soft landing.
[chuckles]
[pilot]
Welcome to Vlasoff.
[Shuang]
Thank you very much, kind sir.
Wow.
Oh my goodness.
We are in the middle
of the Great Barrier Reef
on my own little island!
This is amazing!
[gasps]
Look at how clear the water is
and how soft the sand is.
[moans]
Ooh, look, they have
a little picnic set up for me.
Woohoo!
[soft music]
Wow, I've never had breakfast
surrounded by
the endless coral sea.
I'm Shuang, actor, writer,
and part-time adventurer,
and together,
we're going to be exploring
this magnificent destination.
[majestic music]
[energetic music]
Welcome to one of
the Seven Wonders of the World,
the Great Barrier Reef.
Located in
Tropical Far North Queensland,
this is where ancient forests
meet the coral sea.
A land of natural
and historical significance
where humanity and nature
collide.
We are on a journey
to learn more
about this wild corner
of the planet,
and perhaps our place in it.
This is Pablo,
he's our skipper for the day.
He's gonna take us out
on the reef
and find us
a really beautiful spot
-for me to do my first dive.
-Oh yeah.
So we're gonna go
all the way to Flynn Reef,
which is one
of our favorite locations
here in Cairns.
The marine life is incredible,
and we have such good
weather conditions.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[Pablo]
We're hoping to see
a lot of the highlights
that the World Heritage area
has to offer.
[majestic music]
[Shuang]
We are currently floating on top
of the world's
largest coral reef system,
the Great Barrier Reef.
And today we have Patcy with us,
she is our friendly
local dive instructor.
And she's going to be teaching
me everything I need to know
to get my open water
dive certificate.
[Patcy]
Welcome to Flynn Reef.
This is such an amazing place
for us to be.
It's one of the furthest reefs
from Cairns,
so we're actually really close
to the continental shelf.
And because of that,
there's a lot
of gorgeous fresh water
flushing in
through the currents.
And as you can see,
it's just
an absolutely amazing day.
We've got the perfect weather,
we've got amazing visibility.
This is one
of our further sites,
and it's actually
very popular with turtles.
So hopefully today
we get a turtle into our cert.
So when we're starting
our diving today,
we're just gonna go
nice and shallow,
check out
some beautiful reef fishes,
and see how you go,
and you're just gonna love it.
Okay.
Just put your shoulder blades
together there for me.
Have you ever done
any snorkeling before
-or swimming?
-I have.
[Patcy]
So it's pretty much the same.
You're still gonna be
swimming around.
It's gonna be different,
though, and way better,
because we're actually going
to take the air down with us.
So I'm gonna strap a tank
to you, and to myself,
and then we'll go down
and we'll be able
to actually explore
the underwater world
for way longer than you
would be able to snorkeling.
Welcome to your scuba equipment.
We've got our air tank.
This essentially mimics the air
that we're breathing here, 21%,
it's just highly pressurized
and put into
a nice compact form for you.
With scuba diving,
the reason that it's so amazing
is that even though we're
putting all this heavy equipment
on you for you to explore,
once you're down there,
it's this feeling
of weightlessness
that you've never
experienced before.
You feel like--
almost like an astronaut.
As we're descending
into weightlessness,
you become part
of that marine world.
-Like Aquawoman!
-Yeah.
-I become Aquawoman.
-Like Aquawoman.
So, in the next four dives
I'm gonna get you certified,
and we'll get you certified
as Aquawoman.
[Shuang]
Yeah, that's what I want
on my certificate.
[Patcy]
Okay, so we've got our fins,
we've got our masks,
we've got our dive buddies,
and we are mentally
and physically okay to dive.
-Okay, yes, I think so.
-Okay!
Good, that's so--
you always want to hear that,
-that they're ready.
-Mentally,
'cause I'm a little bit nervous,
I'm not gonna lie,
but I'm very excited
to see the fish.
[Patcy]
So the way that we're gonna
roll into the water,
all we have to do is lean back
and enter the water that way.
Sounds good, right?
-Easy enough.
-Easy enough.
So go ahead and put
that regulator in.
Hold your mask
and regulator like so.
-Mm-hm.
-And...
hold your other hand
to your belly.
[excited exclamations]
Okay, three, two, one, roll.
[majestic music]
[shrieking, cheering]
Put your face down
and see what the--
the ocean's all about.
Wow, it actually
is super beautiful.
Holy.
-Wow!
-I know, right?
[Shuang]
My God, it's so beautiful.
[soft music]
Look at all these damsel fish
and mesmerizing coral.
It's a whole new world
under here,
and one that belongs
to fish and turtles
and mermaids in training,
like me.
The Great Barrier Reef
is a spectacular ecosystem.
Hundreds of species of fish
can live in just a small area
of the reef.
Patcy is so right.
It is magical down here.
You are weightless and seeing
the ocean like never before.
[music stops]
Check it out, I'm a natural.
This is my first ever dive,
but it sure won't be my last.
I have four more dives to go
to get my certificate
and become
the official mermaid
of the Great Barrier Reef.
[soft, bright music]
[bubbling]
Woo!
With my first dive complete,
Captain Pablo sets course
for our next destination,
the Outer Reefs,
where we're going to catch up
with my new friend,
marine biologist Eric.
[pensive music]
-Hi, Eric.
-Hi, Shuang.
-Nice to meet you.
-Welcome to
the World Heritage
Great Barrier Reef, yeah?
-Welcome to you.
-Thank you.
Oh, I'm so excited
to be here.
Where are we, exactly?
[Eric]
This reef itself
is called Moore Reef.
Moore Reef sits around about
55 kilometers east of Cairns.
This reef is on the outer edge,
so it's close
to where the continental shelf
drops straight down.
It's only about 10, 15
kilometers that way.
[Shuang]
Oh, wow, so this is the edge
of the reef--
[Eric]
Pretty well, yeah.
Yep, past that,
there's nothing more.
And it's full of life.
The biodiversity
is through the roof.
So this is where you've got,
like, over 40 species
of fish aggregate there,
and you can get over 10,000 fish
in this one spot.
Yeah, and we got a very special
wrasse in here too,
the Maori wrasse is one
of your largest wrasses.
Gets up to, like,
almost two meters in length.
A little bit bigger than you,
so not too bad--
[Shuang]
Very much bigger than me.
[Eric]
All right,
let's go check out the reef.
[Shuang]
Let's do it!
Time to channel
my inner mermaid,
although I always imagined
my inner mermaid
would be wearing
a slightly more magical crown,
but I guess this will do.
[excited squealing]
[Patcy]
All right.
Wanna take a seat
right at it?
Yeah, we're just gonna
hook you up right here.
You've got a dive computer here,
and this will
calculate everything
that's actually going on
once we go under.
[Shuang]
It's like you're proposing
to me almost.
[Patcy]
I propose for you to go
on this dive with me.
-Do you accept?
-I do.
[Patcy]
And then make sure the strap
goes underneath your ponytail
so that it's not too in the way.
I'll help you up,
it's a bit heavy.
[soft music]
[Shuang]
I just have
a really important question,
it's something
I've always been wondering.
Is there anything I can do
or individuals can do,
any little things
we can do to help you
and help the reef stay
in the condition that it is?
[Eric]
Totally,
one of my greatest passions
is promoting science in tourism.
-Yeah.
-Right?
And I find
the biggest way
to get people
to help the reef is,
first of all,
form a connection.
Get people, like,
even through our storytelling
or showing them.
Because when people
become connected to the reef,
they feel a lot more passionate
and want to conserve it.
They actually want
to do something for it.
You know, the greatest pressure
to the Great Barrier Reef
is climate change.
Without a doubt,
that is it.
But forming connections,
see the reef,
fall in love with it.
Once you fall in love
with it,
you want to do everything
you can for it.
[water bubbling]
[gleeful squealing]
Hey, well done!
[Patcy]
How was that?
-You did awesome.
-Nice one.
[Eric]
Really, really good.
[Patcy]
Aw, you were so good.
[Shuang]
Oh, I saw Nemo!
I saw Nemo and his whole family.
His daddy, his sister, uh,
his auntie.
[laughs]
I saw them all.
There were so many fish
down there.
[Patcy]
There were so many.
There were tons of parrotfish
as well.
And they were blending in
with the colors of the corals.
[Shuang]
I thought I was gonna, like, do
a really magical swim
through them,
[Patcy]
You looked magical,
you looked majestic.
For your first time,
it was truly majestic.
You did an amazing job.
[Shuang]
Thank you.
It took me a while--
I kept like sinking.
My body couldn't decide
whether I wanted
to float or sink.
I was, like, doing these ones
in the water.
[laughs]
[bright music]
The Great Barrier Reef
is made up
of over 3,000 individual reefs,
and we've only seen two.
Today, we head out
to Pressure Point.
[music stops]
Now it's time to talk
about this guy right here.
He is a beloved local,
and his name is Wally.
Wally is a Maori wrasse
and is nearly as big as me.
He's been following us around
for quite some time,
and let me just say,
Wally loves the camera.
Just look.
Here, here, and here.
[boat engine humming]
With just one dive left,
Patcy said she knew
just the spot to send me:
The Three Sisters.
[bright music]
[Patcy]
I'm so proud to say
that you're officially
a certified
open water scuba diver.
[Shuang]
Yeah!
And just like that,
I'm officially
a certified mermaid.
-Nice one.
-Thank you.
[Patcy]
How did you feel
about that today?
How was it?
[Shuang]
Today being the second day
was much easier
than the first day,
I've gotta say.
I was very nervous
the first day.
[Patcy]
I think one thing
that is just amazing
is that you got to do
your course
in one of the most amazing,
pristine reefs,
and some
of the most famous dive sites
that you normally only get
to see on the internet
or in a book, you know,
in a magazine
at the coffee shop.
[Shuang]
I know, I feel so lucky.
And there were so many fish
and corals,
and so many things down there
to distract me.
Otherwise I think if I realized
I was 10 meters underwater,
I would have, like, freaked out
a little bit.
-At the start.
-At the start.
[Patcy]
What was your favorite part
of the course?
[Shuang]
Uh, probably, um,
ooh, the turtle.
We saw a turtle today.
[Patcy]
The turtle today.
[Shuang]
Which has been, like, my dream,
as you all know.
The whole time I've been like,
"Let's see a turtle.
Where is that turtle?"
Finally saw it today.
[Patcy]
It did take a couple of dives,
but we officially saw
the turtle,
and it was so in love with you.
I think it really, really,
really liked you a lot.
-We had a connection.
-Had a deep connection.
And that means a lot,
especially because
that means they've made it.
One in a thousand turtles
make it to adulthood.
[Shuang]
That is so sad.
[Patcy]
But that's why today
was so amazing,
'cause that turtle loved you
and was, like, ready to be
on our dive with us together.
So that was amazing, amazing.
[Shuang]
I looked in his eyes.
[Patcy]
And he looked in yours,
and he was super happy.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[classical music]
[Patcy]
Another thing were
those massive schools of fish.
How amazing was that,
to just be swimming through?
[Shuang]
Yes, and there was just
this nice hurricane of fish
just going around
this pinnacle.
And there was
this slight current.
And it was thousands of fish,
beautiful colors.
It's so hard to describe
the feeling,
but it was just
pure tranquility,
like, just from watching
the fish.
It was--it was--I don't even
know how to explain it, guys,
but you have to come.
All of you have to come
to the Great Barrier Reef
and ex--just explore
and experience
the water for yourself,
and experience the reef
for yourself.
And become a diver like me,
so you can actually see it,
I think the proper way.
This is the only way
to see the reef as a diver.
[Patcy]
Absolutely.
[Shuang]
I'm sold.
[Patcy]
Woo-hoo!
[Shuang]
With my new dive certificate
in hand,
it's time to say goodbye
to Patcy and Captain Pablo
and head
to our next destination.
[majestic music]
[soft music]
We've made our way
to Green Island.
Green Island is sanctuary
for a vast array
of land and marine life.
No one understands
the impact
us humans have
on the Great Barrier Reef
better than the person
I'm about to meet,
Jennie Gilbert,
marine biologist and cofounder
of The Cairns Turtle
Rehabilitation Center.
So, I have to say, I've been
diving for the last few days,
and I've been seeing a lot
of amazing sea animals.
But I must say, the most
memorable has been a turtle.
[Jennie]
I know, and they're beautiful
out in the ocean, aren't they?
And that's where they belong.
They don't belong in tanks.
But unfortunately,
we run the Cairns Turtle
Rehabilitation Center,
so we get to see very sick
and injured turtles.
And they're in tanks for,
you know,
extended periods of time,
sometimes up to years
before they recover.
[Shuang]
What are some
of the main reasons
why turtles end up
at the rehabilitation center?
[Jennie]
The turtles are under
enormous threat
every day in their life
out in the ocean.
The main thing that we see
is Floater Syndrome,
and that's a term
for air under their shell.
And that's caused
by them eating plastic,
microplastics,
fishing line.
[Shuang]
How do we help these turtles?
[Jennie]
Look, there's many ways
we can help those turtles.
Say no to single-use plastic.
Watch what we put down the sink.
Dispose of your fishing gear,
you know, properly.
[Shuang]
Yeah, that sounds easy enough.
[Jennie]
And also, the other thing is,
why they're so important
to the reef is,
if we've got a sick reef,
those turtles can tell us.
-Really?
-So what happened was,
we had a mass stranding event
of green sea turtles.
Now, green sea turtles
eat seagrass,
and we found
that due to the cyclones,
the seagrass beds
were wiped out,
and that's what
green sea turtles eat.
And so
when we started getting
so many turtles
and juveniles in,
we knew there was a problem.
So they actually--
they actually tell us
when there's a sick ocean.
[Shuang]
The other day,
I met a hawksbill turtle
in the wild.
[Jennie]
That is really lucky
to see a hawksbill, yes.
[Shuang]
Oh! Why is that?
[Jennie]
Well, hawksbills
are critically endangered.
[Shuang]
Oh, I hope I get to meet
another hawksbill turtle.
[Jennie]
Well, today you're gonna
meet Billy,
and you're gonna help me
release Billy
back out into the wild
where she belongs.
-Uh, wow, really?
-Yes.
And also,
the thing about Billy is,
she actually has
a satellite tracker on her back,
so we can actually follow her,
and that's used
for her health profile.
So when she goes in the water,
we know that
she's gone back to eating,
we know how far
she's traveled,
all of those sort of things.
And that gives us a great view
on what is actually happening.
And you're gonna help me
release Billy
back out in the ocean
where she belongs.
[Shuang]
Well, I'm so excited to do that.
[Jennie]
She will be too!
[laughing]
[bright music]
Shu, now I'm gonna run through
what we're gonna do, okay?
You're gonna have your hand
around the flipper there
and the back of her shell.
[indistinct chatter, shrieking]
[Shuang]
Oh my God!
Aww!
[unintelligible squealing]
[water splashes]
Since her release, Billy has
swum over 2,000 kilometers.
I wonder what adventures
she's having right now.
Whatever she's doing,
I'm sure she's thankful,
and we should be too,
to Jennie and her team
for doing all they can
to get turtles like Billy home.
[soft music]
What better way to explore
the Great Barrier Reef
than by sail?
I'm about to meet Steve
on his boat,
the Sailaway IV.
Steve knows these waters
like the back of his hand,
and he's taking us
to one of his favorite places,
so it's anchors aweigh.
Steve might be the captain,
but on this yacht,
everyone lends a hand.
-Can I join you today?
-Hey, come.
Yeah.
Would you like to have a go,
do some steering?
-Am I allowed to?
-Yeah, take the wheel.
Looking ahead.
Hardest thing
is to go straight,
so look straight ahead.
Then you can feel--
feel the pressure on the wheel.
So this is where we can control
the whole boat.
Now, a little bit of trivia.
I wanna tell you, how do you
know which side's which?
So when we're talking about,
"Let's put the sail out,
let's do something,"
we have to give it a name.
Because if I'm facing this way,
left and right can be opposite.
[Shuang]
Oh, that's true.
-So, on this side is port.
-Okay, this side is port.
[Steve]
It's colored, normally, red.
-Red?
-Yeah, like a red light
would be a port light.
And on the other side,
we have full starboard.
-Starboard.
-And when you go into the land,
you need to make sure
you get the right side
of the lights,
to either red or the green,
which is called the starboard,
otherwise you could be
on dangerous water
-that's shallow.
-Don't want that.
[Steve]
So let's feel the pressure
on the rudder
if we go a little bit
to starboard.
-Ooh.
-Yeah?
-It's very stiff.
-Yeah.
So you feel the strength,
feel it, yeah.
[Shuang]
What am I moving?
[Steve]
You're moving this,
this goes to a wire,
and to the rudders,
and that's pushing
against the water.
So let's go to port.
This is better,
nice and smooth and straight.
And a good secret way is, see,
see this?
That's the rudder angle
indicator,
and that tells us
where the rudders are
so we don't start
going like this.
Yeah, we go nice and straight.
What we're gonna do now
is we're gonna get
the main sail up.
So if I can ask you
to press that button,
give you a tie there,
yep, go for it.
That's it, yeah.
Excellent, keep going.
Excellent, yes,
hoisting the main sail.
That's good.
Good.
[rope winding]
Okay, stop, stop.
Perfect.
Well done.
Give yourself a clap.
[laughing]
-High five.
-Excellent.
[seabirds calling]
So now we're underway,
I want to explain
a few little things
about how cool it is,
where we're going.
So, remember, we started off
in Port Douglas.
This is incredible coastline,
the Daintree National Park.
World Heritage rainforest.
Right next to it
is the World Heritage
Great Barrier Reef,
so we're actually going
between the two of them,
out across the shipping channel
to the clear water
of the Outer Reef.
So we're gonna actually aim
to get out to these
incredible snorkeling sites
just up here.
We'll look out
for some turtles.
We've got white sandy caves.
They're pretty exciting places
to look at.
The only living thing
you can see from space
is the Great Barrier Reef.
So two and a half thousand
kilometers
of the most incredible sites.
[Shuang]
It's quite amazing how close
the shoreline is to the reefs.
[Steve]
Yeah, I mean, these are
two World Heritage Sites
that actually collide
in this area,
so that's why it's so special.
And going through
this gap here,
it enables us to see
some incredible sites.
[Shuang]
So we're heading
to Mackay Reef today.
[Steve]
Yes, yeah, that's
a really nice combination,
so there's a whole mixture
of the white sand
and the aquamarine colors.
We can't wait to get you
in the water there.
Every day's different
on the reef, yeah,
so we don't know exactly
what we're gonna see.
[Shuang]
How long have you been
going to Mackay Reef?
[Steve]
Well, about 19 years now.
I've been at sea
all my life,
so this is one part
of the world we enjoy,
and it's absolutely stunning.
We hope you'll fall in love
with it just as much as we do.
[bright music]
[music stops]
[Shuang]
See this rusty-colored streak
right here?
This is coral spawn.
Just once a year,
after a full moon,
the coral on the reef
release a multitude
of tiny particles
into the ocean,
where they follow the currents,
find a safe spot,
and grow into new coral.
Isn't that amazing?
Anyway, where were we?
[bright music]
Born from a mountain range,
growing from ancient forests
of coral,
sculpted by little fish,
the Great Barrier Reef
is an absolute masterpiece
of organic engineering.
And as guardians
of this planet,
it is our responsibility
to take care of it.
[soft music]
[sighs dreamily]
It has been truly an eye-opening
and mesmerizing last few days,
to say the least.
Before I came on this journey,
I always thought
of the Great Barrier Reef
as an iconic
Australian landmark
or popular tourist destination,
or even the land
of Finding Nemo.
And don't get me wrong,
it is all of that.
But it's also so much more.
It's a complex,
living, breathing organism.
And we as humans
of this Earth
are not just surveyors of it,
but we're a part of it,
which means we also have
our part to play.
And it could be as simple
as declining a plastic straw
next time you go out,
or taking those fabric
reusable bags with you
when you go shopping,
or even just taking a moment
every now and again
to breathe and really take in
this environment and...
...appreciate
this wonderful ecosystem
that we're all a part of.
And I think
you'll agree with me
when I say that protecting
our beautiful oceans
are definitely worth
making those small little
sacrifices for, right?
[birds chirping, squawking]
[soft music]
This place is teeming
with noise and energy.
This dense, rich jungle
is basically a living relic
of the Gondwana,
which is
an ancient supercontinent.
And basically what happened was,
180 million years ago,
that supercontinent
broke away into pieces,
and those pieces
became smaller continents
known as Africa,
South America, Antarctica,
the Indian subcontinent,
the Arabian peninsula,
and, of course, Australia.
So, basically, this isolated
part of the jungle
is a living relic of
an ancient rainforest paradise,
and I get to hike it.
Lucky me.
[birds chirping, squawking]
[majestic music]
The Daintree Rainforest.
Over 180 million years old,
it is the oldest rainforest
in the world.
The Daintree
is a breathtaking sweep
of jungle-clad gorges,
dense forest,
rivers, and waterfalls
that travel 95 kilometers
from Port Douglas
to remote Cape Tribulation.
[birds chirping]
Wow!
I made it!
This is amazing!
Woo!
[soft music]
Hi!
Hello!
[insects chirring]
Woo!
Hello, rainforest!
[water splashing]
[soft music]
Since 1891,
Kuranda Scenic Railway
has been carrying
people and goods
through the World Heritage
listed rainforest.
The famous railway
winds its way
from Cairns in the south
to Kuranda,
a village in the rainforest
in the north.
Wow!
What a spectacular view!
You can see
the Daintree Rainforest,
the Barron Gorge.
You can also see
the ocean from here.
Ah, after being on a boat
for the last few days,
I'm thoroughly enjoying
this change of pace.
And the fact that I get
a view like this
without having to hike
is a bonus.
[birds chirping]
One of Australia's
most recognizable waterfalls,
Barron Falls, is fed
by the mighty Barron River,
70 kilometers outside
of the Daintree National Park.
It's over 100 kilometers
of wild water
that heads out
to the Coral Sea.
And what better way
to get introduced
to this impressive rainforest
than from the river itself?
[dramatic music]
[water rushing]
I'm so excited for this!
Let's go!
[unintelligible], friends.
[excited clapping]
[unintelligible]
Oh my God!
I'm not ready for this!
[laughing]
High five!
[laughing]
If we want to say, "Stop,"
is there, like, a stop?
[laughing]
Oh my goodness.
Hold on!
Woo!
I'm not ready for this!
[screaming]
If there's any more than that,
I don't want it.
Okay!
[laughing]
[screams]
[exclaiming]
Okay.
[water rushing]
I did not sign up for this.
Hold on!
[screaming]
[laughing]
Now is as good a time as any
to introduce my awesome crew.
You've got me up front,
Sophie, my exceptional
wardrobe supervisor,
awesome Emily,
hair and makeup artist,
and ever-amazing Beckie,
one of our producers.
This is my all-girl
whitewater adventure crew.
Right, let's get back to it.
[laughing]
Oh, oh!
[water rushing]
[screaming]
[splashing]
[screaming]
[laughing]
[cheering]
[mellow music]
This is actually...
a great way to get introduced
to the rainforest.
[tranquil music]
This is an amazing view.
As we head towards
the Daintree Rainforest,
we make a quick little stop
to meet local chefs
Ben and Rachael.
Ugh, all this adventure
has made me incredibly hungry,
and I've been told
just the place to go to
for an incredible meal.
Ah, today I'm at Oaks Kitchen
with Rachael and Ben.
-Hello, hello, hello.
-Hey, how are you?
[Shuang]
Good, thank you.
And they're gonna show me
how to bring
this incredible produce to life.
[Ben]
So, today we're
gonna be doing a dish
using the local coral trout
that's just been caught
off Oak Beach.
[Rachael]
Some Thai basil,
some green mango,
some kaffir lime leaf.
So, yeah,
let's get cooking, hey?
[Shuang]
I love all this stuff.
My day-to-day diet.
[Ben]
Very good.
[Rachael]
So, just a little bit
about what we do.
So we're organic and we use
permaculture methods to grow,
so that's really supporting
the ecosystem,
and I don't use
any fast-growing fertilizer
or anything like that.
[Ben]
So, to start with,
this is a Nam Dok Mai,
which is a Thai type
of green mango.
So we want to do about
four slices down that side,
and then if you want to,
we want to chop it up finely.
That's it.
Move this guy aside for now.
And the next guy
we're gonna chop
is the chilli, ginger, garlic,
and then the kaffir lime leaf.
So now we're on to making
the nam jim.
[Rachael laughs]
[Shuang]
This is bigger than my head.
[Ben]
So I'm gonna get you
to be my smasher.
-Can do.
-And what we're gonna do is
we're gonna use garlic...
[clacking]
...a little bit of ginger now,
and then the last bit
we're gonna be smashing up
is the green chilli.
Cool, and then we have
our palm sugar here,
some lime juice,
little bit of fish sauce,
and now we'll have
a little try-on.
[bright music]
-Cool, that's good.
-Oh, good work.
-Yeah, thank you.
-Good one, yeah.
[Ben]
So we've got
our coral trout now,
and what we wanna do is,
with this one,
we're just thinly slicing it.
So we've probably got
about enough there
for what we wanna do now.
[Shuang]
Are you sure?
I'm very hungry.
[laughter]
[Ben]
We can slice a little bit more.
[laughter]
Now we're pretty much up
to the plating-up stage.
-Gonna use this guy here.
-Oh, pretty.
[Ben]
So we're just gonna make like
a line down the middle here.
[Shuang]
This is how I'm gonna serve
myself sashimi from now on.
It's plated and beautiful.
[Ben]
And then we've got our nam jim
that you smashed as well,
and what you wanna do is,
I want you to just get
spoonfuls of the nam jim,
and you're just going over
the top of the fish like this.
[Shuang]
That looks delicious already!
[Ben]
And we've got all the little
bits that we chopped earlier.
We want to get a little bit
of the green mango,
and we're just kinda
just letting it randomly
just go over the fish like that,
and then we wanna go
with the lemongrass as well.
And then we will get,
actually, a few leaves
of Rachael's Thai basil,
which we have here.
[Shuang]
There's an art to this,
my friends.
[Ben]
And then we have our green ants,
which is gonna add another
little zestiness to the dish.
[Shuang]
I used to get bitten
by green ants a lot
when I was younger.
[Ben]
Yeah, this is how
we get back at them.
-Yeah!
-This is payback.
[Shuang]
This is revenge time,
green ants!
[Ben]
And then we just have
a kaffir lime.
Yeah, so that's our coral trout
with green nam jim,
green mango, green ants,
Thai basil, and kaffir lime.
-It's just a lot of green.
-A lot of green.
[Rachael]
A lot of green and herbs
and fruit from the garden.
-Shall we try it?
-Yes, let's try it.
[Shuang]
So I notice
we didn't cook the fish.
[Ben]
No, we didn't.
So, yeah, it's using
the lime juice
that's in the dressing,
that little bit of the acid
from that's gonna help
cook it a little bit too.
[Shuang]
Okay.
Oh, I'm getting a lot
of green ant in mine.
Oh, I love that lime smell.
Oh, I can smell
the Thai basil as well.
-Really fresh.
-Really fresh, zesty,
with that mango, Thai basil.
[Shuang]
Oh!
There are so many flavors
in my mouth right now.
The texture is amazing.
The mango is very crispy.
It's really nice.
[Rachael]
And that coral trout, I mean,
it just--it is its own.
-Yeah.
-It's delicate,
it's beautiful, fresh.
[Shuang]
The lemongrass is amazing.
I feel like I'm eating
a Thai sashimi.
-Yeah, that is.
-Yeah, it pretty much is.
[Shuang]
Yeah, I've never had
a Thai sashimi before.
Mm, and the green ants.
I want to have a green ant
just by itself.
Here we go.
Oh, it's very limy!
-Yeah.
-Ooh, crunchy.
[laughter]
Crunchy lime.
Mm.
That is really delicious,
and it wasn't that hard to make.
This is going to be a staple
in my house from now on.
-Thank you.
-Appreciate it.
-No worry.
-All right, now that I'm fed,
on to the next adventure.
[vibrant music]
[birds chirping]
Welcome to Wildlife Habitat,
home of the Tropical Animal
Rehabilitation Centre.
Here, we're getting the chance
to be up close and personal
with the Daintree's
best-known inhabitants.
[animals chirping]
Right now
I'm with some kangaroos.
They're native to Australia,
and they're
the friendliest animals!
This is a cute joey.
I love joeys,
they're so adorable.
Oh, they're so friendly!
[animals chirping, squawking]
This is an eclectus parrot.
This is my new friend.
He's gonna come home with me.
Aren't you?
Yes.
[chirping]
Say hello to the most famous
Australian animal, the koala.
This is Romeo, and I think
we just became best friends.
Koalas rarely drink water.
They get all the hydration
they need
from the eucalyptus leaves
they munch on.
They can eat a kilogram a day,
and then they have a nap
for up to 18 hours!
Lucky them.
[gentle music]
[chirring]
It's a magical morning
on the Daintree River,
and today, we join David
to track down
the Tropical North's
most prehistoric resident,
the saltwater crocodile.
[David]
This is the Daintree River,
and we're about nine kilometers
up from the sea,
which is down behind us.
The whole thing's
about 120 kilometers long.
Big river, very wide river,
but really shallow,
so at low tide,
we have to zigzag up here
so we don't hit the bottom,
and on the very low tide,
you can actually walk across it
if you wanted to
from one side to the other,
but that's not recommended
because those crocodiles
live in it.
[birds chirping]
[Shuang]
And, David, I notice
that your boat is very quiet.
-Can you tell me why?
-It's an electric-powered boat,
so we're nice and quiet
and clean.
So it's quite ideal
for being in nature
because we don't have
any exhaust or fumes,
and we can sneak up on things
and get close to them
without scaring them, and, uh,
good for the environment.
No impact on the river at all.
So over here on the left,
just under these trees,
you can see the top
of a head of a crocodile.
[gasps]
It's a crocodile!
It's so big!
[David]
Yeah, deep under here.
Biggest crocodile in the world.
[Shuang]
It's really camouflaged.
You can't even see it.
It's so hard to see.
[birds chirping]
Can you tell me a little bit
about crocodiles,
like what they eat?
[David]
Crocs like to eat fish and crabs
most of the time,
that's their normal diet,
and, um, they wait
till it's low tide.
At the moment,
we're at about three meters
of tidal difference here,
it's about three quarters full.
As it gets lower,
there is a beach
along the edge of the river,
so the water's down
away from the mangrove roots,
there's nowhere for the fish
and the crabs and the prawns
to hide.
The crocodiles take advantage
of that low tide,
and they swim along the beach
with their legs stuck out.
They stick their front leg out
and make a dam
between their face,
their leg, and the shore.
Anything that bumps
into their leg or their face,
they feel it and they swish
their head around
and they grab it.
They've got
really sensitive skin.
The skin on their face is more
sensitive than our fingertips.
Crocodiles have
an endless amount of patience.
If they don't get it today,
they'll get it tomorrow,
the next day, the next week,
the next month, the next year,
'cause they are reptiles
and they're very,
very efficient.
They rely on the sun
to get their body heat.
They don't have to generate
body heat like we do.
They don't need a lot of fuel
to keep them going.
[Shuang]
How long can a crocodile
hold their breath under water?
[David]
Well, the record is seven hours.
When they're under the water,
you can't tell.
There's no bubbles,
there's no ripples.
You've got no idea
if they're there or not,
but they know where you are
'cause they can feel
the vibrations.
So, uh, they're really good
at hiding.
They're like
the ultimate predator.
[laughing]
[mellow music]
[David]
No one's really sure
of the life span of a crocodile.
So they're
very understudied animals.
They're dangerous,
they are very secretive animals,
and they do live
for a long time,
so they often outlive
their researchers.
And the animal itself
has been around, you know,
for millions of years.
They predate dinosaurs.
They've seen the dinosaurs come,
they've seen them go again,
and they're still with us.
[chirping]
[Shuang]
This is called
river drift snorkeling.
It's a crocodile-free zone
because this water
is much too cold
for our scaly friends.
We are pulled downstream
by a natural tide,
giving us the same vantage point
as all the other creatures
hanging out
in the relative safety
of the river.
A pretty chill place
to call home, don't you think?
It's time to take things
down a notch
and move at a slow enough pace
to take in
this complex, biodiverse,
and otherworldly place.
[sighs]
You know what?
I think the crocodiles knew
what they were doing
with the sunbaking.
[sighs]
[bright music]
[birds trilling]
David Attenborough once called
the Daintree Rainforest
the most extraordinary place
on Earth.
We're about to go find out
for ourselves
exactly what makes this place
so incredibly special.
Daintree, it's nice to meet you!
[wildlife sounds]
To get to the heart
of the Daintree National Park,
I met up with
environmental expert Matt
who is going to show us
what makes
this ancient tropical rainforest
so special.
[Matt]
I understand you've been
to the world's oldest reef.
-Yes, I have.
-Well, welcome
to the world's oldest
rainforest, the Daintree.
[dramatic music]
How good is this?
Have a look around.
[Shuang]
It's beautiful.
[chirping]
[splashing]
[Matt]
Have a look around, have a look
at the beauty of this place.
The Daintree Rainforest,
how good is it?
You will not go anywhere
in the world
and see anything like it.
This is essentially
a living museum.
There's plants here
that have been around
longer than dinosaurs,
when dinosaurs
were walking the Earth.
It's absolutely mind-blowing.
[Shuang]
Yeah.
[Matt]
Oh, I'll bet you're starting
to feel that humidity.
It's definitely coming through.
As you can imagine,
the rainforest is a wet place.
As you can see, this is
a really, really unique habitat,
and it's dominated
by these huge fan palms.
Now, just one
of these fans alone
can be around two meters
in diameter.
[Shuang]
That is taller than me!
[Matt]
It's pretty big,
but only two percent
of the sunlight
actually makes it
to the forest floor.
And as you can see, this canopy
closes over very, very nicely.
So because not much sunlight
makes it to the forest floor,
these trees need
to be able to adapt,
so some of them can climb
very, very well.
And have a look
at that tree over there.
That is actually what we call
a strangler fig.
Starts off as a small seed
planted in the top
of the tree by a bird,
sends its roots all the way
down to the forest floor,
and eventually consumes
the host.
It completely eats that tree.
-Unbelievable, isn't it?
-Yeah.
[Matt]
And did you know
that the Daintree Rainforest
is around 180 million years old?
-That's old.
-It's unbelievable, isn't it?
[Shuang]
What's your favorite tree, Matt?
[Matt]
It's funny you say that.
This guy right here, actually.
It's the Hope's Cycad.
He is so slow,
he grows one centimeter
every single year.
So that plant right there
is about a thousand years old.
[Shuang]
Wow, I'm sure that plant
has a story to tell.
[Matt]
I bet.
[vibrant music]
[chirring]
[soft music]
[Shuang]
Now it's time
for something really special.
Juan is a proud
First Nation Kuku Yalanji man
and has offered to take me
on a unique culinary adventure.
[Juan]
Hey, Shuang, before we head off
and go walking to the mangrove,
I'm gonna do a quick
smoking ceremony,
Welcome to Country, and this
is just a special thing to do
as a way of letting
the old people know
that we're traveling
through Kuku Yalanji Bubu.
[speaking native language]
This area here,
this is my stomping ground.
Mangroves, if you have a look
at the root systems,
how thickly tangled they grow
and bind together,
these are like giant filters.
-Yeah.
-So the mangroves filter
all of the sediment
from mainland
and protect
our Great Barrier Reef.
So, Shuang, you see here?
This is an edible snail.
[Shuang]
Oh, that's the Kunkun.
-How do you normally cook it?
-Me, I'll fry 'em,
a little bit of coconut oil,
garlic, and chilli.
Okay, so, Shuang, so,
now you've got your spear.
The next thing is
how to spear stuff.
So with the crabs
and small stuff,
you can get very close to 'em.
I can get two, three meters
from them.
If you get close enough,
hold the spear long,
so hold the point
away from your body,
put the point as close
as you can to the animal.
Once you have it lined up,
just stab straight through
and hit it as hard as you can.
The harder you hit it,
the better chance
of the spear piercing it
and you pinning it
to the ground.
Once you have it pinned,
hold the spear in the ground,
and then we can walk over
and pick the animal up.
So that's how we spear
small things or crabs
that are close to you,
so if you want to practice,
hold the spear long...
-Long?
-Yup, that's it,
right down on the end,
one hand,
keep the other hand away,
line it up,
look down the spear,
once you have it lined up,
bang, stab through.
-[grunts]
-That's it!
That's it,
so that's Crabbing 101, easy.
[Shuang]
All right! Can be done.
[mellow music]
Oh, I see one, I see a crab!
It's over there!
No, it's over there!
[laughing]
[Juan]
There it is, back at your feet.
-Okay, don't move.
-There it is, there it is.
[Shuang]
I can see, I can see, I can see.
[Juan]
Remember,
take that bottom hand away.
[Shuang screams]
-Okay.
-You did well, you did well.
[Shuang]
Wait...
[Shuang screams, laughs]
This is really hard!
I keep stepping on it!
-Gotta stay still.
-Sorry.
Okay, now,
what you can't see here
is that every time
I aim for a crab,
they run straight for my feet.
Apparently they do this a lot.
Juan told me later
that what I'm doing
is affectionately known
as the crab dance.
I think I did
a pretty good job anyway.
Check this part out.
[Juan]
Lift that bottom hand
when pulling the spear away.
Go on, give it a shot.
Yeah, smashed it!
Straight through the middle,
so lift him up.
-Really, do I really have him?
-Oh, yup.
Keep your hands--spear there.
[Shuang]
Spearing.
[Juan]
Okay, pull your spear out.
-Pulling out.
-Hard.
Keep going, hard.
[Shuang]
Oh! I got him!
Did you--
[laughing]
I got him!
I caught us dinner, guys!
We're not gonna starve tonight!
[laughing]
I caught one!
[Juan]
All that hard work,
it'll taste even better.
So we got this one
in a mangrove,
and we found him in a hole,
so checking the hole,
I put my spear in
and just hooked him
and I pulled it out.
All right, so you ready
to go and cook up?
-Yes, I'm ready!
-All right, let's go back.
[Shuang]
Woo-hoo!
Dinner time!
[birds chirping]
So we've caught our crab.
When I say "we," I mean me.
Caught our crab,
our dinner for tonight.
And Juan's gonna teach us
how we're gonna make it.
[Juan]
Yeah, so, um, quite simple.
This is a local family recipe.
So we're gonna do a garlic,
chilli, and coconut mud crab.
-Ooh, that sounds delicious.
-Yeah, should be really nice.
But, starters,
got some fresh damper,
so I baked this
this morning.
That's for all of the sauce
once you're finished.
[Shuang]
That's smart.
[Juan]
We've got some limes here
as well,
and I'll get you
to slice up the limes.
While you're doing that,
I'll clean the crabs
and kick the gas cooker on.
[Shuang]
Okay.
[Juan]
All right, now, have you ever
cleaned a crab before?
[Shuang]
I can't say I have. Yeah.
[Juan]
So, normally people
just throw 'em in boiling water.
Today I'm gonna take 'em apart
before we cook 'em.
The phallus comes off,
then we pull the carapace off.
[Shuang]
Okay.
[Juan]
But then inside of this here
is all the fat.
Always cook with the fat,
it gives it--
that's where all your taste
comes from.
So, all of that orange in there.
-Orange part.
-That's all the fat in there.
[Shuang]
This is very Chinese.
We cook with woks.
[Juan]
Yeah, we have a strong Asian
influence in all of our food.
So, yeah, this is
some coconut oil,
um, garlic, minced garlic,
and then some chilli vinegars.
Okay, and then
to get the fat out,
you just have to get dirty,
so get your finger in there,
squeeze,
and all of that comes out.
[Shuang]
Delicious, my mouth is watering.
[Juan]
Yeah, to make sure you get
the flavor through the shell,
so with the claws,
especially these big ones,
give it a hard tap
until it cracks and opens all up
so you get flavor
all through it.
[Shuang]
Ah.
[Juan]
And last thing to go in
are these little Kunkun.
So these are those little
tree snails that we got earlier.
[Shuang]
I'm very excited to try this.
Ah, okay, my stomach
is grumbling.
[sizzling]
[Juan]
I reckon we can get in
with the soft-shell crab,
you don't even have to peel it.
You can just grab it.
Mm!
That is delicious!
That lime is perfect.
I can taste the garlic,
I can taste the coconut oil,
a little bit of chilli,
it's got a kick to it.
This is so tasty!
Okay, I'm gonna try it
with the damper.
-Yeah, yeah, please do, yeah.
-Would you like some?
-Okay, ready?
-Yup.
[laughing]
[Shuang]
Mm!
[Juan]
You get all that fat.
-It's lovely.
-This is so tasty!
[sizzling]
[birds chirping]
[insects chirring]
[fire whooshing]
[gentle piano music]
[birds chirping]
We have seen the Daintree
from almost every angle,
and now there's
only one more left.
However, to start our journey,
we need to beat the sun
because we've been told
that sunrise
is the most magical time
to see Mother Nature
at her best.
[majestic music]
[fire whooshing]
It is absolutely breathtaking
up here.
You can see so much!
I tell you what,
this was worth conquering
my fear of heights for.
It is unique
to Far North Queensland
to see the pristine blue
of the ocean
peeking through the rainforest.
There are few places on Earth
where a powerful,
dominating rainforest
gives way to the ocean.
Prehistoric rainforests thrive
alongside the kaleidoscopic
Coral Sea
where Australia's
First Nations people
lived in harmony
with the environment
for more than 50,000 years.
The writer Alan Watts once said,
"You did not come
into this world.
You came out of it,
like a wave from the ocean.
You are not a stranger here."
If this journey
has taught me anything,
it's that we are part
of something
much bigger than ourselves,
and more importantly,
we're not alone.
From the crocodiles
to the turtles
to the sweet little damselfish,
we're all in this together.
This place that we call home
has been millions of years
in the making,
and now it's time
for us to protect it
so that the people
coming after us
also have a chance to enjoy
this wonderful world.
The smallest actions,
when all put together,
make the biggest impact.
Your life will leave a mark
in this world.
Now it's time to decide
what that mark will be.
[laughter]
[grand music]
[vibrant music]