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Central Australia: The Eighth Wonder (1989)

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clip ‘Peculiar indeed’

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Retracing the footsteps of explorer Ernest Giles, Ted Egan visits ‘one of the true marvels of the centre’, a valley that Giles called ‘Glen of Palms’. The valley is home to a species of palm tree that exists nowhere else in the world, washed there millions of years ago when oceans flowed to the heart of Australia. Egan then continues on his trip through the centre, along the way making reference to the Aborigines that inhabited the area, despite explorers writing journals that suggested they had the place to themselves.

Curator’s notes

by Kate Matthews

This sequence provides an example of the central premise of Central Australia: The Eighth Wonder. Setting out to introduce the viewer to a place of wonder, the program also references the history of European explorers and Indigenous people in the area.

Egan’s dress, along with shots of him heading from location to location in a four-wheel drive complete with bedroll strapped to the top, are gentle references to the idea that Egan is himself an adventurer and explorer in this narrative. Elsewhere, we see him heating billies on the campfire and even rolling an old-fashioned barrow along the road to mimic early gold prospectors.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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