Share
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
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.
