Coast Australia Episode Rating Graph

Neil and the team reveal fascinating tales from the inspiring and remote North Kimberley. Neil visits Australia’s secret wartime airbase on the remote Anjo Peninsula before joining the traditional owners there to fight fire with fire.

A journey through the meandering waterways of Sydney’s Hawkesbury River system to the sublime wilderness of Lord Howe Island. Neil travels to the Heritage-listed treasure of Lord Howe Island in search for the world’s rarest insect before meeting some curious sea birds endemic to the island. Back on the mainland – he digs deep to find the true history of coal in Newcastle.

A journey along Victoria’s fabled shipwreck coast to discover a diverse collection of stories from the deep – and shallow. Neil Oliver joins the Port Phillip Pilots to navigate the bay’s treacherous entrance – ominously known as ‘The Rip’.

On this wind-swept coast, Neil Oliver investigates why no one survived the attack on HMAS Sydney in its dramatic battle with a German raider in 1941. Xanthe Mallett heads to the Houtman Abrolhos islands and unearths the gruesome tale of the Dutch Batavia murders of 1629. In Shark Bay Tim Flannery finds 3 billion year old life, while Neil Oliver explores why Carnarvon's jetty was once the life-blood of the Gascoyne region. Emma Johnston witnesses why the world's largest fish keeps returning to the crystal waters of Ningaloo Reef, and Brendan Moar catches up with coastal nomads off the grid, on the edge of the continent.

In the opening episode of the third season of Coast Australia, Neil Oliver heads offshore and ticks a big one off his bucket list. He’s on the trail of that most majestic marine creature – the mighty Orca. Neil also examines the notion that the ANZAC spirit was forged – not on the beaches of Gallipoli – but in the port of Albany where Australian and New Zealand troops gathered for their departure to World War One.

Neil and the team embrace the rich colours and stories from where the desert meets the sea. Neil Oliver tries fishing with a pole and a line – and meets the pioneers who began the industry that made Port Lincoln rich. On the Spencer Gulf, distinguished scientist Professor Tim Flannery finds food to feed the world in a horticultural experiment powered by the sun and the sea.

This episode documents the industry, ingenuity and beauty of the coastline south of Sydney to the Shoalhaven. From the engineering wonder of Seacliff Bridge to pivotal moments in the aviation history, this episode charts a densely populated coastline with stories that brim with new insights and captivating natural beauty. Neil Oliver examines a 18th Century close encounter in Botany Bay – before following the footsteps of legendary Australian aviator, Charles Kingsford Smith at Seven Mile Beach.

Neil Oliver unearths the surprisingly dirty history of much-loved Byron Bay. Professor Tim Flannery uncovers the world's longest recorded unbroken raft journey. Neil investigates a war that the authorities were determined to cover up at great personal cost.

In the pristine Kimberley of Western Australia, Neil Oliver discovers Broome’s dark pearling history and the delicate science of their cultivation. Tim Flannery walks in primeval tracks along the legendary Dinosaur Coast. Xanthe Mallett explores a unique maritime war grave. Brendan Moar learns the art of Indigenous raft making and Emma Johnston investigates the lush, protected habitat of migratory shorebirds. Neil Oliver wrestles the southern hemisphere’s biggest tides at the surging Horizontal Falls, and finally experiences the dreaming stories through a little sacred maintenance on some ancient rock art at Freshwater Cove.

On Australia’s shiny holiday coast, Miriam Corowa investigates the engineering behind the 1970s Florida-style canal system of the Gold Coast. Neil Oliver heads to Peel Island to see the remains of a bleak chapter in history. Xanthe Mallett scours a WW2 fortification at what could have been Australia’s front line, and discovers what life was like waiting for the war to arrive. Brendan Moar dives headlong into a dangerous current to investigate first hand the science of rips. Emma Johnston joins a scientific hunt for dugongs, in the hope of saving them. Finally, Tim Flannery travels to Fraser Island to investigate what’s at the end of the line for the longest sand drift system in the world.

Neil Oliver discovers the fatal engineering errors behind Cape St George Lighthouse that cursed Wreck Bay for four decades. In Callala Bay, Tim Flannery uncovers the life-saving properties of seaweeds.

Neil Oliver examines James Cook’s run of luck on the Great Barrier Reef. In this episode, Neil Oliver finds out how Captain James Cook resolved the crisis for which Cape Tribulation is named. And then, the indigenous story of his ‘lucky landing’ on sacred ground.

Along this historic stretch of coast, Neil Oliver explores Cape Otway and the beacon that helped birth a nation. Tim Flannery scours the water for evidence of the marine mega fauna that roamed ancestral Port Phillip Bay. Brendan Moar uncovers the history of the Great Ocean Road, and, armed with his pick, grasps the challenges of building a now world famous coastal road in the 1920s. Emma Johnston hunts for the delicate Weedy Seadragon and discovers a tragic tale of one artist much captivated by its vivid beauty. On the historic Loch Ard wreck, Xanthe Mallet dives for clues about how and why disaster struck, with only two lives saved, while Miriam Corowa discovers why the coast at Bells Beach keeps pumping out the perfect waves.

Tim Flannery begins this Top End adventure at Victoria Settlement and its tragic history in the struggle to colonise Australia’s northern frontier. Neil Oliver examines the ferocious bombing of Darwin and a remarkable story of reconciliation between former enemies. Miriam Corowa confirms that not all Hollywood dreams come true especially along this unforgiving coast. Xanthe Mallett goes on patrol with Australian Customs & Fisheries to hunt for killer ghost nets. And no Top End story would be complete without a crocodile – Emma Johnston draws blood in the name of science.