Bush Tucker Man
Survival expert Les Hiddins shares his vast knowledge of bush tucker and outback crafts. Set in country written off by early explorers as "uninhabitable," the Bush Tucker Man has spent years talking with and learning from the people who have successfully lived here for thousands of years, the Australian Aborigines. Each program is filled with examples of foods, survival techniques and ancient medicines, interwoven with Les' insights into the nature of the land itself. And what a country. "Bush Tucker Man" features some of Australia's most breathtaking landscapes, from tropical rainforests to deserts to vast wetlands teeming with life.
- 1987-1996
- 3 seasons
- Documentary
Survival expert Les Hiddins shares his vast knowledge of bush tucker and outback crafts. Set in country written off by early explorers as "uninhabitable," the Bush Tucker Man has spent years talking with and learning from the people who have successfully lived here for thousands of years, the Australian Aborigines. Each program is filled with examples of foods, survival techniques and ancient medicines, interwoven with Les' insights into the nature of the land itself. And what a country. "Bush Tucker Man" features some of Australia's most breathtaking landscapes, from tropical rainforests to deserts to vast wetlands teeming with life.
Season 3 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 1996
Episode 1
The Coffee Royal Affair
Les follows the forced landing of Australian hero Kingsford-Smith and the crew of the Southern-Cross aircraft on the banks of the Glenelg river in the far north Kimberley after encountering bad weather. Unable to contact searchers by radio, and ill prepared in terms of survival gear, they had to sweat it out and make do with the meagre food supplies on board and with what they could scavenge in the bush, until found several days later. One of the aircraft flying in to participate in the search, the Kookaburra, was forced down in the Tanami Desert with engine trouble. It was unable to take off again because of thick scrub and the crew of two, also ill prepared for such an event, perished before help arrived.
Episode 2
The Cannibal Convict
Alexander Pierce escaped the cruel prison colony of Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's bleak west coast, in the company of seven other prisoners. In their battle with dense scrub and rough country they found precious little to eat until they turned to cannibalism, eating the weakest in turn. Pierce was the only survivor. He was recaptured, and confessed all, but he was not believed as the authorities thought he has covering for his mates. Returned to Sarah Island, he escaped again with one companion-and ate him too. When recaptured he confessed and he was believed this time. He was tried and hung in Hobart.
Episode 3
The Great Misadventure
Following the journey set out upon by the famous explorers Burke and Wills, Les heads from Bendigo up north to the Gulf Of Carpentaria. These explorers came so close to their destination, only to turn back and die a slow death of starvation. There are just some things that Les will not recreate, probably a wise thing.
Episode 4
The Best of Them All
Follow the footsteps of the determined explorer John McDouall Stuart who became the first European to cross the continent from South to North.
Episode 5
The Dutch Settlement
Les claims that there is proof that Australia was not first settled by the First Fleet, but by the Dutch. This Dutch settlement became more myth than fact as Les tried proving that he is more of a conspiracy theorist, following rumours to no avail.
Episode 6
Gold Fever
Seeking a lost gold reef that Harold Lasseter was searching for, Les' appetite for gold gets him nowhere.
Episode 7
The Passionate Prussian
Retracing Ludwig Leichardt's 1844 expedition from Moreton Bay to Cape York and the Victoria settlement in Arnhem Land and the mystery of his final disappearance.
Episode 8
Into the Vilest Country
Les travels to the cape york peninsula in a manner that contrasts strongly with that of the cumbersome and fatal Edmund Kennedy 1848 expedition.