Bush Tucker Man

Les Hiddins joins a group of soldiers on an expedition into the Bush to learn first-hand about the survival techniques of Aborigines

Crash survivors could have prevented starvation. In this episode, Les Hiddins is in the Gulf Country of Queensland around Doomadgee. In 1942, an American bomber crashed not far from here. Les relives the extraordinary story of the crash's survivors as he moves through the region. Those American airmen, like the majority of Australians, had no knowledge of native bush food or survival.

Les Hiddins travels to the west coast of Cape York where the first known sighting of Australia took place by Europeans.

The Aussie survivalist discovers the secrets of the rainforests in Bloomfield, Queensland.

Les Hiddins looks for South Australian rock paintings using the journals of a 19th-century governor.

Les Hiddins travels through some of the most arid desert country in search of food and water.

Surviving the rainy season in Australia's Northern Territory.

Major Les Hiddins of the Australian Army explores Arnhem Land, northern Australia, and learns Aboriginal survival methods. He's on a mission to record the many bush foods and medicines of northern Australia. Les travels to the closed Indigenous community of Ngukurr, where locals share some remarkable bush tucker secrets.

Les Hiddins, the cricket star. In this episode, Les is summoned to Wave Hill in Australia's Northern Territory to participate in a cricket match with his old club. He travels through the Simpson Desert towards the Tanami desert, locating handy sources of food and water along the way.

Exploring the Cape York coast on foot. In this episode, Les Hiddins sets out on foot to explore the eastern coastline of Australia's tip - Cape York Peninsula. Hiddins travels via the Jardine river across to the west coast, finding evidence along the way of cultural contacts with the people of Papua New Guinea.

Camping in comfort on the Mary River. In this episode, Les travels to the Northern Territory's Mary River. He sets up camp (away from the crocodiles) and enjoys a relaxing break from life on the road. Les shows us how he sets up a comfortable camp without any fancy gear, and even makes his own flip toaster.

More survival tips from the Top End. This week, Bush Tucker Man Les Hiddins is in Australia's Northern Territory. He's on the Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem visiting the failed British garrison at Port Essington. Hiddins also travels to the Aboriginal community of Maningrida, where the locals show him how to catch file snakes.

Les is back in the Kimberley! Les Hiddins is back in the rugged Kimberley region of Western Australia - an area renowned for its beauty and isolation. He ventures as far as his vehicle will go, then backpacks to various historical sites, from the ancient rock paintings of first Australians to the coastal cave where two German airmen struggled to survive in 1932. Hiddins also visits a little-known landing site of Japanese soldiers in 1944, and proposes an interesting link between the huge boab tree and an early settlement of Madagascan people in the Kimberley.

East to west across the top of Australia. Les Hiddins heads west through Australia's Gulf Country to Jasper Gorge in the Northern Territory. Along the way he explores underground lava tubes, builds a bush washing machine, finds a 'lost city' and recounts the rich history of an old cattle route - the Marranji track. At Jasper Gorge, he seeks out a fascinating Aboriginal stone structure - a unique method of harvesting bush tucker.

Wet season brings abundant bush tucker. The Top End of Australia is a fascinating place during the wet season. Les Hiddins takes us on a journey through Arnhem Land, the Gulf Country and Cape York Peninsula. He finds bush tucker including tennis ball fruit and a native grape. In exploring the wet lands of Cape York, Les shows us that even he gets bogged sometimes. Finally, he resorts to building a canoe from tree bark to explore an inland lake.

Taming the country, Cape York Peninsula. Les Hiddins travels to Cape York Peninsula in a manner that contrasts strongly with the cumbersome expedition led by Edmund Kennedy. He shows how a seemingly inhospitable environment can be used to one's advantage.

In this episode, Les looks at Ludwig Leichhardt's phenomenal journey across northern Australia from Moreton Bay near Brisbane to Port Essington north of Darwin. Leichhardt's early successes were due in part to his botanical observations.

Is there unmined gold in Central Australia? Bush Tucker Man, Les Hiddins traces Lewis Lasseter's 1930s expedition to rediscover what Lasseter claimed was a rich gold reef in central Australia. Les assesses recent discoveries which may shed light on Australia's most intriguing legend.

Were the first European Australians Dutch? Les follows various clues across Australia to investigate an intriguing report. According to the report, a Dutch colony was set up in Central Australia following a ship wreck on the west coast. If the stories and their dates were true, it would mean Europeans had settled in Australia 100 years before the First Fleet.

The best European explorer of Australia. Les follows in the footsteps of the determined explorer John McDouall Stuart, who became the first European to cross Australia from South to North. Stuart also pioneered the overland Telegraph and rail route.

How Burke and Wills might have survived. In this episode, Les retraces the famous journey across Australia from south to north by explorers Burke and Wills. If only the men had known about the preparation of bush tucker - particularly Nardo - things might have turned out differently for the ill-fated party.

The wilds of south-west Tasmania are the dramatic backdrop to this story of cannibalism. A bizarre survival technique used by one of Australia's earliest prison escapees, convict Alexander Pearce.

Major Les Hiddins uses his Bush Tucker knowledge, his bush craft and his fascination with the past to bring us this final series, 'Stories of Survival'. In episode 1, Les travels to the West Australian coast where Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's reputation was damaged following one of Australia's earliest aviation disasters.