00:00Australia is blessed with thousands of national parks and conservation areas.
00:08Among the lushest are the Gondwana Rainforests, a cluster of wilderness areas around the NSW Queensland border.
00:19They've been World Heritage listed and include the Lamington National Park in recognition of its high biodiversity
00:27and the fact it contains a living museum of the evolutionary steps taken in the development of Australia's modern day flora.
00:37The Lamington National Park includes 20,000 hectares of varying forest types.
00:44From temperate Antarctic beech forest high on the border ranges, through the subtropical rainforests,
00:50to the dry eucalyptus forests of the Northern Escarpment.
00:56This park provides food and shelter for a huge array of subtropical bird life.
01:04There are over 160 species here, including the Regent Bowerbird,
01:09famous for collecting blue items such as pegs and bottle tops, which they decorate their bowers with.
01:16These are built by the males of the species, who descend from the upper levels of the forest canopy to display and mate.
01:25Also common in this park are Redneck Paddy Melons, a small wallaby which rarely stray more than 100 metres from the edge of the rainforests.
01:35They're dyed as grass and shrub leaves.
01:41The Daintree Rainforest in tropical far north Queensland is one of the most diverse and beautiful examples of Mother Nature in the world.
01:50Above, spectacle fruit bats hang from the branches, just one of the exotic species found here.
01:57The Daintree is home to the largest range of plants and animals on earth,
02:01and are all found within the largest chunk of rainforest in Australia, an area spanning approximately 1,200 square kilometres.
02:10This World Heritage listed area contains the highest number of plant and animal species that are rare or threatened with extinction anywhere in the world.
02:20Among them, the Southern Cassowary, a bird that packs a powerful punch with its legs and capable of disembowelling humans.
02:31Saltwater crocodiles swim in these waters.
02:36Rangers estimate there are 70 adult crocs living in the Daintree River, the largest being the males at about 5 metres.
02:45In the last 20 years, the Daintree has become well known for its success in crocodile spotting.
02:55The Daintree Rainforest is over 135 million years old, the oldest in the world.
03:06Way west, in the Indian Ocean, lies Christmas Island, Australia's own Galapagos.
03:15The National Park here is filled with giant coconut crabs,
03:23and millions of red crabs,
03:29which migrate to the sea to spawn in the first monsoonal rains of November each year.
03:40The skies above Christmas Island are filled with birds soaring on the thermals.
03:45Golden bosun,
03:48white-tailed tropic birds,
03:52and the world's rarest frigate bird, the Christmas Island frigate bird.
03:57The males are resplendent with the inflatable red-coloured throat pouches they use to attract females during the mating season.
04:05Christmas Island is a major breeding ground with nesting birds and their chicks in abundance.
04:15Back on the mainland in Western Australia's far north Kimberley region,
04:19the floodwaters of the Fitzroy River have carved the 30 metre deep Geeky Gorge through the limestone cliffs.
04:31The Geeky Gorge National Park is home to a substantial population of freshwater crocodiles.
04:39They eat frogs, fish and birds, and are not generally considered to be a threat to humans if left undisturbed.
04:50They cruise beneath the towering cliffs, which have been formed by a group of now-extinct lime-secreting organisms.
04:59During the wet season, the Fitzroy River rises some 17 metres.
05:09In Australia's top end, the Kakadu National Park has become famous for its diverse environment.
05:23From towering escarpments decorated with Aboriginal rock art,
05:30to the floodplains of the South Alligator River, with its amazing array of birds and wildlife.
05:37Depending on the season, you may see crocodiles, wallabies, dingoes, goannas,
05:46and many of the myriad of bird species that inhabit the National Park.
05:53The flora is also magnificent, and changes dramatically from the tropical summer season to the dry season in May to November.
06:02Any wonder it's been World Heritage listed.
06:08A great place to start to explore Kakadu is at the Yellow Waters Villabong.
06:15It's a marvel at dusk, when huge flocks of magpie geese take off at the same time.
06:22The sky darkens with migrating magpie geese, while their distinctive honking sounds carry across the water.
06:30Here in Kakadu, there are an estimated half million magpie geese.
06:35This is a site to treasure, because drainage of swampy grassland habitats in southern Australia a century ago
06:42left large colonies only here in northern Australia.
06:50Their biggest predators are the saltwater crocodiles that abound here.
06:57It's not uncommon to see a giant croc munching on a magpie goose that has just killed.
07:11The wildlife certainly abounds in Kakadu.
07:17Apart from the magpie geese, there are many endearing species among the water lilies that choke many of Kakadu's villabongs.
07:29There's the extraordinary jacana, or lotus bird.
07:39And the tall and stately jabiru, Australia's only stork.
07:54Kakadu was also rich in Aboriginal rock paintings.
07:59From time immemorial, Aboriginal people have left their marks in caves on rocks.
08:04And because rock is durable, we can still see today their rock paintings.
08:15Further south, just out of the township of Catherine, is the Nitmiluk National Park,
08:20well known for the deep Catherine Gorge, which carves through limestone gorges.
08:27This park is owned by the Jo'on Aboriginal people,
08:30and jointly managed with the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory.
08:36Some of the park's features include spectacular dissected sandstone country,
08:41broad valleys, and numerous significant cultural sites.
08:51One truly inspirational park, still further south in the Northern Territory,
08:55is the Uluru Karajuta National Park.
08:58Uluru, or rarest rock, is Australia's iconic red rock, towering 350 metres, or 1100 feet above the ground.
09:07One notable feature of Uluru is how it appears to change colour
09:11as different light strikes it at different times of the year or day.
09:20At sunset, it's a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red.
09:27It's blessed with an equally impressive neighbour, Karajuta, or the Olgas as the Europeans call them.
09:33The peculiar rock formations of Karajuta are about 25 kilometres, or 16 miles, from Uluru,
09:40with special viewing areas along the road, giving tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk.
09:48There are currently 21 species of native mammals known to be living in the Uluru region, including dingoes.
10:00Camels too can be found in big numbers in this area.
10:05They've thrived in this harsh environment, with the current population estimated to be as many as 500,000.
10:14Some of the most venomous snakes can be found in the desert surrounding Uluru.
10:19There's the inland taipan, the most venomous of all snakes.
10:23The small but well-camouflaged death adder.
10:26The western brown snake, full of paralysing venom.
10:30And the aggressive king brown, full of more venom than any other Australian snake.
10:36There's the small and well-camouflaged thorny devil that thrive in the arid scrub and desert of central Australia.
10:44These are just 20 centimetres, or 8 inches long, and are covered with conical spikes.
10:54One of the most extreme national parks in terms of weather conditions is the Simpson Desert.
10:59Temperatures here can exceed 60 degrees Celsius, while annual rainfall is less than 200 millimetres.
11:09In the Simpson Desert, the outstanding feature are the sandhills, the longest parallel dunes in the world.
11:16Some are as high as 30 metres.
11:21While there are no maintained roads across the desert, each year a few hardy adventurers choose to cross it on foot.
11:28This man, Rod Piccaro, pulled a cart with his food and water from one side of the desert to the other,
11:34struggling to haul the cart up and down hundreds of dunes.
11:40The crossing also involved passing through large tracks of spinifex.
11:47Still further south, another desolate national park is Lake Eyre.
11:53Everywhere you look, an endless horizon, not a tree, not a bush.
11:59And all you see is this endless plain of white gypsum and salt.
12:04And you can't penetrate it if you're looking for water, it's just so hard.
12:12No water and high temperatures, temperatures up to 60 degrees in the height of summer.
12:19Despite these harsh conditions, creatures still survive here, like the bearded dragon.
12:25These lizards puff themselves up, and as you approach them, they always present the largest profile towards you to try and scare you off.
12:34Search the salt and you'll find lots of little spiders that live out here.
12:42Further south again, the Flinders Ranges National Park occupies much of the central Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
12:51This is an extremely popular park and takes in rugged mountain scenery,
12:56peaceful timbered gorges with plenty of wildlife, vegetation and history.
13:02Picture-perfect gorges and valleys and the stunning Wilpena Pound are the park's major attractions.
13:14In New South Wales, the most famous wilderness is the Blue Mountains National Park, with its iconic Three Sisters.
13:27The winds here are so strong that the waters in the falls can be blown upwards.
13:38Way down south, across the Tasman in Tasmania, Cradle Mountain forms the northern end of the wild Cradle Mount Lakes and Clare National Park,
13:48itself a part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
13:56Here, the serene Dove Lake lies directly below the jagged contours of Cradle Mountain.
14:04Nearby, icy streams cascade out of rugged mountains, while Tasmanian devils and wombats patrol nearby.
14:13The area is one of the most popular natural areas in Tasmania.
