This week, Aaron and Holly travel to the Mount Lofty Ranges, Kaurna, Peramangk & Ngarrindjeri countries, in South Australia.
At Morialta Falls, Aaron and Holly meet Senior Aboriginal Man, Uncle Mickey O’Brien. Mickey is a descendant of the Kaurna and Narrunga peoples. He tells us about the creator giant Nganno, whose fallen body forms the Mount Lofty Ranges.
Mickey shows Aaron and Holly the site where an image of Nganno is hidden, and is sometimes revealed, in the landscape. Moving to The Cedars at Hahndorf, Holly and Aaron visit a property where one of Australia’s greatest painters, Hans Heyson, lived and worked. His subjects included the eucalyptus trees growing here.
His work changed the way the Australian landscape was represented.
On the Fleurieu Peninsula we visit Deep Creek Conservation Park, where Aaron and Holly search the Stringybark Forest for tree hollows. These hollows take decades to develop and are homes for many mammals and birds.
Aaron and Holly meet beloved chef and artist Poh Ling Yeow, who shares how nature is her inspiration. She believes the earth is always speaking to us, and that its geometry and rhythms can guide us forward. Standing by the ocean, at Blowhole Beach, Aaron tells Holly the Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri story of Karta, or Kangaroo Island. The Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri believe that when they die, their spirits will travel to the island, heal and revitalise, and then return to the mainland, ready to begin the next journey.
Production credits: Back To Nature is a Media Stockade and Threshold Pictures production. The series was commissioned by ABC TV and funded in association with Screen NSW and The People and Parks Foundation. Executive Producer: Aaron Pederson, Series Producer: Jane Manning (Threshold Pictures), Producers: Rebecca Barry and Madeleine Hetherton (Media Stockade), Directors: Kimberley Benjamin, Dena Curtis, Jane Manning, Sophie Wiesner, ABC Executive Producer: Frances O’Riordan, ABC Head of Entertainment: Nick Hayden.
