Griff's Great Australian Adventure

To kick off the series, Griff explores the unique Australian continent aboard the legendary Indian Pacific. The first of two parts that will take him on a journey 4,352 kilometres across the country- from Perth in the state of Western Australia to Sydney in New South Wales. In this episode, Griff reaches as far as the golden town of Kalgoorlie. Along the way he meets quokkas, miners, an Aboriginal guide, and highland dancers, all the while exploring the state's vastness and riches. Griff seeks to uncover what defines the West from the rest- and perhaps most importantly- what is a sandgroper?

In this episode, Griff rides the Indian Pacific on a 3000km stretch across the harsh Nullarbor Plain, to Adelaide, Broken Hill, the Blue Mountains, and his final destination, Australia's biggest city: Sydney. As he traverses three states by rail, Griff alights to explore what it really means to be Australian. He drops in on Australia's biggest sheep station in the middle of nowhere, visits drought affected Louth with the Flying Doctors, helps with Drag Bingo in Broken Hill, and walks the rails of one of Australia's greatest engineering feats: The Zig Zag railway. Finally, he arrives at Sydney's Central Station. He grabs a quick lunch with his old mate and almost Aussie: comedian Ross Noble, before ending the journey on Sydney's magnificent harbour.

This episode sees Griff journey aboard The Spirit of Queensland travelling from Brisbane to Cairns on a 1,680km and 24 hr journey exploring the tropical towns along the way. Griff is warned that there are a lot of things that can kill you in Queensland, so his challenge is not to die! From riding a 111-year-old steam train, to cycling converted rail corridors; from uncovering bloodworms in the sand on Fraser Island, to Whitewater rafting the rapids in Tully: each experience draws Griff into the incredible landscape and culture of Queensland's deep North. Griff has one final train ride on the historic Kuranda Railway into the rainforest before finishing his adventure snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. He muses that Australian's enjoy the myth that they live in a constant struggle against nature and all its venomous possibility.

Griff begins his journey into Outback Queensland by bathing in the glow of Australia's version of Miami: The Gold Coast. With one of the most enviable lifestyles in the world, the Gold Coast boasts a 57-kilometre stretch of glorious surf beach, where a haven of high-rise buildings provide all the infrastructure necessary to enjoy the high life. But this glamour isn't the only aspirational dream for Australians. There's another story worth exploring, and that's in the vast Australian outback, where the luxury of open space is what many yearn for as city dwellers living on the increasingly crowded eastern seaboard. So, it's in Brisbane, the state's capital city, that Griff joins the 26-hour train journey, the Spirit of the Outback. It covers 1,325 kilometres of railway, snaking up the coast toward the city of Rockhampton, one of the oldest cities in the state and the beef capital of Australia, through to the outback towns.

Griff tumbles through the sky and into this episode in an historic Tiger Moth biplane- he's preparing to hit the rails North to South, travelling on the iconic Ghan from the humid tropics of Darwin down to the dusty red Alice Springs. Water guides his way, both in the landscape and in his water bottle. Before jumping on the train Griff meets a crocodile, an iconic News Editor, and a beast of a Road Train. In Katherine he takes to the skies for a stunning view of Nitmiluk National Park. After travelling through the night, he arrives in the red centre Alice Springs, but is surprised by the lush green sporting fields and the mysterious Americans playing baseball there. He gets some tips on how to survive in the desert from an Aboriginal elder before riding into the sunset on a camel- in tribute to the Afghan cameleers for which the Ghan is named.

Griff takes his first tandem parachute jump from 12,000 feet, to view an internationally renowned Australian landmark: Uluru. At 382 metres high, Uluru is taller than the Eiffel Tower. Watching the sunset on the monolith, Griff begins to understand why people talk of its lure. But he can't stay long, Griff's got a train to catch from Alice Springs. Back on the Ghan, Griff heads further south through the centre of Australia. The train stops at a siding in the middle of the outback near the opal mining town of Coober Pedy, where he fossicks through mullock with a local 'noodler'. Spending three days and two nights on the Ghan, Griff travels 1,535 kilometres south to Adelaide to experience just how extraordinary Australia is, meeting Barossa bakers, a snake catcher, and ending aboard the oldest passenger train.