Ted Egan’s journey from the plains of Adelaide into the hills to Hahndorf and then north to the Barossa valley traces the route taken by early German migrants on their quest for new lands and freedom from religious persecution. Some years ago Ted performed with the Barossa’s Nuriootpa brass band. He became close friends with many valley people and as a consequence he wrote his song “A Schlucke and A Snitter” to celebrate the achievements of those hardy pioneers. This story looks at the achievements of men such as artist Sir Hans Heysen. We meet grape growers and famous wine makers with names such as Lehmann, Burge, Scharple, Seppelt, and Schulz. We see them at work and at play and on one Sunday in the midst of the grape harvest we join them for a traditional harvest ‘thanksgiving and blessing’ of the crop. At Seppeltfield, Bill Seppelt, representing the fourth generation of his family in Australia, takes Ted into the inner sanctum that for years held the secrets of Seppelt‘s success. At Peter Lehmann Wines we learn that a handshake is still a man’s word and that trust between a winemaker and his growers is a powerful force.

Ted Egan journeys north from tropical Cairns in far north Queensland into the frontier country of Cape York Peninsula. He visits the fabulous Mirage Resort near Port Douglas and crosses the crocodile infested Daintree River and climbs the mysterious Black Mountain on his way to Cooktown where he meets a fascinating painter of native flowers. At Mary Valley Station Ted meets the Shepherds, one of the Cape’s pioneer families, visits Lakefield National Park with its profusion of animal and bird life. He takes part in the Cape’s most famous one day cricket match at Musgrave Cattle Station and sings his famous “Drover’s Boy” song to a group of travellers. Finally Ted visits the Quinkan Galleries where Aboriginal arts created thousands of years ago remains perfectly preserved.

The mighty Murray River was the highway to the opening up of much of the pastoral country of western NSW and Victoria. The development of the paddle steamer and the navigation of the Murray and Darling rivers brought the inland to life. In 1853 the South Australian government saw that the Murray could be an inland highway and offered a reward of two thousand pounds for the first person to take a steamboat to the junction of the Murray and Darling rivers. For years the river trade flourished and railways were constructed to the river from Melbourne and Adelaide to collect the valuable wool cargo and to transport it to the world. These days the cargo that uses the river is tourism. And the leisure industry has seen a whole new flotilla of luxury shipping take to the Murray’s waters.

From the "land of craters and caves" to the tropical waters of The Gulf of Carpentaria, Ted Egan is on the road again. This time the story begins at the Undara Lava Tubes which are tunnels created from the lava flows of ancient volcanos. Many of these flows went for hundreds of kilometres. This is the first time that the tubes have been extensively filmed. Travelling west from the coast Ted meets up with a fascinating range of outback characters. At Croydon, Pat Wilson runs a country store that is part shop and part museum. Col Shepherd drives the Gulflander, a unique railway service from Croydon to Normanton and Col Casey and his work gang keep the track open. Ted ends up at Normanton’s annual bush race meeting and when his favourite horse runs second he decides to go fishing at Karumba, where the prawning fleet is busy at work. Later he meets up with another group of ‘Outback characters’, netting the delicious Barramundi, the most prized of fish. He joins the fisherman at a riverbank bar-b-que where they swap a few fishy stories.

This film as any railway buff will tell you will take you on the journey of a lifetime, along tracks and on trains that just about any enthusiast dreams about. One of Ted Egan’s fantasies has been to ride on as many of the old timers as he can. So off we go. The trains and journeys include the famous Zig Zag as it climbs the Blue Mountains from Lithgow. At the Richmond Vale colliery near Newcastle we see how old time locomotives created for industrial use are being restored and put to work. At the NSW Railway Historical Society’s Museum at Thirlmere near Sydney we ride on some of the steam giants of yesteryear that have been lovingly and painstakingly restored. In Victoria men and women race against the famous Puffing Billy as it steams its way through the Dandenong Ranges. At Victor Harbour in South Australia we travel on the horse tramway that once carted people and cargo from the inland river port of Goolwa to the sea port at Victor Harbour. It was Australia’s first public railway line. The journey moves to South Australia’s famous Pichi Richi railway in the spectacular Flinders Ranges. Then to the ultimate luxury, by the New Ghan to Alice Springs where Ted meets up with the Old Ghan and takes a ride that brings back some memories of his very first journey to Central Australia.

Situated on the north west coast of Western Australia the town of Broome is the pearling capital of Australia and early last century it was definitely the pearling capital of the world. It’s a town like no other in Australia. A mix of gracious old colonial bungalows, as well as modern architecture. Broome’s asian connection goes back to its beginning. Descendants of Japanese pearl divers rub shoulders on the streets with Aboriginal desert people and Chinese restaurateurs in this most multicultural society. While the pearl was the ultimate prize, the mother-of-pearl shell was the real reason that the industry got going in the first place. It was used to manufacture buttons and to inlay into jewellery and fine furniture. Ted’s story traces Broome from the days of hard hat pearl diving, from wooden luggers to modern giant pearling boats and cultured pearl farming. These days pearl farming, tourism and coastal surveillance are important activities carried on at Broome.