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.

Northern Territory: south west of Darwin - Daly River to Port Keats - monsoon growth after 4 weeks rains - the wet January to April - mud 'roads' under water for miles and miles - excellent Land-Rover scene running along flooded tracks - everything comes to life - high grass growth and lush bush, fruit growing everywhere - wet weather, well sourced base camp needed - rebuilds favorite base camp at Port Keating - sets up sappling racks, benches, roof supports, clothes hangers, clothes line, bush strainer - works on foot - best way to gather specimens despite rain and - leeches caution - fish handline and bait/fruit from Syzyieum tree - fruit is tangy - polynesian arrowroot bulb - native grapes - root is local snake bite cure untested - clear sunny mornings mostly leading to afternoon rainstorms - high daytime temps, mid 40°C, builds sauna conditions - perspire 4 litres daily - lightning show every evening during wet - locals compete with birds and animals to harvest fruit, bird eggs etc - basis of nomadic culture relates to food chain - local Johnnie Tchula and family from Wadeye - excellent Land-Rover scene, tackling mud on boggy track - show tucker gathering in mud 'n mangroves - mud crabs - eats Teredo or mangrove tree worm (mollusc) - Les not impressed - back to base camp - considers this time of year so stirring - "When the time comes to leave, I'll be flat-out dragging myself 'way from th' place..."

Northern Territory: central Australia west of Alice Springs - Papunya - desert types - dry times - no wet season for some years - need tribal knowledge to find water - fierce competition for food - Honey ants well adapted - also part of local women's culture, Kaparis fruit - blue tongue lizard, goanas - water signs - tribal engraving for waterhole - Yuendumu and local stories - Harts Range and small water catchment with bush bananas for midday meal with locals - melting spinifex resin to repair jerrycan - firestarting lesson using condey's crystal and sugar to ignite cotton wool - shows use of a signal mirror - using eucalypt tree wraps leafy branches in the sun and waits for condensation inside the plastic - catch life-saving water without expending much energy. Last scenes on fringes of Tanami Desert - Lajamanu - local men do the hunting but women do the food gathering... so Les does most of his research using knowledge learnt from the women - wichety grubs cookup.

Northern Western Australia: (end of wet season - start of dry) by chopper into the Kimberly sandstone plateaus - Prince Regent River gorge - boab tree and nuts - carved history on trunk by sailors from HMC "Mermaid" 1820 (Capt. King) - bush passionfruit introduced from Argentina scattered around all over northern Australia - ill-fated exploration in 'The Wet' by George Grey expedition from north to south WA - kept journal but didn't use bush tucker such as mangrove snails - Les climbs escarpment escaping the salt water crocodile - superb lookout over huge St George Basin - isolation and stillness - tucker amongst lush vegetation in the gullies - famous Vitamin C content in Terminalia fruit - eating lemon/lime ants - also the superb Kalumburu almonds Les' favorite bush tucker - food water and shelter needs - rocky overhangs littered with ancient tools and indications of life - bush tucker of the area baby pandanus - vine growth pointing to underground yam (tuba) - dogs nut berry called 'rubbish tucker' by local men - Grey's journal - mystery of the wandjina paintings - bush secrets lost forever - so much to explore - King's Cascades - uses lure in the waters of the gorge for barramundi whilst awaiting chopper ride out.

Far North Queensland: dry season in rainforest near Cooktown, similar to where Les grew up and started Bushtucker studies - Les used rainforest experience in Vietnam - Meg Waterfall, fast flowing river drops 1000m to coastline on horizon - abseiling - Tin mining ruins, edges of "Big Scrub", north of Townsville - lacked understanding - tried to grow bananas, chilli - local food, water, shelter - ginger pips - ginger roots as strong flavouring - but in general the looks of fruits etc can be deceptive - looking for something to add to stew - caution on rainforest stinging leaves - travels further north, out of rainforest near Cooktown, Black Mountains volcanic granite - caves and crevices - legends of convicts and lost tribe of locals - mud road to Cape York - excellent Land-Rover scene crossing Cape York creek - open savanah country, Iron Range a great undisturbed rainforest - makes natural shelter in cane frame and banana leaves - leaves a yabby trap in the creek a few hours - eels, turtle, fish, yabbies, water snakes, nocturnal animals - boils the billy and makes yabby stew with rice and ginger - candle nuts as high energy food and 'candles' - sets up candle nuts.

Les goes coastal. Bush Tucker Man, Les Hiddins is dropped into the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula and travels via chopper, on foot and even via blow-up mattress along the Jardine River to the west coast.

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. The men starved to death surrounded by abundant food.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.