The major port of Australia’s remote west coast, Fremantle began life as a place of punishment. The magnificently preserved sandstone prison conceals a thousand stories. But the ethnically diverse port city has since been the site of some of Australia’s greatest triumphs… and disappointments.
The real story of Melbourne isn’t found in the grand tree-lined boulevards or boomtown architecture. It’s hidden down the lanes and alleyways. Utopian idealists, internationally celebrated art, class-war dressed up as teen-rebellion, you’ll find it all in The Lanes.
You need only scratch the surface to find evidence of Hobart’s convict past – but dig a little deeper and even more fascinating history is revealed. From playing tennis with Errol Flynn to the original wax-cylinder voice recordings of “the last Tasmanian aboriginal”, Hobart has it all.
Tucked around a corner from the iconic sights of Sydney is a forgotten pocket-handkerchief sized suburb that contains hidden history from every era since settlement. From the Razor gangs of the 1930s to the Heritage Battles of the 1960s, Woolloomooloo has seen it all.
It's common knowledge that Bendigo was one of the biggest gold finds in history. Not everyone knows the city now sits atop a complex honeycomb of shafts and tunnels; it’s literally built on rivers of gold. Her grand hotels and theatres have played host to international celebrities… and some shady characters too.
Taking its name from the English coastal mining town, Australia’s Newcastle also has a reputation for toughness and heavy toil that began when the convicts were first dropped there to collect coal from the beaches. But it’s also a town with a unique identity, a rich maritime history and more than its share of eccentric characters.
Before it was a suburb it was a cemetery to the original Port Phillip settlement. Its been known as the headquarters of generations of crime bosses; as the epicentre to a creative outpouring in the 60s and 70s that lead to the emergence of a uniquely Australian film and theatre culture. Carlton has grown into a suburb of incredible diversity. It’s also home to Australia’s first world heritage listed building, the remarkable Exhibition Building.
In 1941 sleepy tropical Brisbane found itself the nerve centre for the Pacific War effort, playing host to 100,000 US military personnel. The former convict colony found itself changing quickly, and the pace of progress has barely slowed since then. Yet politically Queensland is the most conservative state in Australia, even playing host to a white South African rugby team at the height of the apartheid era in the face of international condemnation.
Once a seaside retreat for 19 Century yuppies escaping “Smell-bourne”, later a suburb completely defined by the heroine addicts who flocked there. St Kilda has endured a constant cycle of boom and bust – even carrying the label “Rock Capital of the World” for a few heady years in the 1980s. Today it is again one of Melbourne’s most desired addresses.
City of Churches it may be but Adelaide has always been a strange mix of progressive politics and small town parochialism. From the infamous Bodyline series in the battle for the Ashes to the mass hysteria caused by a seer’s prediction of a tidal wave at Glenelg, Adelaide has had its share of drama too.
Welcome to Australia's wild west. Kalgoorlie was, and still is, the great frontier town. Gold built it, but Tony discovers the diamonds in the rough that are the people who live here. From the pubs to the public squares, and the ghost towns to the brothels, they play hard, work hard, and live hard .and they'll happily share their stories with anyone who's prepared to listen.
The northern Tasmanian town of Launceston was once a colonial powerhouse, home to explorers, farmers, businessmen and entrepreneurs. Its star may have waned, but Tony's walk proves that if you know where to look you can travel from ancient Aboriginal history through to modern-day people power .and it takes less than a day.
For 160 years, the green, garden city of Christchurch was the antipodean England. Two devastating earthquakes changed that forever, but they haven't destroyed the city's will. Tony visits a town that is looking to the future, but still takes pride in its past.
If you thought Canberra was nothing but pollies and public buildings think again. Tony's walk through the nation's bush capital proves that the city its founding fathers built to rival the great European capitals is chock-a-block with some very surprising hidden history.
Tony swaps his walking shoes for a steering wheel as his biggest walk yet takes him to the beautiful towns and wineries of South Australia's Barossa Valley. In the 160 years since German immigrants came here fleeing religious persecution, this beautiful region has become synonymous with fine wine, and good food. Plenty of cracking good history makes Tony's journey one to savour.
Wellington, the tiny capital city perched at the bottom of the North Island is set to become the Hollywood of the Pacific, thanks to visionary filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson. If he wants some inspiration, Tony can provide him with heart-warming pooches, bloody strike re-enactments, and even an iconic New Zealand dessert.
Tony's itchy feet take him to tropical Townsville. Plenty of war history here, but as usual, it's the hidden history that uncovers the not-so-well known side of a far North Queensland treasure. High-altitude graffiti, the invention of texting! Townsville will surprise you.
Sydney's city within a city has always been home to some of Australia's most important colonial history. But in modern times, the one-time breadbasket of the colony is re-inventing itself as a multi-cultural hub. Walking round Parramatta, seeing the faces on the street and feeling the buzz in the air is enough to convince Tony he's seeing the future of Australia.
Geelong missed out on being Victoria's capital thanks to a quirk of nature, but this beautiful seaside town doesn't lack for unusual history. Horses hiding out, never to be seen again prison escapees, false maps, and a load of old bollards are proof positive that a walk around Geelong is one not to be missed.
Alice Springs is a tiny speck in a vast, red, dry interior but it's a fertile oasis of historical highlights - the centre of an early mass communications trail, a vital transport link in the battle to save Australia from invasion, and a vital link in a chain of nuclear early-warning sites. And that's not all. Tony's last walk finishes at one of Central Australia's most spectacular natural landmarks.
