Making friends Down Under
MIRIAM MARGOLYES: ALMOST AUSTRALIAN BBC2, 9pm
MIRIAM is made of tough stuff, so it’s quite sweet to see how emotional she is when she meets an endangered koala and its joey.
She’s in Brisbane, on the final leg of her Aussie experience, where the owners of a wildlife research centre tell her the joey will be named Miriam.
“Just the idea of having a wild creature named for you is an unexpected joy,” says the 79-year-old, moved to tears.
In this final part, Miriam is exploring the country’s nickname of the Lucky Country but do Australians believe they are lucky?
In the Gulf of Carpentaria, she visits the McArthur River Mine, where she meets a group of miners.
She challenges them on some of the negative aspects of mining but is asked what her house is made of, which gives her food for thought.
In Borroloola, she hears a wonderful story from one of its biggest landholders.
The man’s father bet his life savings on a couple of horse races and used his winnings to buy the plot that is bigger than some small European countries.
However, less than a month ago, the entire place was flattened by a cyclone. Elsewhere, Miriam joins a group of school strikers protesting climate change, where 15-year-old Gina explains why she believes Australia is unlucky.
But on the Gold Coast, a surfing education experience leaves Miriam feeling more positive. Once she’s back home, is she any closer to finding answers? Either way, the journey has made its mark.
She says: “Australia will always be beyond my comprehension.”