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00:02After a scary heart procedure in London, I'm back home in Australia.
00:08It is wonderful to be moving.
00:12I'm going to have to learn to deal with the new myriad.
00:16I've had an opportunity now to tackle life again, and I've got to use it.
00:25So I'm on a quest to learn what it takes to change and adapt.
00:30Something I hope Australians can teach me.
00:33My parents passed when I was quite young.
00:36When your situation changes like that, it motivates you to not become a victim of that story.
00:42And already I've met people who've inspired me with their determination to grasp the future.
00:48Beautiful, Carly.
00:49I've never met anybody like her before. It's amazing.
00:52Now I'm off to one of the most famously free-spirited places in the country.
00:59Australia's hippie capital, Byron Bay.
01:04When I was in my 30s, I was against anything hippie.
01:09I just couldn't stand them.
01:12Now I'm in my 80s. I may change my mind.
01:49I've never met anybody.
01:55Byron Bay, on the most easterly point in Australia,
01:59became famous as a beacon of creativity and freedom.
02:07I love creativity, but I've always thought of indulging
02:11in all that freedom as rather selfish.
02:20My goodness! So green!
02:24Today, Byron seems more popular than ever.
02:28Golly!
02:29Yet I've heard it's becoming a very different place.
02:33So I want to find out if this is still a place where anything goes
02:38and what that means for this community.
02:41Christ! Busy!
02:44So many fancy shops!
02:46Definitely money here!
02:48And it's so crowded!
02:50Bloody hell!
02:52I don't know that I'm going to fit in here.
02:56It's been impossible to find a place to rent near the beach,
02:59so I've settled for a house in the hills.
03:05Wow!
03:06I'm told this place has hosted a few celebrities in its day.
03:10That's a bit grand.
03:11Not that I consider myself one of those.
03:20Bit posh for me, I think.
03:22Very, very posh.
03:25Right.
03:29I want to know more about how Byron's changing, so I'm doing a little research.
03:37Byron's getting Hemsworth-ified.
03:41Everything's for sale for the right price.
03:45Yeah, we're Airbnb-ing next to Chris Hemsworth's house.
03:50Chris Hemsworth's house.
03:53You couldn't escape the guy, Chris Hemsworth, even when he wasn't in town.
04:00Is he a good actor?
04:03Oh, look, there's several. There's Liam and there's Luke.
04:08It must be a family.
04:11It seems this free-spirited place has become a playground for seriously rich celebrities.
04:17Something like Byron Babes or Bays or something.
04:22And those desperate to join them.
04:24Well, it's a television show.
04:26Beautiful-looking influencers and entrepreneurs in Byron Bay navigate life and try to make their dreams come true.
04:38Dear, dear.
04:42Apparently, there's more influencers per capita here than anywhere else in Australia.
04:51I want to meet one.
04:59Influencer Jade Kevin Foster is described as a social media powerhouse.
05:05Whatever the hell that means.
05:07Hi, Gorge.
05:11Oh, blimey.
05:12He thinks it's a sleepover.
05:15Welcome to Byron, doll.
05:16Hello. Thank you.
05:19Do you like my outfit?
05:21Not much.
05:23Okay.
05:27So, I wanted to meet you because I'd heard that you were rather central to this whole change to Byron.
05:36Mm-hmm.
05:37Now, you have been described to me as...
05:41This is going to be interesting.
05:43Well, as an influencer.
05:46What the fuck is that?
05:50How can you influence people?
05:52What with?
05:53With this get-up?
05:56This is very Byron fashion as well.
05:58How many followers have you?
06:00I think, collectively, it's about 1.4 million.
06:03That's really wonderful.
06:06When we say following, they literally follow what you do and say.
06:11Correct.
06:12And do you get paid for that?
06:14Correct.
06:16Well, I love money.
06:19But, um, I don't want it to be all there is.
06:23Correct, yeah.
06:25For me, I just think it originated from when I was younger that I always, when I was bullied at
06:30school and when I didn't have many friends.
06:32You were bullied? Yeah.
06:33Because you were gay? Yeah.
06:35God, they're shit.
06:36Yeah.
06:38But these days, I have a lot of people who follow me that, you know, might work a full-time
06:43job behind a desk or somebody who might be at home with newborn children or something like that.
06:48You've inspired them in some way.
06:50Yeah.
06:50They live vicariously through me.
06:52So when I'm out on a helicopter or on a private jet or doing something else like this, people are
06:56like, wow, this is so cool.
06:57And they want to keep on watching, like, kind of like a movie, if that makes sense.
07:02It doesn't.
07:03But I will try to learn because I'm old and closed, you know, I've kind of made my mind up
07:13about things.
07:14And I mustn't do that. I've got to be still open and aware.
07:19Open. A hug?
07:21I can't go that far.
07:22This is early days yet, Jade.
07:27I do admire Jade's energy and his honesty, but I'm not quite sure what he does, other than take photos
07:34of himself.
07:36So the first thing that I always do is I pick up my background first.
07:40Sometimes I can be really picky with my backgrounds.
07:42I think that's why a couple of my exes have left me.
07:46Because you were picky with your backgrounds.
07:48Because I'd carry them along with me for so long.
07:50Well, fuck them.
07:52These are a few of the photos, though, that I have.
07:55You've got your hand on your dick there.
07:58I do.
07:59You do?
08:00I do.
08:01You're pulling down your knickers.
08:04That's a bit naughty.
08:05We need to get a photo of you like this.
08:08You'll be lucky.
08:10That's nice.
08:11But again, why is your hand diving into your crotch all the time?
08:16I think that's verging on porn, basically.
08:20No, not really porn.
08:21Well, sub-porn.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Yeah, I'll go with sub-porn.
08:25I suppose I can't be too critical of Jade for getting his kit off when I pose for Vogue
08:31with nothing but ice buns and glacé cherries.
08:34Should we take an Instagram photo together?
08:36Well, can't you lean against that tree?
08:40Doesn't that work?
08:41With your hand in your knickers?
08:44Which seems to be its favourite posse.
08:49Yeah, that's not bad.
08:51That's good.
08:52Now, have a look at what we're at at the moment.
08:55OK.
08:57OK.
08:58Yeah.
08:59The one with my head up is nice.
09:01I think that's good, that one.
09:02That's a good shot.
09:03OK, I'm going to upload that one.
09:05I'm happy Jade likes my photo.
09:08But this whole influencer thing is still a mystery to me.
09:12So it's not about real communion and community.
09:17No.
09:18It's an invention.
09:20Mm-hm.
09:20And it's almost like a competition as well.
09:23Who can get more likes, who can get more reach on their photos.
09:26Do you not see that as being incredibly shallow?
09:31No.
09:32No, not really.
09:35I don't, I don't want to seem rude.
09:39No.
09:40You're leading a completely indulgent, mindless life.
09:45And I don't like to see a waste of, of potential.
09:50Mm-hm.
09:52But then also at the same time, these photos that I take have got me a movie.
09:55And it's got me a Netflix show.
09:57And that's the reason why I'm sitting here with you today.
09:59So I get to experience all of these wonderful things.
10:02And they are amazing milestones that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
10:07Where I've had such a great time and met so many amazing people.
10:10And they've all come from these photos that I've spent the time to take and to upload.
10:16Which I am very proud of.
10:19Oh.
10:20So does being an influencer allow Jade to live a life of freedom and creativity?
10:27I'm curious to find out.
10:29So he's invited me to spend the afternoon with him.
10:32You're a lot shorter than what I expected.
10:34I am a lot shorter than what I expected actually.
10:38I haven't heard of most of the people that are very famous here.
10:42And this is the main strip coming into Byron.
10:46This is one of my favourite cocktail bars just here.
10:49But it's all about celebrity apparently.
10:52That's what seems to cut the mustard.
10:55How well known you are.
10:57And how rich you are.
10:59And look just there.
10:59That's where Chris Hemsworth lives.
11:02Hmm.
11:03So far I'm not impressed.
11:12Perfect.
11:14You don't mind my watching I hope.
11:15Not at all.
11:16Not at all.
11:19Under the expert care of Dr Scott.
11:22Jade's having his face injected with Botox.
11:26The Botox is presumably in those little bottles.
11:29Hmm.
11:29These are in very high security labs.
11:32I bet they are because it's a major poison.
11:34Correct.
11:35Correct.
11:35If anybody bit your forehead they'd die.
11:39It's very, very, very safe at this dose.
11:42Well that's a toxin may up.
11:43All right let's do some injecting.
11:45Okay.
12:03Jade's designer clothes and fancy car suggest he makes good money as an influencer.
12:18But at what price?
12:24A couple of spots.
12:25Dying and dusted.
12:27No pain at all whatsoever.
12:30Are you sure you don't want to give it a go?
12:31No.
12:32I have never been more certain in my life.
12:37Perfect.
12:39So you're excited by this now.
12:41Because you know you're going to look younger and prettier.
12:45Yes.
12:46Idiot.
12:48Yeah.
12:49You are young and pretty.
12:54Good.
12:54Well I'm glad you feel happy about it.
12:58Jade is a beautiful young man.
13:00I think he's a doll.
13:01A sweetheart.
13:02Yeah.
13:05But he thinks somehow that injecting something into his forehead is going to make him more
13:10beautiful.
13:13And for him his beauty regime is the key to his success.
13:18Do you want me to turn you?
13:19No.
13:19We can both get naked together.
13:21Oh don't be ridiculous.
13:23Which is very different to how I've always approached my career.
13:28I care that I look presentable.
13:30That I look clean.
13:32But I don't want to be beautiful.
13:33I never will be.
13:35And that's okay.
13:51I've been here a few days.
13:53And it's easy to see why people love coming here.
13:57Hi.
13:59Byron Bay is beautiful.
14:02The sea is wonderful.
14:04The waves are gorgeous.
14:06They've got whales swimming past.
14:09It's tropical.
14:11There's a lushness about it.
14:13Hi.
14:14Everybody's having a very good time.
14:16But it's just too materialistic.
14:20It's like Santa Monica's come to Australia.
14:23How much is that?
14:25$6,000.
14:27$6?
14:29This is an expensive town, isn't it?
14:32I want to find out what's really going on here in Byron.
14:36Can we just put them on?
14:38Behind the rose-tinted glasses.
14:44What is your name?
14:46Samaya.
14:48Samaya.
14:49Okay.
14:49So, are you local?
14:52I'm living locally at the moment, yeah.
14:55But where are you from?
14:56Um, so I'm living out of my bus.
14:59How long have you lived in a bus?
15:01I think it's coming up to four years.
15:04You've lived in a bus for four years?
15:08Yeah.
15:09Are there a lot of people living in buses?
15:11Yeah.
15:13Buses, vans.
15:14There's a lot of people in tents and dunes on the beach here.
15:17Did you choose to be a wanderer?
15:21Originally I did choose this life, but now with the rental crisis and the price of everything,
15:28I wouldn't say I'm trapped, but it's definitely once you're in this lifestyle it's harder to get out.
15:34Yeah.
15:39I worry when I hear young people like Samaya can't afford a place to live.
15:46I wonder how many other people are being squeezed out of Byron.
15:51Oh, this is a community centre.
15:54Can I get a coffee?
15:57Yes, you can.
15:58It's a cafe with a difference.
16:01That's nice.
16:02I like that.
16:03I like that.
16:07This is not only a community hub, but a homeless, helpless, rough sleeper hub.
16:15Is it?
16:24Are all these people homeless?
16:26Some are.
16:28We now, Byron Shire, have the largest number of rough sleepers.
16:35Unbelievable.
16:35And we're a regional town.
16:38The largest number of homeless in New South Wales.
16:41In a community of just over 10,000 people.
16:45I think that's shocking.
16:48The least I can do is stand up and pitch in.
16:52I'm only tall enough to get up to here.
16:56Who's that for?
16:57This one is for James.
16:59Recky.
17:00Enjoy.
17:01Thank you, Ralph.
17:01All right, darling.
17:02Thank you very much.
17:03There you go.
17:04Enjoy.
17:05Hi.
17:06Hello.
17:07Hi.
17:07What's your story?
17:09Well, I've accessed this service at a time where I was in crisis.
17:14Yeah, so homeless, and it took a lot of courage to get here.
17:18You're not used to accepting help?
17:21No.
17:21I'm usually quite independent and try and work things out myself.
17:31What's your story?
17:32I'm a rehabilitating criminal.
17:34I was about to go through a revolving door in and out of jail, and I just thought to myself,
17:39I don't want to go down that road like everyone else is that I see around me.
17:43From there, I've now taken on board counselling, and I'm counselling myself to just be a better person.
17:51I think that men are most lovable when they're prepared to show vulnerability.
17:58Yeah.
18:01Are you homeless, may I ask?
18:03Yes.
18:04I was working as a tradesman, so I was earning quite good money, but I was spending, it took me
18:09half a week to pay off my rent.
18:11Yeah.
18:13In this town, the disparity of rich to poor is too great.
18:18And ironically, the shop owners, they're finding it hard to get people to, you know, work in the shops because
18:27they can't afford to live here.
18:29People aren't coming back to the town, and now the rich have to make their own sandwiches.
18:34Good God!
18:37And it's a collapse of Byron Bay right now, it's a really serious problem.
18:43There'll be more homeless on the street than people owning houses, you know, so...
18:47Yeah.
18:47Yeah.
18:49That's how it feels.
18:50It seems this small town not only has more people sleeping rough than Sydney, it also boasts some of the
18:56country's most expensive real estate.
19:00I think money should not be the only engine of a town or a person.
19:18How can I help but be moved and touched by the people I spoke to just now?
19:42The Fletcher Street community, and this huge number of homeless people in Byron Bay, it did really shock me.
19:50Angels surrounding me.
19:56Angels surrounding me.
20:00Angels surrounding me.
20:00Yes!
20:01Yeah!
20:02Wow!
20:03Thank you and schönstar Cheahle.
20:12Yeah.
20:30Thank you!
20:32success, a place where money is more important than people.
20:46For me, community really matters, but I'm worried the community here is struggling to
20:55cope with the onslaught of so many wealthy newcomers.
20:59So, I've come to the farmer's market to see if Byron still has its heart and soul.
21:06I love farmer's markets because it makes a community feel good about itself.
21:14Hello, love.
21:15The people.
21:17Have a beautiful day at the market today.
21:20Blimey.
21:21The food.
21:22OK.
21:23Put it in there.
21:24I know Byron started as a farming community by the sea.
21:27Give me the radishes, darling, please.
21:30Thank you very much.
21:32All the best.
21:33For nearly a century, it was all about bacon, butter, beef and bananas.
21:39I'm interested in the banana man.
21:42I am the banana man.
21:43Hello.
21:44How are you?
21:45Good, darling.
21:46What's your story?
21:48Why are you here?
21:49I might have come in on the hippie wave, if that's what you're talking about.
21:53Yeah, I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to surf.
21:56Yeah.
21:57Now, the sort of people that come to this market, they're quite varied in income, aren't they?
22:05Definitely.
22:06And I do have a big range of customers from people on the streets to people with multi-million
22:11dollar properties.
22:12But that's what I like about Byron, too, it's still a melting pot, yeah.
22:17And let's get you some bananas.
22:18OK.
22:20The banana man seems happy riding the wave of change.
22:24Oh, darling, thank you.
22:26And perhaps being open to change is what it's all about.
22:34Have a lovely day.
22:36Yeah, you too.
22:37Sorry.
22:38I just take up more room than I should.
22:43What have you got here?
22:45Oh, hello.
22:46Hi.
22:47Are you looking for some greens?
22:48Oh, you've got some good stuff here.
22:51Yeah, we're very proud.
22:52So we make a pesto that's made from many, many different herbs because in this region,
22:57we love our health.
22:59And so, yeah, we produce everything ourselves on the farm.
23:03I'm a sucker for a little taste test.
23:05You own it.
23:06I own it.
23:07I'm an intellect.
23:08And this is actually, yeah, this is one of the events that we run here.
23:14The ninth Taste of Love Festival.
23:16The ninth, nine years, yes.
23:17The Tantra Festival.
23:19Rewilding heart, sex, and oh, you're a bit of a weirdo.
23:25That's the secret.
23:27Enjoy three days and nights of Tantra.
23:32I think I'll stick to veggies.
23:35Oh, my goodness.
23:37And it seems that's one thing Byron still has in abundance.
23:42This little area of Australia is absolutely blessed because we've just got steep, rich
23:46volcanic soils, high rainfall, and there's not much we can't grow with.
23:50You sound quite proud of it.
23:52I am.
23:53Whatever produce you see at this market is grown by that farmer.
23:56That's amazing.
23:57Tom Carey tells me he's been farming for more than 30 years and now runs these markets.
24:04I'm curious to know what he makes of the changes he's seen around here.
24:09I notice there's a lot of development going on.
24:12Are you being squeezed out by people developing farming land?
24:16So one of our great challenges for this market is bringing new farmers into it and having young farmers.
24:23The biggest problem is that the cost of real estate here is prohibitive for people coming in to be a
24:29producer.
24:30Yeah, it's tricky.
24:32To me, this farmer's market is the best of Byron.
24:37And I hate to think of what the future might hold.
24:40Whether one day there'll be a shopping mall or some rich person's mansion here instead.
24:52They're all being awesome here today.
24:54How old are you?
24:56Farmer's Market in Byron Bay, 22.
24:59Who's been awesome here today?
25:00He's got energy.
25:02Have a beautiful day at the night.
25:04Yay!
25:05You're all good and I'm all good.
25:08It's all good when you're 22.
25:20Beautiful river.
25:27Sugarcane.
25:29All over the place.
25:32I'm starting to realise how important farming is to this community.
25:38And I want to understand the pressure it's under.
25:41So I've come to Lismore, once the economic hub of this fertile region.
25:48These days, it's under threat.
25:51Not from developers, but from a changing climate.
25:55The centre of Lismore completely submerged.
25:59The aftermath of this disaster is becoming clearer.
26:02In 2022, Lismore bore the brunt of the largest floods in living memory.
26:10It's just hard to believe that the water overwhelmed this place.
26:16So many empty shops.
26:23On the day of the flood, we were aware a flood was coming, but not...
26:28Not the extent of it, obviously.
26:31No, the flood.
26:31So where we are now would have been underwater, wouldn't it?
26:35It'd be this high up around it.
26:37No kidding.
26:38What?
26:39So how is this community hanging on?
26:42There's so many places that are closed.
26:46Why have you stayed?
26:47Why have you come back after the floods?
26:50Well, I guess this is home.
26:53I think people here are very resilient.
26:56They build their shops so that they can hose them out
27:00and get back into business pretty quick.
27:02You're defiant.
27:04You've got to be a little bit, haven't you?
27:07Yeah, you do.
27:10I can't help but admire the strength and conviction of the people living here.
27:16Hello, darling.
27:18The floods were 18 months ago
27:21and there are still signs of the town being rebuilt.
27:25Tell me what's going on.
27:27We completely had our first floor of the building wiped out by the floods
27:32and 18 months later we're still rebuilding.
27:38So the windows are going in today.
27:40We've got tradespeople here.
27:42It's like an episode of The Block.
27:46I like your attitude.
27:48Naomi Moran is the CEO of the Koori Mail.
27:54We are Australia's only fortnightly national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newspaper.
27:59Wow.
28:00Proudly based here on the lands of the Ouijipa Waiwa people of the Bundjalung nation.
28:05Tell me what you went through that day.
28:09It was really distressing.
28:10It absolutely was a tragedy and the destruction that it left behind.
28:14People are still recovering.
28:15You know, for us as a newspaper, unfortunately we lost all of our hard copies of the Koori Mail newspaper.
28:23Oh my God.
28:23Since 1991.
28:25All your archives.
28:26So over 30 years of the Koori Mail newspaper literally washed down the drain.
28:32Naomi tells me the newspaper was on the front line of the floods
28:36because the city's flood pumps are just behind this building.
28:40Explain what I'm looking at.
28:41Okay, so this is our flood levels over the history of flooding here.
28:46Now, obviously this goes back years and years and generations of flooding in this area.
28:52But the last flood of February 2022 was 14.5 metres.
28:59My God.
29:00Yep.
29:00Over 14 metres of water.
29:03That's higher than three double-decker buses stacked on top of each other.
29:07After the waters receded, we set up our flood hub here.
29:10This very spot here, we had built basically a crisis centre for people here.
29:16And there were thousands of people.
29:18And you looked around and saw this beautiful, I guess, connectedness between not just blackfellas, but whitefellas in our community.
29:28Well, that makes a community, doesn't it?
29:29That makes a community.
29:31I can see how the support of a strong community would make a huge difference in the face of disasters
29:37like this.
29:40But I want to know what's happened to those who've lost everything.
29:47So Naomi sent me to this so-called pod village, built by the state government to accommodate those made homeless
29:57by the floods.
30:00Hello.
30:01Hello.
30:02Do you mind if I ask you, do you live here?
30:06Yeah.
30:06In this pod village?
30:08Yeah, I do.
30:09This is very cheeky, but would you mind if I came to your place and had a look at it?
30:16That would be lovely.
30:23I've never actually been to a pod village.
30:26Is this the only one in the area?
30:28There's 11 across the northern rivers.
30:32Toynera tells me her pod is one of 53 portable units here, housing almost 180 people.
30:42OK.
30:43Oh, very good.
30:47Oh, it's actually, it's rather nice.
30:55She's a single mum and lives here with her teenage son.
30:59Lovely.
31:01Oh, OK.
31:04So you lost your home?
31:05Yeah.
31:06It had been raining for days and it rained for days longer.
31:10It just kept going.
31:11So my house had flooded through the ceiling.
31:15This flood, no one had any idea it was going to be.
31:19As bad as it was?
31:21Yeah.
31:23My boy has autism amongst different things.
31:26So I had to put him into the car at half past one in the morning.
31:32And yeah, about half an hour later, the levee broke and it would have been too late.
31:39It's always that close.
31:47I'm so sorry, darling.
31:49Yeah.
31:52Toynera and her son escaped with their lives, but little else.
31:55So this pod is a lifeline, but it's only temporary and her lease runs out in a few months.
32:03So you have no security here?
32:06No.
32:06No.
32:07You could be evicted at any time?
32:10There's no more houses to rent, there's no more affordability, there's no more social housing.
32:16What are you going to do when this lease expires?
32:18I have absolutely no idea.
32:43After my time with Toynera, my rent-a-palace feels impossibly empty.
32:52Rather like Byron's shiny promises of freedom.
33:14This is dairy country.
33:18Big paddocks.
33:20Nothing I've seen has helped me understand why freedom is such a calling card here.
33:26So I'm off to discover where it all began.
33:30A little hamlet, 40 minutes from where I'm staying, called Nimbin.
33:38It was here, in 1973, that the country's first hippie festival brought thousands of young people to the area, to
33:47usher in the Age of Aquarius.
33:56Today, Nimbin is still seen as the epicentre of Australia's counterculture.
34:03Ha!
34:06That's a bit much.
34:12Blimey.
34:16I was never a hippie.
34:18Blimey.
34:19I didn't like the music.
34:22And I've never approved of recreational drugs.
34:26Anyone ask you if we've got you?
34:29No.
34:29You come here and nobody's asked you if you want any cannabis yet.
34:34Geez.
34:34That's a bit slow.
34:36Nah.
34:37I've always seen smoking marijuana as the start of a slippery slope to harder drug use.
34:43Something I've read Nimbin has struggled with.
34:47And while cannabis is illegal in New South Wales, here there's a shop promoting it on the main street.
34:55What's a bong?
34:56Bong is you put your pot in that little pipe and there's water in the bottom of it and you
35:02suck the smoke through the water.
35:05Oh, it's like making an espresso.
35:08Almost.
35:09It is.
35:09You know, the Italian way.
35:11Yeah, I like that.
35:11Michael's the owner here and also the president of the Legalised Cannabis Party Australia.
35:18He's keen to enlighten me as to how all this stuff works.
35:22What's that?
35:23Pipe.
35:24Put the cannabis in the end there.
35:27Oh, I see.
35:32I won't say what I thought it was, but I see now what...
35:35What...
35:37What...
35:40Why did you come here?
35:41Michael.
35:42Why did you come?
35:43Well, drugs were part of it.
35:45Definitely drugs woke me up to the bigger picture.
35:49I mean, when I came here mid-80s to live, looking for people who saw it like I did, really.
35:55It's an idealism.
35:57Love cannabis.
35:59Loved what it did to me straight away.
36:01So, like lots of outsiders, I found a community here.
36:05Family.
36:06You sound like a missionary, you know.
36:10Yeah, I guess I probably am a bit.
36:13I remember when I first saw hippies, just thinking, that's my tribe.
36:18I love these people.
36:21Always wanted to have long hair and beards and love hair.
36:29Well, never mind.
36:30Yeah.
36:31It just goes to different places.
36:34Yeah, it's true.
36:34That's all.
36:35You know, I've got it up here, I don't have it down there.
36:38That's how it is.
36:41Michael tells me he's free to light up because he has a medical prescription to use cannabis.
36:47It makes a lot of smoke.
36:50Like many others here.
37:03But Michael insists there's much more to Nimbin than drugs.
37:12Hang on.
37:13This is beyond my comfort zone.
37:17Well, welcome to the Church of Aquarius.
37:20Golly.
37:22What a lovely place.
37:25Love all the colors.
37:27Graham and Jenny are two of the pioneers of the original Aquarius Festival, which changed this area forever.
37:35So, the idea to gather people together, how did that happen to you?
37:40It came out of the peace movement.
37:41There was a massive movement against the war and conscription.
37:45Vietnam War.
37:46Vietnam War.
37:46What happened was a lifestyle festival away from the universities and the capital cities.
37:52Where people could start planning the future because the future was ours.
37:56And that was the concept of the festival.
37:58Conscious community development.
38:02And it was such a time of change.
38:04We were the first generation of women not to have to have children.
38:08We had a freedom that had never been for many of us.
38:12What I sense from all of you is that you do want to change the world that we live in,
38:20really.
38:21Marx had famously said, the point is not to understand society but to change it.
38:26Yes.
38:27I'll tell you, you're a hippie.
38:29You're hippie.
38:30I'm saying it.
38:31It's far too late for me to heed the call, even if I wanted to.
38:38But Nimbin doesn't seem short of younger converts.
39:01Yes.
39:03Yes.
39:04Yes.
39:05Yes.
39:06Yes.
39:06Where are you from?
39:07We're from Taiwan.
39:09Oh, from Taiwan.
39:11Yes.
39:12How old are you?
39:13He's 25.
39:15I'm 27.
39:16Do you love him?
39:17No.
39:18He's my cousin.
39:19Oh, that's...
39:21Why did you come here?
39:23Because Nimbin is a special place.
39:27Yes.
39:28Yes.
39:28We had a calling from the heart.
39:31A calling from the heart?
39:35Ru and Feng are such free spirits and from so far away.
39:40I have to get my money.
39:42It's in my bag.
39:44No worries about the money.
39:46You bring happiness and it's enough.
39:54No worries, no money, be happy.
39:58Oh, if only life could really be that simple.
40:02What's up here?
40:04We've got all our seedlings up here.
40:06They're more like herbal.
40:10Herbal?
40:10Yeah.
40:11You know, round here, when you say herbal, you've got to be a bit careful.
40:15You've got to be a bit careful, yeah.
40:17Well, what's your name?
40:18Sky.
40:20Sky?
40:21Yeah.
40:21I'm 82.
40:22How old are you?
40:23I'm 18.
40:25You're looking well for 82.
40:27Well, you don't look bad for 18, do you?
40:30Why are you here?
40:31I do volunteer at the food co-op here.
40:36Nimbin organic food co-op.
40:42Wonderful.
40:43I like everything, every word of that pleases me.
40:47Sky tells me he grew up here in true Nimbin-like conditions, fully organic, free-range and cage-free.
40:59Why can't I go in to drive?
41:02Fancy guys.
41:02That answers the question.
41:04And he's invited me back to see the community where he was brought up and still lives.
41:10How many people are in this community?
41:13I'm pretty sure there's close to 300 living on the community at the moment.
41:17What?
41:18Around that number.
41:19Oh my God!
41:20I didn't realise that it was...
41:22Yeah, it's a big community.
41:23A big community?
41:24It's 13,000 hectares.
41:27Sky says some 50 families run the place, sharing almost everything, from crops to farm animals.
41:34I'm going to fart, OK?
41:39And what's this?
41:41This is the community hall.
41:42This is the hall.
41:44It's big.
41:45Well, it needs to be, doesn't it?
41:46Yeah.
41:51Sky's parents, Virginia and Zeem, moved here before he was born.
41:56And he's grown up as part of a tribe, with kids he's known all his life.
42:01I don't really know what being in a community is about.
42:07What is it about for you?
42:09What were the things that made you decide,
42:12this is my life and this is how I want to bring up a family?
42:16Yeah, everyone knows everyone and connects with everyone.
42:19And it's like an extended family.
42:21It's such a beautiful environment to bring up my children.
42:25It was a place that I could bring them up with the values that I have.
42:28Are you giving up anything that would, that would be too much?
42:35Yeah, I mean like a really good high pressure shower.
42:39And a flush toilet.
42:41Not flushed the toilet the whole time I've been here.
42:44It's all composting toilets.
42:47300 people living together and not a flush toilet in sight.
42:52The rules are different here.
42:54So the cooperative, we all hold the land together and so the only bits that I own is the building
42:59materials.
43:00In a way I'm just looking after it for my time that I'm here.
43:07But as time goes on and, you know, people move on and the younger people, like me and Skye, who
43:13have just become shareholders, start taking more, you know, charge and like, it'll definitely be different in the future but
43:20the basic structure of it will stay.
43:23It sounds so idyllic.
43:28Should this be the model that we all should aspire to?
43:34Yeah, outside world can be very superficial and like, everyone's sort of just got their facade going.
43:42Like, whereas in Nimbin, everyone's a bit more real.
43:49You know, Skye could be an influencer.
43:53Nice people, no crime, plenty of food.
43:58And, ooh, what's that?
44:00There was a lege.
44:01Oh my God!
44:03I was going to sneak it off.
44:05Let's just have a little check on you.
44:07Yeah, check on your ankles.
44:08No, yep, you're fine.
44:09All good.
44:11A rural experience.
44:13Welcome to the valley.
44:16I've had a major experience.
44:20And I didn't imbibe, inject, sniff up, or taste.
44:27I was just here in Nimbin with some remarkable people.
44:34And whereas I used to be very contemptuous of the hippies and feel rather superior to them,
44:45I've changed my mind.
44:49What is it about Australia? It keeps making me change my mind.
45:14I had such a great time at Skye's Commune, I think I may be ready to try something a little
45:20alternative myself.
45:24I can't believe I'm doing this, but I've come to the tantra love retreat I first heard about at the
45:31farmer's market.
45:32A little bit nervous.
45:35Not quite sure if I'll join in or just observe.
45:41Hey! There she is!
45:45It's Miriam, and I'm accepting your invitation to come to the workshop.
45:49Yeah, I'm excited for it.
45:51I think you're going to have a great time.
45:53Me too!
45:53Thank you very, very much.
45:54Hi Miriam, I'm Sally.
45:55Welcome to Heart and Soul Retreat Space.
45:57So you're coming for a very special occasion.
46:01Hmm, I wonder what she means by special.
46:04So today, with you, we're going to do a workshop on yoni steaming.
46:10So, have you heard of yoni steaming?
46:13No.
46:14So it's vaginal steaming?
46:18I call it yoni steaming because the word yoni means divine palace or sacred space.
46:25Um, I am not going to expose my vagina for any money that you could pay me.
46:33So yoni steaming actually has a very ancient history.
46:37Back in the days when there was no medicine, there was no drugs,
46:40women used herbs and they used steam to heal themselves of reproductive ailments.
46:46Oh, I see.
46:47So I'd never heard the vagina called a yoni or a yoni before.
46:53But Sally insists I'm not going to have to flash my fanny to anyone.
47:00So, why not? I'll give it a go.
47:03So, my sight is stage fright.
47:05So, my sight is just laughing.
47:11It's just that no enfermedad is burning and that no one is burning.
47:23...
47:23All the time's gonna fly in the face, yeah,
47:26all the time's gonna fly in the face, yeah.
47:35Okay, welcome everybody, thank you so much for being here.
47:39So we acknowledge that there are four seasons
47:42of a woman's life.
47:43We have the maiden, the mother, the wise woman,
47:47and the crone.
47:48So let's bring in your mother and your grandmother
47:53to welcome in the maternal lineage of our ancestors.
47:57So my name is Tania, Tania, I'm Colombian.
48:01So I bring my land here,
48:04my ancestors from indigenous people of Colombia.
48:08I'm Naomi, and yeah, I was born just a few hills away over there.
48:14And my mother, Kayleen, my grandmother, Maureen,
48:19both who have passed,
48:20and so I honor them in this practice.
48:23My name is Miriam.
48:29My grandmother, Flora,
48:31my grandmother, Rebecca,
48:33and my mother, Ruth.
48:42And this is a new experience.
48:51Okay, let us begin.
48:54And here we go.
48:56So the herbs have already been infused in the water.
49:02Oh, yes, it smells nice.
49:05Mint.
49:07It's going to be quite interesting, this.
49:13Right.
49:15Oh, it's nice.
49:39Just breathe and just try and not think of anything.
49:46Just concentrate on feeling the steam rising.
49:55So it was lovely.
49:57A gentle steam into the areas of pleasure and delight.
50:05And after that...
50:11I had a wank for the first time since the Second World War, probably.
50:16But there it was.
50:17It was all warmed up and minty, and off we went.
50:29I'm finding Byron a lot more liberating than I ever expected.
50:35And I'm starting to feel more connected to this place.
50:38The game's going on rather better now, she said,
50:42by way of keeping up the conversation a little.
50:45And the moral of that is,
50:47oh, tis love, tis love that makes the world go round.
50:51I think I may have drunk the Kool-Aid.
50:53Lovely, lovely.
50:57And I'm thirsty for more.
51:08I didn't grow up with the ocean.
51:11And I often wonder how different I'd be if I had.
51:16More courageous, perhaps more free.
51:21So, in my quest for liberation, I've come to the beach
51:27to meet a group of women who've grown up very differently to me.
51:31Thank you for the ride.
51:33No problem.
51:37Hello, I'm Miriam.
51:40Hello, Miriam.
51:41I'm Berenice.
51:42Nice to meet you.
51:43Berenice.
51:43Yes, president of All Girls Board Riders.
51:46Welcome to our beautiful beach.
51:47It is beautiful.
51:48It is.
51:49It really is.
51:49Yes, and we're running a surf comp.
51:51And it's all female.
51:53We've got girls from eight to 74,
51:56and all sorts of abilities from beginners
51:59through to the 1993 world champion.
52:02Wow.
52:03Nice to meet you.
52:04World champion.
52:05Yeah.
52:05Oh.
52:06Would you like to come and watch?
52:07I would love to come and watch.
52:09Don't ask me to do anything.
52:11I'm a towel holder.
52:21As much as I love the sea, I'm terrified of waves.
52:26So I can't even imagine stepping into the water here, let alone surfing.
52:33You were introduced to me as a world champion.
52:37Yeah, so in 1993, I was a women's world champion.
52:41Yeah.
52:42It was really, really amazing to do something that you love as a passion and call it your job.
52:47Yeah.
52:48And where did you win it?
52:49Which beach?
52:50In Hawaii.
52:51In Hawaii.
52:51Wow.
52:51Hawaii is known for having very large waves.
52:54It breaks in a lot deeper water.
52:55And you weren't afraid.
52:57I just can't get over that.
53:02So, being in the ocean, everyone's always afraid.
53:06That's how you deal with the fear.
53:09Paddling down these monstrous waves, you think, wow, this is dangerous, but then I'm okay.
53:15It's a mental thing, but it's always a mental thing with everything.
53:21Yes, because the fear is something that everybody has.
53:24And you say, use it.
53:25Yes.
53:26That's what we say in acting, you know.
53:28Well, we say, use it.
53:29If you're afraid, use it in your performance.
53:32Yeah.
53:33And you're saying the same thing.
53:35Exactly.
53:40Pauline tells me she was inspired to join this club
53:43to help build a community of women's surfers.
53:46I really love that they were the first club in Australia to be all women.
53:51And I really love giving back and mentoring the younger generation
53:55because I remember we didn't really have those girls to look up to.
53:59When a 23-year-old Pauline became the world champion in 1993,
54:05she was out on her own.
54:07There was no sponsorship, no money,
54:10and women weren't welcome in the surf.
54:15Now, she's mentoring a new generation of future world champions.
54:25Including Mia, Osha and Juniper.
54:30Hi.
54:31So, how was that?
54:33That was sick.
54:35That was sick.
54:35You said that was sick.
54:37Yeah.
54:37That was sick.
54:38That was sick.
54:40That was sick.
54:40Blimey.
54:41But when you catch your wave and you make that terrifying leap up from the board,
54:49is that a moment of real exhilaration?
54:53Yeah.
54:53Yeah, definitely.
54:54Yeah.
54:55Yes.
54:55I can see that it is.
54:58Enjoying surfing is so good.
54:59Not only for, you know, it's obviously exercise, it's good for your mental health,
55:04but it's so good to be in touch with nature.
55:07And, like, look where we get to spend our day in the sun at the beach.
55:12The water has an emotional power for you.
55:16Yeah.
55:16I believe it.
55:17I believe that it does.
55:18I believe that it always makes you feel better.
55:21And we all share that connection.
55:23It's all our passions and we love, everyone here loves to do the same thing.
55:28And we have equal opportunities thanks to girls like Pauline who paved the way for us.
55:35Well, I'm sorry that I never did it.
55:38Well, it's not too much.
55:40Yes.
55:45Well, bugger it.
55:47If they can do it, I ought to be able to do it too.
55:51So this is fiberglass and it's quite hard and it can snap, it can break.
55:57It'll break if I stab you.
56:00So if you put it on the ground.
56:04You bend your knees.
56:05Yeah.
56:16You have to watch your balance, don't you?
56:19Yeah.
56:20You lie on it.
56:21God.
56:28Fucking hell.
56:34Right.
56:39Where's my tits?
56:41Here we are.
56:46All right.
56:48Ready to go?
56:49I'm ready.
56:49Well, you all had wetsuits on.
56:53Finally.
56:56It's going to be fucking cold.
57:04I'm scared of swimming in the ocean.
57:08That's a first.
57:12My goodness.
57:14But this is a place of unafraid people.
57:20And if you're going to conquer anything, you have to face it and take your chances.
57:25You have to face it and take your chances.
57:27This is fun.
57:29Even though I'm old and hopeless, they welcomed me, those surfers.
57:36I found a community.
57:40And just as fear is catching, so is unfear catching.
57:48And I think I might have caught it.
57:55So, Miriam can change.
57:59She doesn't often, but she can.
58:05Beautiful.
58:10Next time.
58:11Welcome to Broken Hill, Miriam.
58:13I settle into the remote outback town of Broken Hill.
58:16Welcome to the Priscilla suite.
58:19To discover if we can adapt.
58:21Have things changed?
58:23Oh, that's it, that's it.
58:24To a changing future.
58:26By coming across someone who has these little rainbows on their feet,
58:28it can make you feel so much more seen and loved.
58:31And what it takes to reinvent ourselves.
58:34You are you, and you are changing the world.
58:37And our community.
58:38Doing drag gives you that element to sort of really come in and just be whoever you want to be.
58:43No matter where we are.