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'Closest thing to paradise': a rare insight into The Kimberley

A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series." A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series." A saltwater crocodile watches a group of wallabies drinking from the river it calls home. It strikes, missing, as the frightened wallabies frantically scale the steep and unstable riverbank. All but one makes it. This wallaby jumps and it jumps, twisting its body mid-air in panic. The crocodile is still watching, waiting, but this time it's not alone. An eagle nesting nearby is attracted by the commotion. It swoops the wallaby, causing it to tumble into the water. The crocodile strikes again - and this time it doesn't miss. The eagle waits for the crocodile to start feasting and, as flesh, fur and bones are flung across the water's surface, grabs its share. It's a confronting but fascinating start to wildlife documentary series The Kimberley, narrated by award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith, a Nyikina man from the lower Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) area. The stunningly filmed three-part series explores the six distinct seasons on the Nyikina calendar - Lalin, Jirrbal, Willakarra, Koolawa, Barrakana and Willbooroo - through daring camerawork and cutting-edge cinematography techniques. The Kimberley spans more than 400,000 square kilometres - three times the size of England - and is made up of sprawling savannas, towering gorges, rivers, tropical coastlines and desert. The remote region's rugged terrain provides a last refuge for countless rare mammals, reptiles and birds, including the world's smallest marsupial, and the largest and fiercest reptile, the saltwater crocodile. "What we've got here is so special. I've grown up in what is, for me, the closest thing to paradise. The Kimberley," Mark says via phone from the ABC Kimberley's studios in Broome. "The scale of biodiversity and the network of ecological systems here is unlike anywhere else in the world. "The pristine tropical coastline, the savanna, the complex sandstone and limestone geology of the caves, the water networks that sustain life ... it's a real labyrinth of ecology and diversity here, and a time capsule for endemic species and for Australia as a whole. "Australia's mammalian extinction rates are really sobering, so it's quite inspiring to know that in parts of the northern Kimberley, it's the only place on mainland Australia with no recorded extinction, even though that's changing every day as we continue to get encroachments impacting into the space." Mark is a captivating orator who knows The Kimberley intimately. I ask him about saltwater crocodiles and their reputation for aggression. "You know, they are tricky for me. I am now doing spear fishing, I am free diving to 20-metre depths up on the peninsula, and I come across some pretty big sharks, and that's not too bad for me," he says. "I try to read them and judge the situation I'm in, but crocs are a whole other story. You would never see me in the water with a saltwater croc, or if one had been identified in a body of water. "They are the only creature I'm aware of that will actively hunt you across several days, that will watch your behaviour, watch your habits, and then place themselves at a particular point on the riverbank. "They are really cunning and they are really competent in what they do, whether that's taking livestock or feral creatures or native animals. They are adept killing machines. Apart from juvenile bull sharks, which can be quite aggressive, the saltwater estuarine crocodile is the one animal we all agree will actively try to kill us when we're in its habitat." Mark swims contentedly in a waterhole in episode one. How did he know it was crocodile-free? "The biggest thing will be the belly tracks, the belly marks. Our mob can tell what species is in the water from the belly marks on the river banks," he replies. "With the smaller waterholes, it makes no sense for a creature of threat to be in there. There's nothing for it to eat, and it will get hotter during the day, which will make it uncomfortable. There's a myriad of signs to look out for." I mention the documentary's soundtrack and am surprised to learn Mark himself had - unintentionally - composed and produced most of it. "I produce hypnotic, ethereal, cinematic, electronic music under an artist name known as Kalaji, and all of my music is about The Kimberley, my mother's culture and our spiritual connection," he explains. "I never once, when I was composing and producing those pieces, thought they would end up in a wildlife documentary. But the team asked if they could listen to some of my music, and fed it into different parts of the series, and they loved it. "I was really proud to see my music recontextualised in that way." Mark left The Kimberley in 2010 to move to Melbourne to study audio engineering and sound design. While there, his acting career unexpectedly "took off". Beneath Hill 60, Apple Cider Vinegar, Last Cab To Darwin, Sweet As, Kid Snow and We Bury The Dead are among his film credits to date. Television-wise, he is best known as Detective Jay Swan in series Mystery Road. Mark won a Helpmann Award in 2017 for best male actor in a play (The Drover's Wife). "I'd done quite a bit of acting but I never believed it could mature into something tangible," he says. "After 10 years in Melbourne, though, I realised how much I missed The Kimberley, and my family and my community and being a part of my culture, so I moved back. "I wondered if the work I'd done on the East Coast over 10 years meant that I could work from The Kimberley, and over the last four years that seems to be the case, which is something I'm really proud about ... it's very hard to work in the arts, and to do it from such a remote place adds all these additional layers." The Kimberley is a labour of love for Mark, and it shows. "It was a privilege for me to be invited to create on this series. It has that international-standard picture quality, but it also has access to the human story inside the Kimberley landscape," he says. "There are these beautiful vignettes of the people who call this place home, who are connected to this landscape, whether it's from a cultural point of view or from our National Parks and Wildlife Protection Service or our incredible ecologists. "The mosaic that we end up creating is, I think, really unique for a wildlife series."