Queensland

The last episode of Two on the Great Divide is as big and diverse as the state of Queensland. Tim and John start the final leg of their epic journey atop the towering Q1 building on the Gold Coast. Next they travel north to the Mary River to look at the remarkable Mary River turtle and the Australian lungfish. In Toowoomba they join a group of retired folk in a computer class and explore the divide for those who have been left behind by technology. In the nearby Darling Downs, Tim and John join amateur palaeontologist Ian Sobbe to try and work out what killed the mega-fauna that once roamed the area. Tim is in fossil heaven! As they discover, the Downs are also the flashpoint of one of the biggest divides between farmers and those supporting coal seam gas mining. A trek through spectacular Carnarvon Gorge leads to some amazing ancient rock paintings, and a visit to the small town of Alpha shows how the mineral boom is reshaping the country. At Richmond, Tim and John join a fossil dig before crossing back to the coast near Townsville. A chat with poet Rupert McCall tries to divine the essence of being a Queenslander. Tim and John then take on their fifth big peak, Mt Bartle Frere. It's a difficult climb - as the track is ravaged by Cyclone Yasi and they have to be dropped part way by helicopter - but ultimately a fulfilling one, with views across the Atherton Tablelands and right out to the Great Barrier Reef. Then it is up over the Cape to look at mining at Weipa, and the proposed mining on the wetlands of the Wik people. The northernmost peak of the Divide is on the tiny island of Duan, just seven kilometres from Papua New Guinea. What Tim and John had hoped would be a one-hour stroll up Mt Cornwallis becomes a three-and-a-half hour slog, with some hidden dangers.