Back Roads — Season 11

Aired 9 January 2025 • 29 min

Backroads heads to the South Australian outback to check out two mining towns that are chalk and cheese - Roxby Downs and its unruly cousin, Andamooka.

Aired 16 January 2025 • 28 min

Camperdown in Southwest Victoria is a town nestled between dormant volcanoes and majestic crater lakes. Kerry Staight discovers a community that embraces its Scottish heritage while also supporting locals going their own way.

Aired 23 January 2025 • 29 min

Back Roads guest presenter Anna Daniels heads to the central Queensland town of Theodore for its 100th birthday. She finds a town honouring its past, but also safeguarding its future, proving anything is possible in the bush.

Aired 30 January 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads journeys to Kandos, on the edge of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales. This is a town famous for making cement, where Heather Ewart finds an unlikely arts festival is reshaping the community.

Aired 6 February 2025 • 29 min

In the first of a two-part special, Back Roads takes a trip on The Outback Way, also known as Australia's longest shortcut, where Lisa Millar finds remote communities reaching out to the world in surprising ways.

Aired 13 February 2025 • 29 min

Back Roads continues its epic trip on The Outback Way. Lisa Millar soaks up spectacular natural wonders and meets people making a big difference educating kids, before hitching a ride with a couple of "Warrior Princesses".

Aired 20 February 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads goes in search of all creatures great and small on Kangaroo Island. Guest Presenter Paul West checks in to see how the island is faring after the devastating Black Summer fires of 2020.

Aired 27 February 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads heads to Queensland's Great Keppel Island. Once a paradise for partygoers, Heather Ewart meets the locals looking for a better way to share their pristine backyard with the rest of the world.

Aired 6 March 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads presenter Lisa Millar heads to the Hilltops Region of New South Wales for the "shear" excitement and chaos of The Running of the Sheep - a unique event that could only happen in rural Australia.

Aired 13 March 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads follows the Wheelbarrow Way from Mareeba to Chillagoe in Far North Queensland, where home town boy and ABC News presenter, Joe O'Brien, meets teams competing in the Great Wheelbarrow Race.

Aired 20 March 2025 • 29 min

Back Roads explores Western Australia's beloved Bibbulmun Track - a 1000 kilometre walk through mighty forests and a rugged coastline. Guest Presenter Rae Johnston meets people transformed by the experience.

Aired 17 July 2025 • 28 min

Back Roads is off to a wedding, as Heather Ewart discovers the world of made-to-measure couture dressmaking in outback New South Wales.

Aired 24 July 2025 • 29 min

Heather Ewart is almost blown away by the "Roaring Forties" winds when she visits the North East of Tasmania - an area rich in history, culture and crayfish.

Aired 31 July 2025 • 29 min

After ten fun-filled years of hitting the Back Roads, Heather Ewart is saying goodbye. In her final episode, Heather relives some of the unforgettable moments from her time on the road and returns to her hometown of Murchison in Victoria.

Aired 7 August 2025 • 29 min

Gold Logie nominee and the new host of Back Roads, Lisa Millar straps herself in for an adventure exploring the legendary Snowy River. Most of us know the name, but how much do we really know about this iconic river?

Aired 14 August 2025 • 29 min

Kristy O'Brien dives into the nostalgia and untold stories of the Never Never - exploring the town of Mataranka in the Top End, where the 1908 classic 'We of the Never Never' book was set.

Aired 21 August 2025 • 29 min

Guest presenter Paul West ditches his car for a bicycle when he arrives in Forrest nestled in Victoria's Otway Ranges. It's here Paul discovers a former logging town that's now more famous for mountain biking than sawmills.

Aired 28 August 2025 • 29 min

Lisa Millar visits Harvey in Western Australia's south-west and discovers how successive waves of migrants have put their stamp on this town, and in doing so have built a thriving multicultural community.

Aired 4 September 2025 • 28 min

These days, thousands of Australians are swapping four walls for four wheels and taking to life on the road. Myf Warhurst hits the bitumen in Far North Queensland to meet some of the people who've chosen van life.

Aired 11 September 2025 • 28 min

Myf Warhurst continues her van life odyssey in northern New South Wales and Western Australia. Setting out to discover when van life became a 'thing', she wonders if there comes a time when this nomadic life loses its appeal?

Aired 18 September 2025 • 29 min

Lisa Millar is on an odyssey to discover Australia's largest inland waterway, the magnificent Gippsland Lakes in Victoria. It is home to over 300 native wildlife species, including the rare and endangered Burrunan dolphin.

Aired 25 September 2025 • 29 min

Back Roads heads to Tambo, an outback town famous for teddies and chicken racing. Guest presenter, Tom Forrest finds a community that's not afraid to take risks to keep this historic town thriving.

Aired 2 October 2025 • 29 min

Kristy O'Brien ventures to the tiny South Australian town of Lucindale, discovering a small community playing a big role in keeping the most colourful bush traditions alive.

Aired 9 October 2025 • 28 min

Lisa Millar ventures to one of Tasmania's oldest and most celebrated woodchopping carnivals, Henley-on-Mersey. It's here she learns of how generations of axemen and women are keeping this iconic Aussie sport alive.