Australia: Continent of Dreams

For 200-million years, a scaly behemoth - reaching 23 feet in length and weighing up to a ton - ruled the swamps. The crocodile, once hunted almost to extinction, today flourishes in Australia's Kakadu National Park. It shares its watery home with monitor lizards, one-third of Australia's bird species, and aboriginal people who mastered the use of fire to control their environment. The Cousteau team also visits Kangaroo Island, where 'roos roam free. Then, it's on to a different kind of ocean, a mummified landscape in the Australian interior that 350-million years ago was a seabed abundant with life. This unforgiving place, where temperatures can reach 130°, now is home to hardy termites, dingoes, kangaroos and aboriginals who respect the searing land and wrest sustenance from it. The People. of the Dry Sea find water in wood, dig grubs and practice a rich spirituality centered on their Genesis, the "Dream Time". Mel Gibson narrates.