Back Roads guest presenter Kurt Fearnley was like a rock star in Tennant Creek, a Northern Territory town known as the golden heart of the Barkly region, for both its mining history and the colour of its grassy plains.
People of all ages stopped their cars and crossed the street to shake his hand and take selfies with him. People high-fived him everywhere we went.
It's not surprising when you think of it. He's a three-time Paralympian gold medallist and appears on TV a lot as interviewer or as a guest.
But there was more than that at play in Tennant Creek, a town that has also been described as the dark heart of the Northern Territory, for its reputation for juvenile crime.
Tennant Creek has a high percentage of First Nations people and many locals battle intergenerational trauma.
Perhaps people were drawn to him because they saw someone born with the odds stacked against them who became a champion and a celebrity. High-five!
Kurt knows all about rising above adversity and meeting every challenge head on.
He can relate to the struggles of the Tennant Creek community, and is an example of what is possible despite the severest of challenges.
Kurt bets one of his gold medals on a race against 10-year-old Duqarn, who, in return, bets a gold nugget he found himself.
It's worth about $4,000. Duqarn's learnt from the best. His dad, Jimmy Hooker, from a Queensland Aboriginal mob, has been fossicking for gold in Tennant Creek for decades and makes a living from it.
Kurt says, "I asked the little nipper to go easy on me when we raced in the desert, but he took it right up to me the cheeky bugger."
Back in the 1930s, Tennant Creek was the site of Australia's last gold rush. The mines pulled out long ago, but Jimmy knows where to look.
Over the years, he's built a spinifex home in the traditional way, out in the Tennant Creek bush.
When Kurt sees it, he says:
"My first impression — what a hard scrabble life, but then I see that Jimmy and Duqarn have everything they need and love living there."
Jimmy calls it Gumtree 69.
He's so proud of it he's come up with a poem about it that he recites to Kurt.
Turns out, Jimmy is quite the poet — but he can't read or write. His poems are stored in his head, ready to be summoned and recited at the drop of a hat.
"Having a dad who can't read or write" Kurt says, "made me wonder what kind of future that meant for Duqarn.
"But when I meet Duqarn's teacher, young Tyler Horwood, in town, he tells me Duqarn's shaping up well at school — all thanks to Jimmy."
I look over to see Jimmy wiping away tears when Tyler says that. Jimmy realises his way of life is disappearing, and he's determined to give his son the opportunities he never had.
Not every kid in Tennant Creek is lucky enough to have a great dad like Jimmy.
"When the sun sets back in town, the romance of Jimmy's beloved bush fades and I see a very different side to Tennant Creek," Kurt says.
Troubled kids and a local night patrol
At the outdoor community sports area, the music is pumping and the kids are twerking. It's a disco come basketball night, put on twice weekly by Youth Links, a Barkly Shire initiative.
Many of these kids have troubled backgrounds. By giving them something to do, community activities keep them off the streets and out of trouble.
Kurt refuses to bust a move for our Back Roads shoot.
"It's not my thing … this is more my thing!" he laughingly says, showing off his hoop skills with the kids on the adjoining basketball courts.
But Kurt wonders,
"Do the kids go home afterwards?"
When he hits the streets to find out, he runs into a friendly local mob who are thrilled to meet him.
The committed coalition of local volunteers regularly come together to patrol the streets at night, led by Aunties LT Turner and Deb Cain and non-Indigenous man Steve Edgington.
In the past, truant kids have caused havoc after dark and damaged the town's reputation.
"What we're trying to do is to make Tennant Creek a safer place for everybody, engage with people and try to reduce anti-social behaviour in town," Mr Edgington says.
"It's amazing to see that just by casually walking the main street," Kurt says, "this mob not only deters troublemakers but also shows these kids someone cares about them."
Why are these kids, some as young if not younger than 10 years old, not home with their parents?
As Kurt searches for answers, he learns the legacy of Australia's last gold rush has scarred Tennant Creek and continues to scar it, generations on.
Find out more about Tennant Creek's complex history and its hopeful future in Back Roads with guest presenter Kurt Fearnley, Mon, Feb 13 at 8pm on ABC TV and anytime after on ABC iview.
