So, this is a photo of a boy
and his father in the outback.
And the dad's looking at
his son with a lot of love.
It tells me that that
little boy is the only thing
that exists in that moment.
And that boy is me.
I love this photo.
It's so easy to take
the parents for granted.
I feel I've been so busy,
I probably haven't spent as
much time with my
dad as I would want to.
And now he's had a diagnosis.
He has early-stage Alzheimer's,
and there's definitely
good days and bad days.
I wanna do everything
that I can to help him.
[road noise]
So, my dad and I
are going on a road trip.
And it's something we've
talked about for years.
[engine noise]
Turns out that the
experience could help
fight the disease.
If it helps, fantastic.
But I'm also just
looking forward to
spending time with my dad.
Hey, can you hold this for me?
Better get the opening
titles sorted for the...
What am I doing?
Just stand over
there and film me.
Ah, no, wrong way, mate.
Spin that round.
This is the, uh,
the opening titles to the
greatest film ever made.
Now, this is not happening.
Hang on.
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you pressed?
-I haven't...
-You've put it into night mode.
Stop pressing buttons.
Let's go.
[engine revs]
National Geographic presents...
[engine noise]
From Darren Aronofsky...
Production by Nutopia!
Wild State...
With... Chris Hemsworth.
And my dad.
That's you.
Did you get it?
Very good.
[scoffs]
We'll get that.
We don't litter.
That's right.
[Upbeat music playing]
MIV one.
Why don't you face it
over here, like this?
You're playing favorites
with the cameras aren't you?
There you go.
I'm gonna film everything.
Standing behind camera,
in front of camera, all of that.
[engine noise]
Let me introduce
you to my co-star.
Can you do that, Dad?
No.
[Chris] This is
Craig Hemsworth, my dad.
He's 71 years old now,
father to three boys,
and he's got six grandkids.
So, what do you
think of, uh, Grandpa?
He's such a lit grandpa.
-[Chris] Such a lit grandpa.
-Um, he's so funny.
[Chris] He's also been
married to my mum, Leonie,
for 40... years?
50 years?
[Craig] 40...
can I ask Leonie?
We have been
married for 44 years.
We met, we've known
each other for 45 years.
He's someone with an
extraordinary amount
of personal integrity.
[Chris] And he has this wacky,
goofy sense of humor.
Leonie will probably
say she was a mother of four.
[laughter]
I think a lot of the time,
I'm still a kid at heart.
There, uh-oh,
you're gonna get me.
-Right here.
-Huh?
With my dad's Alzheimer's,
we've started to notice it over
the last two years.
His short-term
memory is not great.
[Craig] Some days, it's
better than other days, but,
uh, it's the sort of the
way that it sneaks up at times.
It, um, catches you out.
[overlapping chatter]
[Chris] It's confronting and a
really tough thing to navigate
because there's something
about his personality that's,
it's not a stubbornness,
but there's a real sort of
how he does things.
What are you doing, mate?
I'm making a coffee.
Do you want one?
[Chris] It's six p.m.
with a coffee.
Barista in the house.
[Chris] You're not
gonna sleep, mate.
And I'm not sure if it's,
is he forgetting this,
or is he insisting
on doing it this way?
[engine noise]
Or is this a, a symptom?
I don't know.
We as a family we've been
talking with clinicians
and specialists and
neurologists and so on and
looking at cutting-edge science.
It's about what can we do,
what can he do,
to enhance his cognitive health.
This has led me to the work
of Alzheimer's specialist,
Dr. Suraj Samtani.
[crowd noise]
Suraj wants us to meet
at a busy public place.
[crowd noise]
My family and I
used to live in Melbourne,
and we've always supported
the Aussie Rules football team,
the Bulldogs.
Well, we've come
here not for the game,
but for the crowd.
A little bit for the game.
A little bit.
We're here for them, the fans.
[crowd noise]
We see all these
people around you.
They are together with
their parents, their partners,
their friends.
Social connections for
us is like sunshine.
Without that
sunshine, we wither.
So, we did a study with
over 40,000 people from
14 countries,
from all over the world,
and what we found
was that people who were
being social regularly,
their risk of dementia was
half compared to everyone else.
Wow.
Social connections
slow down cognitive decline,
even for people who have been
already diagnosed with dementia.
[Chris] Does it have to be
in large groups like this,
or can it be one on one?
It can totally be one on one.
In fact, one of the most
surprising things we found
was that opening
up to someone...
Mm.
...having a confidante,
really reduces your risk
of early mortality.
So it's the quality,
not the quantity.
Yeah, it's interesting.
My dad and I, we used
to live in a community up in
Northern Territory,
very remote place,
and we've talked
about doing a road trip up
there at some point.
Cool.
I don't know, maybe that
would be a good experience
and a, a fun thing to do, right?
Yes.
I think this trip is a
wonderful opportunity for
the two of you to spend
some time bonding together...
Yeah.
...and also go
down memory lane.
We know that revisiting
past experiences by talking
to someone about it,
even using objects from the
past or places
from the past is a great
way to boost our cognition.
This is what we call
reminiscence therapy.
For Craig, in living with
dementia and trying to cope
with the changes
that he's facing,
sharing his life stories
through the power of
reminiscence therapy
is going to be really
beneficial for his brain.
So if you wanna
work out your body,
you do exercises
like lifting weights...
Mm-hm.
...to build your muscles.
Well, for our brain,
we can do the same thing by
practicing retrieving
memories from the past.
[Chris] Well,
we're in Melbourne.
This is where I spent
most of my childhood.
I wonder if I could get
access to the house I grew up
in and revisit the past?
It's exciting.
Let's do it.
After the game.
[crowd noise]
Woo!
Get in!
See, we're bonding!
[whistle]
So, my road trip with
my dad is also going to be
a trip back into our past.
To exercise his memory
in order to strengthen it.
And there's only one
way we're doing it.
Woo!
Look at this.
-Hooley Dooley!
-Look at this.
-There you go.
-Our chariots.
Hot rods.
[Chris] Back in the day, my dad
raced motorbikes professionally.
I can get on it.
Do you remember when I used
to sit on the petrol tank?
-Yeah.
-Let's try that.
Let's try that.
This is how we're going
all the all the way like this.
Just like when I was a kid.
Beep-beep!
OK, so let me show you my plan.
We're gonna go back to the
house we used to live in...
A-ha.
...which was probably the
last time you and I lived under
the same roof, 25 years ago.
I want to go back to the
house that I grew up in,
in my teenage
years in Melbourne,
and then back to my childhood
in the Northern Territory,
where my earliest memories were.
We were living in
the middle of nowhere,
in the outback of Australia.
Some of the most important
memories and experiences
that me and my father, and
my mum, and brother, also had.
-I'm excited.
-There'll be nostalgia.
-Yeah.
-There'll be memories.
It's been a long time.
[engine starting]
Alright, Dad, you ready
to go back in time?
Back in time.
Here we go.
[engine noise]
Woo-ha-ha!
Inspired by my
meeting with Suraj,
I've decided to supersize
Dad's reminiscence therapy.
So, for the first
leg of our road trip,
we're not just going back
to our old Melbourne house,
we're going to
experience it almost
exactly as it was in the '90s.
With the help of the
house's current owners,
the production's art
department have taken
photographs from a
family photo album of our
house in the '90s,
and basically
rebuilt the interior,
sourced old couches,
posters, and photographs...
So that it's exactly
the way it was when we
lived there 25 years ago.
They've replanted
the entire forest.
No, just kidding.
That was already there.
[Peaceful music playing]
Ah.
It hasn't changed a bit.
[Craig laughs].
This feels weird, doesn't it?
I know this is going to
be a powerful experience,
so I've arranged for my mum
to come and join us later.
Should we go inside and
step back into the '90s?
-Let's have look, eh?
-Let's have a look, yep.
[Craig laughs]
Hooley Dooley,
and the same couches.
[Chris] Oh my God.
[Craig] It's a
step back in time.
[Chris] This is wild.
It's literally identical.
[Craig] I've been
looking for that footie.
This is a...
charming couple.
How's it feel?
Like home.
Old home.
God, it feels like, um...
like a lifetime ago, but it
also feels like yesterday.
Yeah.
Leonie there, eh?
She's, she's coming.
She's coming?
Mm...
Good to be back?
Good memories?
[Craig] Good memories.
Yeah, absolutely.
It was a good time.
Was five of us in here.
Now, where's Leonie?
She's coming?
Yeah.
My dad keeps
asking where my mum is,
even though he's been
told that she's coming later.
Wow!
I think it was
the first time on the trip
he was displaying
his Alzheimer's.
Uh, Dad, look at this.
This has been here for.
[Craig] Yes!
30 years.
[Craig] Goodness
knows how long, yeah.
Where does it come from?
Did someone make it,
or did we buy it?
I can't remember.
Might have been
when I was still smart.
Sorry.
And it was, it was concerning.
It the, that you sort
of forget momentarily and
then the more time
I've spent with him, it's,
it's, it's, it's really obvious.
[Craig] Leonie'll know.
Has she seen it?
Has she come up?
Leonie there?
Wonder if, he keeps
asking where Mum is.
Does Mum wanna come and?
I think I'm
struggling with wondering,
is this gonna get better?
[Craig] And that's,
I guess, the cloud.
The overarching thought is
that, um, where's this going?
It's here.
Oh, I can't remember.
And yeah, look, it's,
it's difficult to talk about.
[Craig laughs gently]
Hey, Mum.
[Craig laughs]
Isn't this insane?
Huh?
It's so wild, eh?
It's, I wasn't expecting it.
I sort of thought it
would be interesting to
come back to it...
[Chris] Mm.
...but it was quite
overwhelming 'cause,
because it was like this
flood of even talking about it,
a flood of, um... memories.
Mm.
Because, um... you know,
it was the first house
that we bought.
Yeah.
[Leonie] Um, Liam was
born here, downstairs.
You boys growing up, really
pivotal time in your life.
[Craig] It's nice to remember.
It's nice to think
of those times,
'cause they were difficult...
[Chris] Yeah.
...in one respect, but...
[Chris] When we
lived in this house,
my dad worked as a
Child Protection Officer.
He worked incredibly
hard for so many years,
taking care of those
who are most vulnerable.
I definitely saw the
toll that took upon him and,
and the stress it caused.
It was hard time, wasn't it?
[Chris] Yeah.
[Leonie] Yeah.
Like we were both working
and struggling, weren't we?
And...
I remember him coming home
at times and just this,
I could see the sort of
weight that he was carrying
emotionally about it,
and, and said, you know,
and asked him sort of
what was happening and,
and I remember this one
time him just sort of like,
shaking his head
and just sort of...
him getting, you know,
he didn't say much but it
was just like, oh,
just that kind of, um...
um, just aware of the
things that he couldn't stop.
[Craig] We'd all sit
around that fire, eh?
[Chris] 'Cause it was freezing,
but having to chop wood,
light the fire,
otherwise I remember
breathing out...
[exhales deeply]
...and seeing your breath,
that's how cold it was.
Cold, cold house.
[voice recording] Hi, you've
called Leonie, Craig, Luke,
Chris, and Liam.
[beeps and internet dialup]
[Craig] Look at this.
Where'd you get
all that stuff from?
These were the
airplanes we used to build,
and that one has a
little, little engine on it,
little petrol engine,
but he would build those
things from scratch.
It's got my
name on it... Chris.
Yeah, probably made it for you.
I wanna see if it still flies.
[Craig] Yeah, it'll still fly.
Guarantee it.
Revisiting the house,
it was certainly strange.
The detail was extraordinary.
Hey Dad, this,
this is you, look.
I was a good-looking
fella, wasn't I?
Did you win that race?
I got third in the
650 class or the 750 class.
That's very satisfying,
recognizing stuff that,
you know, I hadn't
thought about for a long while.
Put your hat back
on so you can see.
Suddenly, I remember that.
[Chris] So, how does
reminiscence therapy help?
Our memories are
thought to reside in engrams,
patterns of brain
cells that fire together
when we recall something.
Alzheimer's is so
devastating because
it destroys the connections
between brain cells,
disrupting these
memory networks.
Reminiscence therapy can help
counteract this because it's
a multi-sensory experience.
Seeing, touching, and
hearing our past can make it
easier to remember it.
This can also trigger
a whole host of associated
details and events,
reactivating more memory engrams
and strengthening the
neural connections within them.
Remember how many kids'
parties we had in here.
Pillow fights.
[Craig laughs]
How many holes
we put in this wall.
Sure.
This toilet,
Josh McDonald, throwing up.
Throwing up.
Oh, yeah.
-But the seat being down...
-Yes.
...the lid being down and
just it bouncing off the lid
onto the walls, onto the shower.
[Craig] Projectile.
And then trying
to scoop it up with a...
Oh!
...plate and a spoon.
[Leonie] Yeah.
[Chris] Let's go in my bedroom.
[Craig] Hooley Dooley.
This is so...
[Craig] Hooley Dooley.
This is really weird.
Don't show my wife,
photo of my ex-girlfriend there.
[Craig] What's this?
"Croc Hunter".
[Chris] "Croc Hunter",
that is...
[laughs]
[Craig] Shall we have a play?
[Chris] Alright,
oh, have you seen this?
[Leonie] I...
This was, uh,
Luke Zocchi's and I's,
uh, media project.
[Leonie] Yeah, yeah.
This was my first ever movie...
[Leonie] No, I
remember you doing it.
...that we shot here,
on location around the,
around the backyard.
[Craig] Can we see it?
[Chris] Yeah, you can pop it on.
The Crocodile Hunter!
[singing theme tune]
You almost spelled
crocodile correct.
Crikey, how you going folks?
We've got a real bloody ripper
in store for you today.
Oh, this is, this is gold.
We're gonna be chasing the
Siberian tiger, Australian fox.
It's gonna be bloody unreal!
Let's go have a look-see!
Now, I've got me
self a little sun hat.
[Leonie] That was my hat.
[Craig] Your riding, hat, yeah.
...come here.
Have a look see.
That's what I'm talking about.
Deadly as!
He's, he's digging a hole,
probably to drag some
herrings into it.
Remember, when he's
not looking over here,
over here, over here!
I've got him.
Oh!
The dog wasn't...
[Craig] There they go.
...the dog wasn't hurt
in the making of this film.
You get him in the
full Nelson like so,
and I've got to
get him to submit.
Now, submitting.
Sh, sh!
Down, boy, down!
Look at the dog!
Next week, we'll be chasing
the Australian grasshopper.
Can't wait.
See you'se then!
So, is there another episode?
The one, wasn't it?
That's it.
That's where it stopped.
It was that and then "Thor".
It's, it's a small leap.
[Craig] He used to say,
"I'm going to Hollywood",
and we'd sort
of chuckle and say,
"Oh yeah, good.
What's your backup?"
"Don't need a backup,
I'm going to Hollywood."
[Leonie] Going
back to the house,
there was just this
overwhelming sense
of the passage of time.
[Chris] How was that?
Was that fun?
Was that weird?
Was it?
[Leonie] It felt like
all of the people that
we'd had there in
the past were there.
Particularly with what,
um, Craig's going through.
Well, he asked where you
were about six or seven times.
[Leonie] You know, just
this wave of emotion,
and I think like we
say we are our memories, we,
we kind of, you know,
our personalities are based
on our experiences and
what we've, where we've been.
Part of my emotional
response to it is what are
we gonna face in the future?
As a partner, it's
difficult because I want him
to still be the person he was
and I want the relationship...
[crying]
Um, yeah, I, I
want, I want the rela...
I want those, that relationship.
You know, sometimes I wake
up in the middle of the night
and it can be quite terrifying
to think where it's all going.
Do you think he's
aware of, of that feeling?
Do you think he, if he's
afraid, what he's afraid of?
[Leonie] You should ask him.
Is he, in private,
does he, yeah, I know.
Well, it's been,
it's really tricky.
There's a hesitation
from me because...
I don't know, maybe I'm avoiding
my own discomfort, you know.
If I was to ask him,
sitting around the dinner
table at home, he'll probably,
"Ah, yeah, I don't know"
and shrug it off
a bit, you know?
So this is gonna be a
goal for me on this trip, to,
to talk about how he's feeling
about this and talk about,
and, or ask him,
does he have fears or
concerns and what are they?
Because he's not the type of
person that will offer that up.
So, for you, like given
that you have this same,
you know, genetic disposition...
[Chris] This has become
a very prominent conversation
in my world because I
also have two copies of the
gene that puts me in a higher
risk category for Alzheimer's.
I feel like it's
too far off, hopefully.
Doesn't seem real.
I'd rather just
continue on with life.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
But it's not a problem at
this point and it may never be,
and so I'm far more
focused on my dad right now.
[Chris laughs]
I think my dad got
a lot out of today.
The experience of coming back
to our old house in Melbourne
has stimulated nostalgia
and triggered memories.
It feels like there's
been a real benefit.
[Suraj] If someone close
to you is living with dementia,
you don't need to do exactly
what Chris and Craig are
doing here to receive
some of the benefits
of reminiscence therapy.
It can be as simple as
listening to old songs together,
looking at old photos together,
or playing home movies
and enjoying them together.
It's quite simple to do.
[Chris] For the second
stage of our road trip,
my dad and I are going
even further back in time,
to even more distant memories.
Over 2,000 miles from Melbourne,
somewhere I lived from
three to eight years old,
deep in the Australian outback.
Alright, Dad, so we're gonna
fly to the Northern Territory,
take the bikes, and
we're gonna start in Katherine,
and ride all the way
along here to Beswick,
which is apparently
where the road ends.
It's Bitumen 'til Beswick,
yes, that's right.
Gravel from there on.
And how rough is the terrain?
It can be gnarly.
-Can it?
-Yeah.
It can be, yeah, rocky, dusty.
How do you reckon
I'll handle it?
We'll see if you can keep up.
-We'll see.
-Yeah.
Could we attach, uh,
some sort of tether from your
bike to mine and you just
tow me through the problems?
Just like life.
All the way to Bulman.
So, Bulman is an
indigenous community in the
outback of Australia,
in Northern Territory,
where we grew up.
We're about four and a half
hours from the nearest town
and it was incredibly remote,
about as remote
as you could get.
You're outdoors all day long.
Didn't own a pair of shoes.
Me and my mates would
just run off into the bush
and disappear for most of the
day and survive and come back.
The people there and the
connection we had to that
community was very
foundational and profound.
We as a family,
we've discussed
going back for a long time.
And now we're finally
going back to Bulman,
for the first time in 35 years.
[Suraj] I think it's going to be
great for Craig to dig deeper,
revisiting distant memories.
Because older memories
become semanticized
which is we just remember
the meaning of what happened,
but not necessarily
all the details.
So he's going to have to
work really hard to remember
the context of the memories.
All the things that he
could see, smell, hear,
and what he felt at the time.
[Chris] I know for my
dad's cognitive health,
going back to Bulman
should be powerful therapy and
there's one place in
particular that I'd like us
to try and find again.
Alright, so before we take off,
do you remember
where this photo was taken?
[Craig] I think it was
where we used to swim.
We used to go and picnic.
[Chris] 'Cause it'd be cool
to try and go back there and...
[Craig] We could do that.
...bring up a whole lot of,
a whole lot of emotions.
[Craig] Yeah.
[Chris] I think when
the photo was taken,
I think I was about
three or four years old.
I have very
detailed memories of,
of that area and how it
felt at that time in my life
and the comfort and joy
and the adventure we were on.
And I'd love to go back there.
Let's get these bikes off.
[Craig] Here we go, ready?
Right... how does
it feel to be back
here after all these years, Dad?
-Bloody hot!
-Bloody hot!
Any, any, uh,
memories coming up?
Anything look familiar?
Lots of, lots of
memories and, uh,
looking forward to
seeing the people of Bulman.
Can we get going?
Let's get out of here.
[engine noise]
[Upbeat music playing]
[Chris] How are
the bikes handling?
[Craig] Ah, it feels good.
[engine noise]
[Chris] It's almost 200 miles
of open road to Bulman.
This is where the
Bitumen ends, Dad.
[Craig] Yeah.
[Chris] Where the
terrain gets intense.
Bumpy here.
Oh!
[Craig] Gonna get
drenched right here.
[Chris] It's awesome
being out here on the open
road with my dad.
[engine noise]
He's incredibly humble
about the things he doesn't
know about, but the
things he does know about,
where he's the
expert, it's his way.
It's Craig's way.
So when it comes to cars
and motorbikes and driving,
that's his area of expertise.
[Craig] It's good fun,
riding with Chris.
Got a little way to go
keep up with his dad, but...
[Chris] What a view, eh?
[Craig] Spectacular.
[Chris] Hey, I was wondering.
Got a question for you.
Why did we first move up
to the Northern Territory?
A job offer.
Yeah.
What was the job offer doing?
Catching, uh, scrub
bulls and buffalo.
-Yeah, right.
-Yeah.
What did you know
about that at the time?
Nothing, absolutely nothing, no.
Uh, scared the
[bleep] out of me.
Craig, the bull catcher.
Yeah, it's a long
time ago and, um,
I still have nightmares.
And that was our job,
was catching buffalo and
feral cattle, mostly bulls,
would escape from the herds.
We'd catch these feral animals
and they'd go off to market.
It was hard work and
it was also very dangerous.
[Suraj] Memories that
have a sense of adrenaline,
of danger, are
stored in the amygdala,
the fight or flight
center of the brain.
Even the original
sense of fear, anticipation,
and suspense that
we felt in that moment,
are going to be preserved
and come flooding back to us
with all the vivid detail.
It was a hell of
a ride, it was wild.
And I made some good
friends along the way.
[Chris] To build on
the benefits of this trip
for my dad, I've
arranged for us to meet
one of his old friends
from his bull mustering days.
His name's Spencer and
it's been 35 years since
they've seen each other.
[Suraj] Research shows us that
reuniting with old friends
is uniquely protective
against cognitive decline,
compared to talking to family
because family members often
know our likes and dislikes.
They might speak for us,
or they might complete our
sentences, whereas it's
more of a workout for the brain
when we talk to old
friends because we have to
remember distant
information that we
don't access every single day.
[Chris] Hey, Spencer.
[Spencer] Hello.
[Chris] How are you?
[Spencer] G'day, mate,
hello, how are you?
[Craig] How you doing, Spence?
[Spencer] Good to see you,
Craig, bloody, bloody hell!
Oh, mate, yeah!
[Craig] It's been a long
time, long time.
[Spencer] Look at you.
Like your old man.
Shall we sit down
and have a chat, man?
Yeah, come on.
Bloody hell,
35 years, that is a,
that's a very long
time, really, um...
[Chris] Sure, sure.
[Craig] You look good,
you sound good.
[Spencer] Welcome home.
[Chris] Thank you.
[Spencer] Yeah!
You guys mustered cattle
together first, right?
And buffalo, yeah.
Everyone used to call
him Chuck Norris then.
Yeah.
Craig was this crazy white man,
chasing all these
buffalo around in the bush.
I remember one part,
he just jumped out and grabbed
this buffalo by the
tail and pulled him down,
and everyone was like,
'What? Look at this fella!
What he's doing? He's crazy!'
From then on, everyone started
calling him Chuck Norris.
[Chris] Alright, so how
does this thing work?
How do you catch the buffalo?
Oh-oh!
Here we go.
Ready?
Ready.
[machine noise]
Captured.
Captured and then release it.
[Chris] Dare to pop
my head just there?
[machine noise]
Looks like a safe
piece of equipment.
[machine noise]
Oh!
And you're doing this,
you're doing this at about
50, 60 kilometers an hour.
Exactly.
[Chris] You guys are wild.
It's amazing
watching them together
and, and seeing the
connection they have and,
and the friendship they
shared, and how immediate
and present it is, the
moment they start talking.
Where was I sat?
Up here on the front?
I was, I was underneath,
underneath here, yeah,
the dashboard, hiding.
I can see it in my dad's
eyes and in Spencer's eyes,
how much they
appreciate each other
and the time spent together.
So you don't
muster cattle anymore.
You became a mechanic and
that's what you do full-time?
Yeah, thanks to your dad.
He was like a
brother figure to me.
Every time I need some advice,
I'll always ask Craig
to help me out with it.
But he's been an
inspiration to me to, to
become a mechanic.
The expertise from him
has given me that choice,
to get a better future,
get a better job.
[Craig] He would do these
things off his own initiative
and he'd mostly
bring my tools back.
Yeah, I, I would.
There's still a couple
I've got to talk to him about.
[Chris] You're a better
student than I was.
Yeah.
Tried to show me some
of the things with the car,
and none of it I took on board.
Waste of time.
Waste of time with me.
[Spencer] Yeah.
So, so Spencer would
have been a teenager.
What are your memories of him?
As a teenager?
[Chris] Yeah.
Um, you, do you remember him?
[Chris] No, I'm
saying, what, what were
your memories of Spencer?
With Spencer?
Um, he was a good
fella, a good lad.
Um... you know, clever
but yeah, no, a bright fella,
good, uh, and good,
good, good person.
Um...
[Chris] In the middle of this
conversation with Spencer,
there's a moment where my
dad becomes quite confused
about who he's talking to.
It's incredibly painful to
witness and I want us to talk
about how he's feeling
about what's happening,
but it's been hard to
find the right moment.
You know, to see, you know,
your dad who, um, who is...
who has been in control
for so many years and
been in charge and, and now to
see such vulnerability there...
I wanna take that from him now.
I wanna, I wanna
help him figure it out.
But it's that sort
of question mark and the,
the unknown, I think,
that's really confronting.
[sighs]
Yeah...
[engine noise]
[engine noise]
[Chris] On the
outskirts of Bulman,
Spencer's got together some
of Dad's other old mates for
a homecoming ceremony.
[Spencer] Oh, good,
you guys made it.
[Chris] Hey, how are ya?
[Spencer] Glad you made it.
Yeah, how are you?
[Chris] Good to see you, Spence.
[Spencer] Remember Ewan?
-Hello mate, how are you?
-[Craig] Ewan! Oh, yes, Ewan.
-How are you?
-Are you alright?
-Glad you guys made it, yeah.
-You guys look fantastic.
Yeah, we're gonna
do a proper welcome.
The welcome is the
spiritual ceremony.
The significance of that
is to let the spirits know
that Chris and Craig are back.
[Spencer] There are
certain sacred places in
the dreaming spots,
that's just like, um,
blessing them back
to the community.
And because we're spiritual
people and it's our belief,
or our religion,
you might as well say.
Thank you both for
coming and now we're here
in this water, just thought
I'd do us like a blessing.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
[birdsong]
[Chris] Both my dad and I
feel incredibly privileged
to be welcomed
in such a fashion.
Instantly, the sound
of the bush and the smells
reignites these
memories from my childhood.
[birdsong]
It feels very comfortable,
it feels very safe.
Immediately taken back to
a time that everything seemed
far less complicated,
and to really feel
like we're coming home
and we're a real
part of that community.
Dad and I couldn't
return to Bulman without Mum,
so she's flown in to join us.
[Leonie laughs]
Hello!
[Suraj] For Craig, he's
coming back to a community that
embraced his family,
so we're really tapping into
the power of social connections,
which is what Chris and
I spoke about at the stadium.
I knew I'd see you.
Hello, how are you?
How you going?
Good.
[Suraj] It's about being part
of this whole group of people.
He's still growing.
I'm still growing.
Every day, he gets a bit more.
[Suraj] A sense of trust and
belonging which is so powerful,
that warm feeling of connection.
It's beautiful.
I just loved
seeing the people again.
They still have this
amazing capacity to open
their hearts to people
and to welcome us as part of
their family and
their community.
I think that's why
it's stayed as such a strong
experience for all of
us, is that sense of,
of being welcomed.
-Hi! Here we go!
-Here we go! Oh!
Hello, how are you?
-Good.
-Hello.
[Peter] I was glad that
Chris brought Mum and Dad back.
They just came in
and just connected.
Yeah.
With Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris!
No, another Chuck Norris.
I don't know that he
acted like Chuck Norris or
behaved like Chuck Norris.
I think he represented
something mythical.
Any time anyone gives
him sort of a compliment,
he kind of shrugs it
off and says, "Ah yes."
He definitely didn't
go, "That's right,"
you know, "Yeah!"
[laughter]
I mean, nobody looked
at them as, you know, oh,
not indigenous or
white folks, you know.
They, they were just blended in.
[laughter]
She used to take care of me...
-Yeah.
-...and make me damper.
-Yeah.
-Is that right?
-Yeah, and keep you fed too.
-That's right, you kept me fed.
Thank you.
Engaging with the
wider community more actively
is key for someone
living with dementia.
They give us an opportunity to
do what we call social bridging.
Anything from volunteer
work to joining a walking group,
or a singing group.
We see that people who
do community activities
at least once a month
have slower rates
of cognitive decline.
-Yeah. Yes.
-Walk this way.
Yeah.
[laughter]
[Chris] Unlike with
family and friends,
social bridging works
with our less close ties.
This kind of connection
activates brain regions
involved in decoding
speech, recalling faces,
and deciphering
unfamiliar behavior.
Every part of
the brain is firing.
As we walk around Bulman,
it feels like pieces of a
puzzle being assembled.
So many memories that were
fragmented and, and distant,
and now seeing different places
instantly bring
those memories to life.
[Chris] I remember spending
a lot of time in this freezer
with, uh, one of my mates...
Yeah.
...and we used to come in,
sneak into the freezer 'cause
it was the only cold place.
I remember that really well.
Yeah, this is it.
This is where I would
hang out and eating all
the ice creams, chocolate bars.
Remember doing my homework
just here and I think we have
a couple of photos of me
asleep at my little school desk.
When I say homework,
I was drawing some pictures.
[overlapping chatter]
[Craig] Bulman had
a huge impact for me,
particularly the relationships
I think that we formed.
Lochlan!
[Chris] I think there was
a, a greater sense of
engagement for my dad.
-Good to see you!
-Likewise, wow!
He was much more kind of
comfortable and outspoken
by the end of this trip
than he was at the beginning.
[Craig] Fowler, good to see you!
You got the best seat
in the house, this one.
Ooh!
[Chris] You know, he's always
been a very happy person,
but I think something
was ignited in there.
[Craig] It's a very
special place for us.
It was home for a number
of years, very much our home.
It was wonderful to
reflect on those times.
It was wonderful, yeah.
[Suraj] Having a multi-sensory
experience like being back
in Bulman is evoking
a lot of emotions.
All the familiar streets,
places, houses, people,
are triggers for these
memories and every conversation
he has is a trigger
for shared memories.
So this is reminiscence
therapy at a supercharged level,
combined with the
power of social connections.
[Chris] It's a very strange
paradox that dementia attacks
our connections and
attacks our memories,
but it's those same
connections that paradoxically
fight the disease.
[birdsong]
It's far simpler
than what I think
we set out searching for.
It's about showing up,
it's about being there for
your family, your
friends, your loved ones.
It's about connection.
[Peaceful music playing]
For our last night in Bulman,
Dad and I are going to camp,
just the two of us and
our rekindled memories.
[Craig] Do you remember
coming out to some of the out,
out stations on the motorbike...
[Chris] Yeah.
...sitting on the
tank in front of me?
I do, yeah.
[Craig] Feet up
on the handlebars.
Weaving in and out of the trees.
It's probably scare
the hell out of me now
but at the time, it was...
Ah, no, it was all
very responsible riding.
It was, and it was
incredibly dangerous and
you instilled in me a daredevil,
high-risk-taking tendency.
I remember one
occasion when you said,
'Go faster, go faster',
and I got faster and faster
and I remember looking around
to see how you were doing and
you were sitting there with
your eyes rolling back, going,
'A-ha-ha!'
You were in ecstasy.
I went, "OK, there's a
future racer in the Bulman."
It was very good.
Yeah.
Lots of fond memories.
[Chris] Yeah.
This has been a really good
journey for me to understand
my dad on a deeper level,
and his past and his memories.
Well, give us a nudge
if I fall asleep on you.
[Chris] Yeah.
If you fall asleep the same way
you fall asleep in my movies...
That's because we
watch them 10 times.
[Chris] But since
talking with my mum,
I haven't really sort of
asked him about his Alzheimer's
and as strange as it sounds,
it's hard for me to ask those
questions and I think we,
we have been avoiding it,
uh, just for our own sort of...
comfort, I guess.
Having, you know, being in
early stages of Alzheimer's,
does it, what is your,
your feelings about it all?
Is it something
that scares you, or?
[Craig] Um... yeah.
[Chris] Yeah.
Oh, look, absolutely
because, um, you know,
that whole notion
of feeling that...
I guess I can't look after
myself or be reliant upon
other people to make
decisions for me, almost.
Some days things are
quite clear and I can,
uh, make sense,
and then some days it's not.
It's not so clear,
it's not so, um...
you know, correct.
Unquestionably, there can
be periods of darkness and
you've got to remind yourself,
hang on a minute, you've,
uh, just been there,
or just done that, or...
um, I forgot what I was,
where I was going with that,
but a good example.
[Craig] It's not over yet.
It inspires me to
not miss a minute.
What are you, what
are you afraid of?
Being a burden, is probably the,
the biggest issue, I think.
Um, and just losing
contact with people.
You're not gonna
be burden, mate.
We're all in it together.
We'll take care of you...
Just as you took care of us.
Mm.
[Peaceful music playing]
I'm very thankful for the life,
the childhood that I
had, the life you've...
[Craig] Yeah.
...set up for us, you know.
I'd give you a hug if
there wasn't a fire between us,
but unfortunately, we have to...
Come on.
It's a long-distance high five.
[Craig] It's a challenge.
It's one that, you know,
I'm not giving up on,
and I'm not asking for sympathy.
Understanding,
but at the same time,
not making that
onerous on people.
It would be nice to think
that there's some benefit out
of sharing this for others
who might be going through
the same experiences.
[Suraj] Every year, there
are 10 million new cases of
dementia worldwide.
If someone close to you
is living with dementia,
remember that there is a lot
you can do by helping them
to stay mentally,
physically, and socially active.
Encourage them to
do group activities.
Use the power of reminiscence
to rekindle old memories.
Empathy and understanding is the
most powerful treatment of all.
[Chris] Before we leave Bulman,
there's one last thing I wanna
do with my dad.
Alright, Dad, so,
according to Mum,
this photograph was
taken somewhere down here.
Any of it look familiar?
Little bit.
[Chris] I think the home
movie I've been making on
this trip will be
great reminiscence
therapy in the future.
Memories.
So they've still got this rock.
[Craig] This is it.
Do you remember
jumping off this rock?
[Chris] Yeah, I used
to love coming here.
I remember, uh, being on
your back and you swimming
me across the other side.
-Yesterday.
-Yeah.
It's probably one of the most
real memories that I have, is...
Yeah.
...is this place,
and you kids growing up,
and we're back together.
Yeah, the best part's
been you and I getting...
Yeah.
...to hang out for
these, these few days...
-Yeah.
-...and.
So, I don't know
if this grand piece of
reminiscence therapy
will have a long-term effect.
I know in the short time,
I definitely noticed that he
became more engaging and
outspoken, more comfortable.
So, hopefully it
continues on, but right now,
I feel so thankful
for how I saw something
awaken within him.
I have him now,
right here with me,
and hopefully I have
him for many more years,
but ultimately, I don't know
and I can't control that and,
and I just find myself
just wanting to spend more
time with him and just
appreciate every moment.
This is a photo, uh,
a photo of me and my dad
and it's so funny
because, uh, in my, uh,
the photo looks like me and...
makes me think of my own,
uh, my own kids... and how...
and how I look
at them, you know?
And like I can see such
love in that photograph
and, um, that's what I
feel so lucky for, you know,
that I had someone and
I still have someone who,
um, who, who just cared so much.
Love you, Dad.
Love you.
Love you, mate.
[Somber music playing]
[Somber music playing]
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Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember (2025)
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