Australia Movie/Film - Locations

LOCATIONS

The movie was filmed entirely in Australia. Filming took place at a number of locations, and these are featured on this page. If you were lucky enough to visit the locations and you have movie news to share, please feel free to contact me. Below is the shooting schedule for the movie, which I put together as it transpired throughout the year:

Shooting Schedule

30 April 2007 - 13 May 2007:
Sydney (including Fox Studios, Strickland House, Camelot)

14 May 2007 - 30 June 2007:
Bowen

3 - 11 July 2007:
Darwin (Stokes Hill Wharf )

16 July 2007 - 2 August 2007:
Sydney (Fox Studios)

6 August 2007 - 8 September 2007:
The Kimberley region
(including Kununurra, Carlton Hill Station, Digger's Rest)

9 September 2007 - 21 December 2007
Sydney (Fox Studios)

Fox Studios (Sydney, Australia)

While most of the Australia shoot was shot on location, some filming took place at Sydney's Fox Studios. In January 2007, CNN did a 'Baz Luhrmann's Sydney' special as part of its The Scene travel series. In a video, Luhrmann was seen walking inside a soundstage at Fox Studios (pictured above), where he announced, "it is in these soundstages that we are about to begin construction of the sets of my forthcoming movie called Australia".

Fox Studios was presumably used for any footage that was unable to be captured on location, including complex scenes such as the bombing of Darwin. In October 2007, it was also revealed that the set of Faraway Downs had been reconstructed within the studios, presumably for interior footage within the homestead.

House of Iona (Sydney, Australia)

The House of Iona in Sydney is the production base for Bazmark Productions, and presumably production work took place here throughout the making of the movie. Nicole Kidman was pictured entering Iona on 19 December 2006, which was a period when some early rehearsal workshops took place for the film.

Strickland House (Sydney, Australia)

Strickland House is a heritage listed property located in Vaucluse, near Sydney. Strickland House doubled as Darwin's Government House in the film. On 13 April 2007, it was reported that filming would take place there over two weeks starting from the end of April 2007, and the shoot would be mostly exterior shots. On 26 April 2007, the very first images from the Australia shoot were taken at Strickland House on a balcony. Filming also took place in the grounds of Strickland House, with a lavish dancing scene being rehearsed and filmed there in early May 2007. Click here for images from rehearsals featuring many of the principal cast.

Camelot (Sydney, Australia)

Camelot is a grand house at Camden on Kirkham Lane in Elderslie, on the outskirts of Sydney. On 23 December 2006, it was reported that the house and surrounding property was used for rehearsals for early scenes in the movie. Kidman and Jackman were seen at Camelot for rehearsals of interior and exterior scenes on 20 and 21 December 2006. This was during a period when rehearsal workshops took place for the film in Sydney. Jackman and Luhrmann were both photographed at Camelot that week, and these photos can be found on my Pre-Production Images page. It had been thought that Camelot had later been replaced by Strickland House (above). However, on 9 May 2007, the Camden Advertiser reported that filming had recently taken place there at the stables. It is not clear if the house itself was used, but it has been confirmed that some filming took place within the Camelot grounds.

Bowen (Queensland, Australia)

Location Photos
Click here to view Location Photos of areas in Bowen where shooting took place.

Baz in Bowen in mid-February 2007. Source: The Sunday Mail

Remember this spot ... movie buffs take note, here on the Bowen waterfront is
where Nicole the heiress and Hugh the drover meet for the first time in the movie
Source: Townsville Bulletin

Bowen is a seaside town in the Australian state of Queensland which was chosen by Luhrmann to double as Darwin in the movie. On 12 December 2006, Luhrmann announced that filming would take place in Bowen from April 2007 onwards. At the time, it was announced that the shoot there was expected to last around 10 weeks, with the footage expected to make up around a third of Australia's total screen time. Then, on 11 January 2007, the starting date for filming in Bowen was announced as 29 April 2007, with filming expected to last for six weeks. However, the shoot was then pushed back a couple of weeks as, in April 2007, it was announced that the shoot would now begin on 14 May 2007. The Bowen movie shoot is therefore took place from 14 May 2007 to 30 June 2007.

Luhrmann had been scouting coastal locations all over Australia during the two years leading up to production of the film, including Wyndham in Victoria and Port Headland in Western Australia, but it was Bowen that ultimately won him over. Luhrmann said, "Bowen has a deep water port, gorgeous water and it also has a lot of great historical buildings." It was originally reported that there would be a cast and crew of around 280, and that some crew began arriving in Bowen in January 2007, but the main stars, including Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann, did not arrive until early May 2007. Luhrmann also advised that hundreds of locals would play roles such as Japanese pearlers and cattlemen, and students were also encouraged to take part in a bid to encourage young talent to stay in Australia. Luhrmann said, "That is part of what I think Hugh, Nicole and I really share. We've been very fortunate. This country gave us an opportunity to play around the world. And now at the point in our careers we are, we feel naturally like you want to give something back."

Extras casting for the Bowen shoot took place on 30 and 31 March 2007, and 2 April 2007. Another casting session was held in the nearby town of Ayr on 14 April 2007. There were many reports that the shoot in Bowen was a great success, with locals enjoying the atmosphere filming created in the town. Congratulations to everyone who was lucky enough to get involved with the film!

Click here to check out Australia postcards and prints that are being sold by Bowen Framing.
Click here to read an interesting article about Bowen's movie heritage by David Anthony.
Click here to visit the 'Tourism Bowen' page, including set images and the Australia press release.

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Bowen Filming Schedule
Click here to view the filming schedule, which reveals the locations that were used around the town during the movie shoot.

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Well done to Merle Jochheim!
Merle Jochheim, a descendent of Bowen's founding father and the owner of Jochheim's Pies, played a pivotal role in Baz Luhrmann's decision to film Australia in the town. Her pie shop also helped promote the movie, with a sign in the window welcoming the cast and crew, and previously another sign counting down the 'sleeps to go' before filming began in the town. She also created several special items, including the Jackman Special Pie and the Crunchy Baz Baguette! :)

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Special Thanks to The Bowen Independent!
Many thanks to the Editor of The Bowen Independent for featuring my website in a February 2007 editorial! The newspaper provided excellent coverage of events in Bowen, and many of the articles, kindly provided by BowenGirl, can be found on my Bowen Scanned Articles page.

Darwin (Northern Territory, Queensland)

A stunning shot of Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin.

On 28 March 2007, Ninemsn.com hosted a video clip from the Australian television programme, The Today Show. Host Richard Wilkins was filmed saying the following, "Baz Luhrmann has been up in the Northern Territory. There was talk that Baz wasn't actually going to be shooting in Darwin but he's given it the thumbs up. It appeared that the Darwin scenes for the movie Australia were all to be shot in the Queensland town of Bowen which of course has got a deep harbour similar to Darwin, but Baz was in Darwin and you can see this vision of him up there yesterday taking some little digi cam vision of some of the locals and a bit of Hollywood hitting Darwin. Very exciting and that wharf, the big iconic wharf in Darwin, the Stokes Hill Wharf will feature prominently in the movie. That's the harbour that Nicole Kidman will land in on a Catalina plane, playing an English woman who comes to Australia inheriting a big property, falling in love with a stockman by the name of Hugh Jackman."

In May 2007, the Northern Territory Government confirmed, "Filming of Baz Luhrmann's Australia will take place on Darwin's Stokes Hill Wharf from Monday 2 July to Thursday 5 July and on Tuesday 10 July and Wednesday 11 July. Filming will also take place in a Darwin warehouse on Friday 6 July and Monday 9 July. Stokes Hill Wharf will remain open for business throughout filming, however as the film will require full use of the car parking on the wharf, alternative car parking and a shuttle bus service will be in place. It is the most ambitious film ever produced in Australia."

On 23 June 2007, The Townsville Bulletin's Bowenwood page revealed the above image of a sign that was put up in Darwin to promote the shooting of the film there. It looks to have been organised by the Northern Territory Government, whose symbol appears in the bottom left hand corner. In June 2007, Bazmark issued a press release regarding filming of Australia in Darwin, and a transcript can be found on my Press Releases page.

The Kimberleys (Western Australia)

Baz Luhrmann in Western Australia's Kimberley
region. Picture: Bazmark. Source: The Australian

The Kimberley region in Western Australia played a large part in the filming of the movie. On 23 November 2006, it was confirmed that at least four weeks of the five month movie shoot would happen near Kununurra in northern Western Australia. Filming was originally expected to begin there around 13 July 2007 until late August 2007. However, in late June 2007, the shooting schedule had to be rearranged due "record-breaking unseasonably wet" weather. Therefore, after filming wrapped in Darwin in July 2007, the shoot moved back to Fox Studios in Sydney before moving onto Kununurra when the weather had improved. Filming also took place at Carlton Hill Station (below) and Digger's Rest.

Carlton Hill Station (Western Australia)

Click here to visit the website for Carlton Hill Station.

The flooded Faraway Downs set. Filming had to be
rearranged due to the unseasonably wet weather.

On 31 March 2007, it was confirmed that Carlton Hill station in Kununurra in northern Western Australia would be the location where Lady Ashley's homestead, Faraway Downs, would be constructed. Faraway Downs is the cattle station that Lady Ashley inherits in the movie after the death of her husband, shortly after she arrives in Australia.

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