“I don’t think it’s a Back Roads shoot unless you end up churning a car into the sand somewhere!” she says. Whether collecting Pandanas leaves for weaving, surveying conservation efforts, or meeting Yolngu children who competed at the VEX World Robotics Championships in Dallas, Texas, Johnston was able to indulge her first love: science.

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“There’s always science in everything I do,” she says. “It might not be the most obvious science through a Western lens. The art, in particular, that you see by Yolngu people is a way of communicating science.

“First Nations people across the world, we learn about science through dance, art, song … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people are the world’s first scientists and technologists. So filming Back Roads was not a huge departure from my everyday reporting.”

Back in Gapuwiyak, “one of the first centres of art trade in the country”, Johnston was roped into modelling local artists’ fibre garments that have been shown at New York Fashion Week, alongside an Indigenous Fashion Projects discovery, model Roman Mununggurr.

“There are some beautiful people in Yolngu,” says Johnston. “So it’s no surprise that people like Roman have been able to make a name for themselves on the catwalk.” No matter how famous or well travelled, Johnston says Yolngu people always return home.

“You will see Yolngu people killing it on the world stage,” she says. “They might spend time in the major cities, in Sydney or Melbourne. People like [Wentworth actor Rarriwuy Hick], who’s a good friend of mine, you will see her doing the most incredible things and then she goes home and she’s part of the family.

“Success is celebrated. I didn’t witness any Tall Poppy behaviour up there. It’s like, ‘Yeah! You’re making it. Good on you, you’re bringing everyone with you.’ It’s that kind of attitude, it’s really beautiful.”

Back Roads: East Arnhem Land two-part special begins on Tuesday at 8pm on the ABC.

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