New Year"s Eve marked the beginning of another “long weekend”, the phrase Australians used to describe public holidays that were added to the usual two-day break. As New Year"s Day fell on a Friday that year, workers like Joseph, who hadn"t accrued much recreation leave, looked forward to another short break. Anna had been forced to take three days" leave as the college closed between Christmas and New Year. They had been trying to decide how to celebrate the end of a momentous year, when their neighbours, Sam and Shirley, asked if they"d like to join them on a three-day camping trip up the coast at Peregian, about eighty miles north.
"We can set up camp directly behind the beach," Sam explained, as the two couples enjoyed an evening drink – beer for the guys, shandy for the girls – on th
