Brandon has just graduated from university as a primary school teacher. As he travels to his first teaching post, he wonders what he’s got himself into. From the airplane, the tiny town of Gunnanilla looks no bigger than a cattle station. And when he lands, he steps into heat such as he has never encountered before. Sweating and feeling faint from the extreme temperature, he meets his new boss Mark Petersen, the racist principal of the only school for miles around. Then he meets the school’s other teacher, Mark’s wife Trina, and the students, most of whom are Australian Aborigines. Life in the small town is no picnic. In the summer, the heat is unrelenting. In the wet season, the town is cut off from the outside world and all deliveries are brought to a halt. There is only one television channel. To top it all off, there are any number of poisonous creatures around, such as snakes, scorpions, and spiders. How’s a poor city boy like Brandon, who’s interested in fashion, music, and clubbing and none too confident with his sexuality, going to cope? Enter the handsome, rough-around-the-edges miner, Frank. When Mark warns Brandon that Frank is gay, it seems this town might finally have something to keep him entertained. But how can he meet Frank without drawing attention to his own sexuality? How can anything possibly happen between them in such rough, tough, and macho surroundings?

Desert Country

“I can’t believe it. Look at it!”


Frank looked over from where he was sitting. “Must be after the blood and guts. It’s only a baby.”


The shark was about a metre long, very small and slender. Rather than scare him, the baby predator fascinated Brandon and he watched as it swam about beside the boat.


Frank was quick to drop the hook over the side.


“What are you doing?” said Brandon, horrified. “Don’t kill it.”


“Sharks make good eating. Probably what your fish at lunch today was.”


Frank lowered the hook into the water, while Brandon willed the small beast to swim away. The shark must have got the message. Finding nothing of any substance to eat, it casually swam out towards the open sea.


“Are you just going to sit there?” asked Frank after he’d cast his line again.


Brandon nodded. “Sure am. If you’re going to make me do gross things like that every time I catch a fish, then I’m not going to catch any more.”


Frank smirked, and Brandon could see he was trying to stifle a laugh.


Chapter 24