AustLit

'"Hello Sailor!" the curvy blonde calls. Andrew, a 16 year old navy cadet, looks and is at once interested. Maybe this holiday in Cooktown might not be so bad after all, he thinks.

'Andrew is at that age where he is very interested in girls but he has not yet learned the social skills needed to sustain a relationship. His girlfriend Tina (another navy cadet) thinks she is being taken for granted and dumps him.

'During a short voyage on a navy patrol boat the cadets are spectators to the capture of a suspicious old freighter and then help search for an old naval mine that has been reported by fishermen on Hope Island. The mine is found and the patrol boat has to go to Cooktown to pick up a team of bomb disposal divers. While there Andrew meets some of the local girls and suddenly the prospect of spending the Christmas holidays at the famous bush pub, the 'Lions Den', looks quite attractive. But on their return to Hope Island the mine, now identified as having been laid by a German raider during World War 2, is nowhere to be seen. It has drifted off on the tide.

'After returning to Cairns Andrew's family travel to the 'Lions Den' and there Andrew and his big sister Carmen explore the surrounding country and river banks and meet some of their relations and a host of unusual characters. There is romance, lust, romantic opportunities and sadness. Andrew is faced with difficult choices (which girl?) and hard moral decisions during the following weeks. The difficulties are compounded when Tina, who is Carmen's friend, comes to join them after Christmas.' (Publication summary)