They decided to camp in a nearby National Park. Zac dumped his pack on a picnic-table as he spotted some cute furry things in front of the toilet block.
“Cool, kangaroos,” said Taylor.
“Yeah, they’re in a lot of National Parks all around Australia,” said Bel.
Zac walked over to the kangaroos, and extended his hand, intending to pat “Kanga”, as he had christened the hapless beast.
“Kanga” lunged at him. Zac screamed. “Taylor, my love... I mean, my brother! Save me!”
Taylor heard Zac’s feeble but loving cries for assistance and immediately dropped Zoe, who he had been holding, onto the brick-paved barbecue area, and left her screaming in agony as he ran towards his beloved brother. He took a flying leap over the teddy-bear and reached Zachary just in time to fling him out of the way of the enraged marsupial.
Taylor Hanson turned to the kangaroo, which was about his height and looked to be about twice his weight, and whacked it over the head with his little red toiletry bag.
The huge male kangaroo was terrified of the skinny blond fifteen-year-old. He reared up his head and ran for the hills. Taylor was a hero! Zac stared at his older brother.
“Tay, you saved my life! Thankyou!” Zac moved to run over to Taylor and give him a big hug. He tripped on an old beer can and flew headlong at Tay, who reached out an arm in an attempt to break his brother’s fall, and Tay’s nails scratched five deep scratches into Zac's left cheek.
Zac screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. Belinda and Isaac heard him scream and came running. The others were too busy hunting for the little gold back of Mrs Hanson's earring, which she had dropped in the long grass.
“What’s the matter?!” Belinda asked, worried. She looked down at Zac, curled up sobbing with pain on the ground, and noticed the five long scratches adorning his normally perfect skin. “Oh my God, Zac! What happened?!”
“Umm... I was attacked by a kangaroo,” Zac said, not wanting to incriminate Tay. “Taylor saved me.”
“Oh, Tay! How sweet. You must really love your brother,” Belinda gushed, hanging off Taylor's arm. He blushed.
”You should put disinfectant on those scratches,” put in Ike.
Acting on the idea that anything Isaac said was always completely wrong and you should immediately do the opposite, Taylor and Belinda proceeded to smear crunchy peanut butter over Zac’s wounds. They then wrapped a towel around his head and secured it with rubber bands.
Needless to say, Zac was feeling uncomfortable.

After about three hours of intense boredom, due to the fact that Zac couldn’t see a thing through the thick towel that enveloped the entire region of his cranium, Zac ripped the towel off.
“Thank goodness I took that off. I was going mad in there,” he sighed.
“Oh, God, not another one,” Mrs Hanson groaned. “I don’t know if I can cope.”
“What do you mean?” Zac asked his mother, confused.
“I mean, I can’t cope with you going mad, ‘cause then I’d have two mad kids.” Diana and Zac glanced over at Isaac, and did a double take. Ike was engaged in bare-back riding the very kangaroo which Taylor had whacked over the head a few hours before. Isaac seemed to be under the impression that the kangaroo was a horse. Surprisingly, the kangaroo appeared to actually like being ridden like that. Zachary Hanson and his long-suffering mother shook their heads in wonder.
It was then that Zac noticed that it had been dark for some time. He looked at his watch.
“Hey, shouldn’t we set up the tents, it’s 9:30?”
The tents were confusing, to say the least.
By 5:00 AM the next morning they had them set up. They wearily crawled into the cramped two-person tents and fell asleep just as the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon.

The whole family slept in the next morning, understandably. When they finally awoke, it was just in time to have supper and change into their pyjamas, something they had neglected to do the evening before.

Late that night, Taylor, Zachary and Belinda were sitting around the campfire. Everyone else was asleep. The boys had been just been telling Belinda about their desperate need to locate Jonathan.
“Of course I’ll help, guys,” said Belinda. “Do you know anything at all about this... Jonathan?”
“Not a thing. I think Thayet said his surname was Conter or something, though,” put in Zac
“Jonathan Conter... Sounds familiar. Is he famous?”
“Don’t think so. Actually, I think he’s part of the Royal family of Berlitzia. A distant relation.”
“Well, we could ask at any motels or youth hostels we pass if they know of him...”
“Good idea Bel,” said Zac. He yawned. “I think I'll go to bed now. IÕm worn out from all this problem-solving. Thanks for helping me Bel."
“No problem,” replied Belinda affectionately. “I’m just having trouble seeing you as a father, Zacky.” Zac grinned at her and crawled into his tent, being careful not to disturb Mackenzie, with whom he was sharing a tent.
Taylor put an arm around Belinda and pulled her close to him. They sat for a while, silent, just staring into the flames of the camp-fire.
Finally Taylor sighed. “I have to share a tent with Ike, you know."
“Oh, Tay! You poor thing. How awful. I’m sharing with Zoe,” replied Belinda.
“What I’d really like,” Tay murmured, his lips on her hair, which was glinting in the firelight, “is to share a tent with you, Bel. D’you think it’ll harm Zoe for life if we put her in a tent with her seventeen-year-old brother?”
“She’ll cope,” chuckled Belinda, and kissed him.
Tay kissed her back, then stood, pulling Belinda to her feet with him. They walked over to Belinda’s tent and Tay reaches in and pulled out the peacefully slumbering baby. He carried her over to his and Ike's tent, and laid Zoe down beside Ike, who was upside down in his sleeping bag, with his pillow stuffed up the back of the boxers he was sleeping in.
“Poor kid,” Tay murmured, looking at his youngest sister. “Oh well.” Whistling softly, he made his way over to Belinda.
Inside the tent, Bel was already in her sleeping bag. Tay climbed into Zoe’s and both of them fell asleep, comforted by the knowledge of each other’s presence.
(NO, they did not have sex, you dirty-minded person. They SLEPT. They were very tired.)

Three weeks later, the Hansons and Belinda were in Adelaide, the biggest city before Melbourne, going around Australia anti-clockwise.
After completing nearly a full circuit of the country, they had finally located a motel keeper who had heard of Jonathan Conter and Ilana. He said that to his knowledge, they were in Melbourne, staying at the Dead Flea Motel, in the city. Tay and Zac were overjoyed, but even they weren’t as happy as Belinda.
She would be able to see her parents again, introduce the Hansons to her friends, and show Tay and the rest of them around her home city.

After walking for eight hours in the dark after the truck-driver they had hitched a ride with had dumped them, sick of Isaac’s endless and disgusting toaster stories, Belinda and the Hanson family could finally see the lights of Melbourne...

[ 11 ]