I threw my bag down near my desk and jumped onto my bed. I checked the socials for a while to see what my friends were up to. Jane must have been single again because she’d posted a few new photos of herself, half naked with pouting lips, as only Jane knows how. Katie had been to her cousin’s first birthday party and there was a photo with about five of her little cousins surrounding her. One of them looked exactly like Katie did when we were little.

After about ten minutes, I realised that I was being sucked into the social media vortex. I forced myself to turn off my phone and take my schoolbooks from out of my bag.

After I’d laid out my books and was ready to get into it, Dad came into my room and said, ‘Phoebe, I need you to pack some gear, we’re going away.’

‘Where are we going?’

To my surprise, he said, ‘We’re going home. There’s a lot we need to talk about and going home will make sure you resettle and recover.’

‘But I’ve had the whole week off of school—’

‘This is important, Pheebs.’

‘Is Caitlin coming? She didn’t say anything about it before.’

‘I’ve only told her now. She’s coming.’

‘What about her work and yoga practise?’

‘It’s all fine, Phoebe.’

‘Are we going to stay at Nanna and Poppa’s place?’

‘Nah, we’re going to Mambray Creek. We’re going to walk Country.’

‘Are we camping?’

‘We’ll stay in the ranger’s quarters.’

Dad had all types of connections back home and he was always doing work in the national parks. Ever since I was little, I remember doing things like planting trees – it’s called baseline studies – or recording the types of plants and animals that are in an area in order to protect them; things that are important to Nukunu people.

‘What about school?’ I asked.

‘It’s okay, I’ve already called your school to tell them.’

‘Do I have to do homework?’

‘That’s not really important right now,’ he said. But it was important to me. I felt that I needed to keep on top of all of my things.

‘And what about the Autumn Fair?’ I asked. It was coming up on the weekend. I knew that it was important to Caitlin, and I was kind of interested in seeing what it was all about.

‘We’ll miss it,’ was all Dad said.

So I packed some clothes and let Mum know I wouldn’t be seeing her after all. And before I knew it Caitlin, Dad and I were in the car travelling to Mambray Creek in the Southern Flinders Ranges.