‘Oh, yes, I’m fine for everything else.’ He stuck out his leg and shot Jack a grin. ‘Except for running a marathon, perhaps. But who knows? I might even do that one day.’

Jack smiled back, liking this young man who seemed unfazed by anything, and had a good sense of humour. ‘So, if you can’t fly, what will you do?’

‘I’ve saved a lot of money over the past few years, so I asked Dad to send me agents’ lists of properties for sale on the north-east coast where it stays warm all year round.’ He grimaced and tapped his knee. ‘The damp here makes my leg crook – probably because of all the metal they used to hold it together.’

‘What kind of property are you interested in? Some sort of Outback station?’

Peter shook his head. ‘I don’t think Rita would settle easily out there. They’re usually very isolated.’ He shifted his leg into a more comfortable position. ‘What I’m hoping to find is a place that isn’t too run-down with enough land round it to grow vegetables, and pasture some animals, and to build storage sheds and a large workshop. I thought somewhere near Port Douglas or Cairns would be good, so we’ll have the coast, the rainforests, and the Outback almost on our doorstep.’

‘I don’t know either place,’ Jack admitted. ‘I’m ashamed to say I didn’t pay attention to the geography classes in school.’

Peter grinned. ‘You and me both, mate. But Peggy’s got an old school atlas, so I’ll point the places out for you next time I visit. Port Douglas is a popular winter watering hole for the city people from the colder south, like Sydney, and has a thriving community, many of whom are English ex-pats from the tea and rubber plantations in India and Asia who are used to living in the tropics.’

‘I seem to remember Rita telling me about Sarah’s mother who fled Malaya to live with her parents up that way,’ said Jack.

‘Yeah, they’ve got a large cane plantation south of Cairns by all accounts. Sarah and I talked about it, but I can’t say I’ve ever been there. Cutting cane is one of the toughest, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs a man can do, and I steered well clear of it.’

Peter fell silent for a moment to gather his thoughts. ‘Cairns is regarded as the capital of Northern Queensland and is much bigger than Port Douglas. Because of the cane, it has an airfield, busy seaport, shops, cinema, train station and enough cafés to satisfy anyone. There are settlements dotted all the way down the coast which can be reached easily by ute unless the Wet is particularly bad and the tracks are flooded.’