Sue White, aged 13, is excited that her parents are to take her on a holiday to the Barrier Reef. Her friend Alison advises her to speak to another girl in their school who lives on a Great Barrier Reef island, for tips about life in such a place. They are surprised to find that the White family is actually planning to holiday on the very island where Jess Carey and her family live. The Whites, Phil, Sally & Sue; Jess Carey and her brother Lewis all travel to the reef together and so begins a great adventure for Sue and her new found friends. The Carey’s are Alan and Bob, brothers, and their wives, Barbara and Win. Bob's son, Paul, is quite a skilled amateur naturalist and is most helpful and instructive when he takes parties of guests on to the reef. The Carey youngsters and their extended family know their reef well and this holiday proves to be a learning experience for all at the resort. All the children get along well and have many adventures, including meeting some Pirates! SHEILA HUNTER (née McDonald) 1924 - 2002 Sheila was born in New Zealand. Her parents were Australian originating from Ballarat in Victoria. Sheila met Norman Hunter in 1955 and they married at the end of that year. Her life turned around. No more nursing, but motherhood and local village care as resident district nurse, although this was unofficial, she was called out on many occasions. After marrying Norman, Sheila took on many positions in the community, i.e. Secretary of the Liberal Party Branch; Secretary of the inaugural Red Cross Club; Convener of the inaugural 4H Club (like Junior Farmers); Local Girl Guide Commissioner for 4 years from 1967 and with Mr Peter Patton, was responsible for getting the local Scout/Guide Club being built; & inaugural Vice President of the Bowling Club in Avoca. At 77 years of age, she was still heavily involved with the Community and also family life, she was still a well known and loved figure in the Avoca Village when her second & final bout of Cancer struck. She was also involved the setting up of the 'Rumbalara' Environmental Centre in Gosford, hand drawing insects and their life cycles for posters for children to study. She found life a challenge and gave her entire life to the help and care of others. Sheila was also one of 20 NSW recipients of the Premiers Senior Citizens Award in 1999. It was the International year of the Senior Citizen. She was overwhelmed by this accolade. Her dream was to see her novels published and leaving finished but unedited manuscripts to her daughter Sara asked to see if she could do it for her. Sheila died from secondary Brain Cancer (Melanoma) on 24th September 2002 just 2 days before her 78th birthday. Sheila, Norman and their two children travelled frequently to Queensland and especially to the Whitsunday Islands. One of the Islands the often visited was Langford Island, just west of Hayman Island. The family would camp on this island for up to 3 weeks at a time. This story was inspired by what was learnt on these trips and also from the children's' own experiences at Boarding School. Many of the adventures were not believed by the other children on their return to school. Barrana Island is a totally fictional Island brought together from over 30 years of Island travel around the Pacific area and many islands visited.