Andrew Collins, a 14 year old navy cadet, begins a SCUBA diving course near Cairns in North Queensland, along with his sister Carmen and Muriel. Muriel is the same age and he is very anxious to impress her but is inexperienced and unsure of himself.

Worse still, Andrew discovers that he is terrified of diving; afraid of all the dangerous creatures that inhabit the Coral Sea. Pride battles with panic. Despising himself for being a coward he keeps on trying.

Andrew also stumbles on an old family mystery: What happened to his grandfather, also a diver, who was lost at sea many years before? As they try to find out what happened all those years ago Andrew and Carmen are drawn into a deadly web of lies and danger.

Before the truth is revealed Andrew has to make some agonizing choices and battle with all his worst nightmares come true.

'Davy Jones's Locker' is suitable for teenagers but will be enjoyed by all who like sea stories.

Mt Bartle Frere is the highest mountain in Queensland. The Aboriginal name is Chooreechilum. Its massive bulk is covered in thick tropical rain forest full of leeches, snakes and prickly plants. The mountain sits at the headwaters of the Mulgrave River and the steep sides of the valley have been described by one of the early European explorers as 'truly awful country'- a real jungle wilderness. To the North West of the mountain is the rolling farmland of the Atherton Tablelands- green, lush, well-developed, closely settled with farms, roads and towns.

It is the start of the Christmas holidays- December in North Queensland- the 'wet' season in the tropics. Twelve year old Kylie and her friends Margaret and Allison travel with Kylie's mother in her car from Cairns to her grandmother's dairy farm on the Atherton Tablelands. On arrival they are confronted by a situation which immediately requires Kylie to act with determination and courage. She does so and an unexpected adventure begins.

At the heart of the adventure is an old family legend. This will draw them into the rain-soaked, tropical jungle in the rugged country below Mt Bartle Frere. It will also draw in Kylie's older brother Graham and his friends of the 'Hiking Team' : Peter, Stephen and Roger. But nature is not the only enemy. There are rivals- some known, others unsuspected.

The adventure reaches its climax in a desperate life and death struggle against both man and nature which tests Kylie and her friends to their absolute limits of endurance.

8pm Saturday night
February--- the 'Wet Season' in tropical North Queensland
Stephen Bell, 16, and his three friends of the 'Hiking Team': Graham, Peter and Roger are camped in the jungle beside the Black Mountain Road after a long day of walking. The friends hear what sounds like a light aircraft crash into the mountain and Stephen feels impelled to investigate. But climbing the jungle covered peak in the dark and in drenching rain is only the first of many challenges to his character and intelligence he is to face.

What he finds in the cloud and thick rainforest near the top instantly sets him burning with an intense desire to know the truth; to find out what really happened and who was involved. But his attempts to uncover the past reveal secrets that some powerful and dangerous people are determined to keep concealed.

Stephen's attempts to discover the truth lead him and his friends into deadly peril and to shocking discoveries that test him to his emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical limits.

This is an adventure story for both teenagers and adults that touches on a little known aspect of Australia's history.

"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.

And there is very real danger in the remote jungles and bush and Andrew has to draw on all his courage and reserves of character and stamina to survive and to save Carmen and Tina. So join Andrew and Carmen and spend the Christmas holidays in a fascinating and historic part of Far North Queensland.

Suitable for teenagers