Six am. The alarm clock rings. Usually, you get out of bed like a sleep walker, but today you’re on your feet in a second. Your plane takes off in three hours. The trip you have planned, dreamt of, saved for, is about to become true.

At the airport, a minibus filled with other travellers picks you up and, like a parcel, delivers you to a backpacker’s hostel. Next thing, you are in a travel agency (the one next door to your backpacker’s) and the travel agent gives you a handful of “cool” destinations to choose from. To drive the point home, the travel agent presents a series of flyers showing exhilarated backpackers giving the thumbs up in front of a waterfall and a bright blue sky.

You’ll probably go to the waterfall, and the sun will probably shine. You will see the beautiful coral reef; spend a great evening with backpacker mates looking at the stars on one of Fraser island’s beaches; you will climb up the big rock. And it will be beautiful, magical. But what will you learn about Australia?

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