I read the car manual, the soft drinks cans on the floor, and all the print on the dashboard, including the numbers. Which is where I saw something very interesting. I showed Sharon. Then we saw a cloud of dust heading towards us. It was Mrs Garwick from school in her van. Soon we were speeding back to town. After a bit I saw Dad in the distance, trudging along. Mrs Garwick, who wears really thick glasses, hadn’t seen him. I distracted her attention by pretending to be sick in the back of the van. She turned round, alarmed, and we sped past Dad. Three hours later Dad staggered into town, hot, dusty and exhausted. His shoulders drooped and he blinked painfully when he saw us sitting on the swings under a tree in the Memorial Park. ‘Gold, gold, gold for Australia!’ we yelled. ‘Why didn’t you stop for me?’ croaked Dad. Me and Sharon gave each other a puzzled frown. ‘We thought you wanted to complete the distance on foot,’ I said. ‘Complete the distance!’ shrieked Dad. ‘It’s forty kilometres.’