Lost!

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Imprint Page

Dear Diary

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Animal Fact File

Bindi Books

Become a Wildlife Warrior!

Bindi and Robert stood back from the rock-shelter, staring at the distinctive stripes running down the tiger's back.

‘He's out of this world!' cried Robert, admiring the ancient painting on the rock's surface.

Their Aboriginal friend, DJ, laughed. ‘You're right, Robert, he is out of this world, considering he's extinct!'

‘I didn't know Tasmanian tigers had ever lived as far north as the Northern Territory,' said Bindi, surprised.

‘They sure did!' answered DJ, with enthusiasm. ‘The Tassie tiger, or thylacine, once lived all over Australia. Aboriginal rock art like this is very cool because not only does it mean a lot of different things to Aboriginal people, it's also more than just art for tourists and non-Indigenous Australians. It's a historical record as well.'

Terri Irwin smiled at DJ's dad, Tommy Yibarbul, who was an old friend and lectured in Indigenous art at the university in Darwin. ‘He's becoming a chip off the old block, Tommy.'

Tommy grinned. ‘Yep, DJ loves an audience.'

The Irwins took a few more moments to study the Indigenous rock painting of the tiger. It was one of many paintings they had seen that morning, but this one struck a particular chord with the family. They had been in Kakadu National Park for only a few hours and already their heads were filled with wonder at this incredible place.

‘Why did the thylacine die off on the mainland but still live in Tassie?' asked Bindi.

‘Nobody knows for sure,' answered DJ, vaguely. He was eager for them to move on to the next painting, but when he noticed the disappointment on his friends' faces, he continued. ‘Well, they were probably hunted for food, and they had major competition from dingoes. I doubt those two species got on well,' he offered.

The Irwins were spending a few days with Tommy and DJ. Their people, the
Bininj
, were some of the original custodians of the land in Kakadu and they were the perfect
tour guides to lead Terri, Bindi and Robert around the Ubirr rock art galleries.

DJ and Bindi walked on ahead. The boy gave his friend a good-natured nudge. ‘It's good to see you again, Bindi.'

‘Likewise!' exclaimed Bindi.

As they walked, Bindi assessed her friend. It
was
really good to see DJ again. It had been a while. Their families had been on lots of camping trips together when they were little but, despite the children being penpals, it had been years since they had actually hung out.

DJ was a few months older than Bindi, but he was so sure of himself
that he seemed much older, and was happy to treat her like a younger sister. Tall, with a mop of dark hair that hung over his eyes, today he was dressed in dark denim jeans, a skate shirt and a cotton hoodie. He was fun to be around, and whenever he and Bindi were together, they always managed to get into trouble.

Tommy drew the Irwins' attention to the next painting. It was a freshwater crocodile. ‘If you look closely at the croc's markings, you can see he's painted in the large naturalistic style of the pre-estuarine period.'

The others stared back with blank expressions. Animal names
they understood, but now Tommy was speaking a different language!

DJ laughed. ‘Allow me to translate. Dad means that this piece of rock art is about 20,000 years old.'

‘Now that's
really
old,' said Bindi.

Tommy nodded. ‘Kakadu's human history dates back at least 50,000 years. It's an ancient place.'

As Bindi listened to Tommy talk, she gazed down from the top of the rock escarpment. The view of the grasslands below was incredible. She noticed a cute little chestnut-quilled rock pigeon hopping about as he foraged for
food. The pigeon was startled by a young woman hurrying along the gravel path. As she drew closer, Bindi could tell that the woman had been crying. Bindi scrambled down to meet her.

‘Are you okay?' Bindi asked.

The young woman shook her head. She wiped the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke in a strong German accent. ‘
Nein
. I mean, no. I don't know what to do! My boyfriend began a hike yesterday and he has still not returned. He's never done this before! They have organised a search for him!'

Bindi felt bad for the woman and her boyfriend. The Australian
bush could be scary and dangerous if you were unfamiliar with it. She smiled encouragingly. ‘My name's Bindi. I'm visiting here too, but from Beerwah in Queensland. I'm sure the rangers will find your boyfriend.'

The woman distractedly shook Bindi's outstretched hand. She looked to be about twenty years old, with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

‘My name is Ines. You don't understand. I don't know whether to call home or not … I am very frightened!' With fresh tears streaming down her face, Ines quickly walked away in the direction of the rangers' station.

Bindi turned back to the others who had followed her down from the rocks and had overheard the conversation. ‘I think we should join the search party.'

DJ nodded his agreement. ‘It's a bit of a worry if he's had a night in the bush already. I agree with Bindi, we'd better help!'

DJ began following Ines towards the rangers' station. Bindi raced to catch up with him. For the two friends, it was as if no time had passed at all. They were back to having adventures together, although this time the adventure seemed a little more grown up!

Kakadu National Park was huge, and a daunting place to look for a lost tourist. It stretched through flood plains and lowland hills, up to the high sandstone cliffs of the Arnhem Land escarpment, and down to the rugged stone country in the south of the park.

Ines's boyfriend, who was called Jonas, had only started his trek the day before, so the head ranger decided the search party would focus on the surrounding woodland area, made up mostly of eucalyptus trees and tall grass. It certainly looked like a place it might be easy to get lost in.

The search party included five park rangers, seven local volunteers, the Irwins, DJ, Tommy and Ines. Ines had given the group a description of her boyfriend and told them what he had been wearing before he set out. Bindi tried to picture the young man. He was described as being in his early twenties with scruffy
fair hair, pale skin and blue eyes. He was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt with a collar, beige cargo pants and black hiking boots.

After a briefing from the head ranger, the search party fanned out across the area in groups of twos and threes. Each group carried a walkie-talkie, a map, water bottles and snacks to sustain them until they regrouped at lunchtime.

Bindi and DJ did their best to distract Ines from worrying too much about Jonas. Robert wasn't helping matters by listing all the names of venomous snakes in the park.

‘What brought you to Kakadu?'
Bindi asked the backpacker as she handed her a bottle of water.

Ines gratefully took the drink. June might be considered cold weather time in Kakadu but Ines thought the temperature of thirty degrees was very warm, especially as it was only ten o'clock in the morning. ‘We are both studying plants, and this area has such a, how do you say, diversity of plants. I like to draw the plants and Jonas photographs them.'

Bindi's eyes lit up. ‘That's so cool. There's so much beauty here, I wouldn't know where to begin. You must have sketched heaps.'

‘Yes.' Ines gave a half-smile but looked troubled again as
her thoughts drifted back to her boyfriend.

DJ tried desperately to think of something to say. ‘Did you guys know that the name Kakadu comes from the mispronunciation of “Gagadju”, which is the name of one of the languages people speak in the park?'

Ines shook her head, distracted. ‘This is fascinating but I can't stop thinking something bad has happened to Jonas.'

Bindi exchanged a glance with DJ before she tried to reassure Ines the best she could. ‘We don't know that for sure.'

Ines's eyes welled up again with
tears and she stopped to take a deep breath. ‘Jonas is a very experienced hiker. He had food and water with him. For him not to come back must mean that he is hurt.'

Bindi frowned. ‘Don't worry, we'll find him.'

Despite Bindi's best efforts, Ines was becoming more and more panicked. ‘But will he be okay? He's had a whole night alone in the Australian bush. You have snakes here, crocodiles … It's a dangerous place.'

Ines was right, the bush could be unsafe, but that was no reason to panic. Bindi reached up and placed an encouraging hand on
Ines's shoulder. She suddenly looked much older than her twelve years. ‘Most so-called dangerous animals just want to be left alone and won't attack unless they feel threatened.'

Ines was startled by the change in Bindi's tone.

DJ laughed. ‘Ines, you're talking to an authority on Australia's native animals. You better believe what Bindi has to say.'

Ines looked confused. ‘Is this so? But you are just a little girl.'

Bindi nodded seriously. ‘When it comes to wildlife I'm older than I look.'

With DJ's help, Bindi managed to put Ines more at ease. But she and
DJ shared a knowing look. Who knew what had really happened to Ines's boyfriend? The sooner they found him, the better!