This week on Home and Away in Australia, John gets a scary surprise as he heads on a camping trip with Tane and Mali.
John (Shane Withington) has been feeling lost since best friend Irene (Lynne McGranger) departed Summer Bay a little under two weeks ago.
He could barely bring himself to say goodbye to his bestie, and nearly missed her leaving party as he moped inside the surf club, until Justin (James Stewart) reminded him that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see her off.
While John was cheered up by a leaving gift from Irene – a return flight to Paris and a promise that they’d meet under the Eiffel Tower in a few weeks – he’s still been lonely since she left for her world tour.
He threw a dinner at Salt for his remaining close friends – Justin, Leah (Ada Nicodemou), Alf (Ray Meagher) and ex-wife Marilyn (Emily Symons) – and in an uncharacteristic turn of events, paid for the whole lot.
He updated them on Irene’s travels, showing them a selfie from Cyprus, her first destination, before revealing that he’d be joining her in Paris in about six weeks’ time!
He then raised a toast to her, as he explained to his concerned diners that his dinner invite was just a way for friends to catch up and enjoy a meal together, and that they didn’t need to worry about him.
“Irene’s letter reminded me that we need to look after each other,” he explained. “I just thought it’d be a good idea if we checked in every now and again over a good meal.”
Yet after the group went their separate ways at the end of the night, John headed to the balcony of Salt.
Sitting alone, a tear fell from his eye as it became clear he wouldn’t be getting over the loss of his friend any time soon.
When Justin realised that John’s generosity was an attempt to cure his loneliness, he threw a poker night as a way of keeping him company.
He, Alf and John gathered at the Morgan house, and were later joined by David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor), who turned the tables by making them gamble for money rather than just chips.
John ended up losing $300 to Alf, but despite Justin’s fears that his plan had backfired, John still had a whale of a time.
In fact, things worked a little too well. The next day, John told Justin that he was looking forward to their next catchup, and presented the group’s new social secretary with the latest copy of the Coastal News Weekender magazine, with ’50 Unique Bonding Activities’.
He asked Justin to come up with the shortlist, and told him that they’d talk about it “at the game”.
When Alf asked “what game” he was talking about, John revealed that he’d signed them all up for bowling!
Justin was later forced to let John down gently, telling him that their “activities group” should be more like a once-a-month thing, not a daily occurrence.
Mali, who had overheard John’s conversation with Justin and Leah, went over to comfort John. However, he claimed he was fine, and handed over the copy of the Coastal News magazine, telling him: “Here, there might be something for you and Abigail in there.”
This week, Mali takes inspiration from the magazine, and promptly plans a camping trip for himself, John and Tane (Ethan Browne).
Tane is also keen to escape the bay, with things having become awkward at home since he invited Harper (Jessica Redmayne) and baby Archie to live with him and Cash (Nicholas Cartwright).
While the ex-partners may have partially resolved their awkwardness at the end of last week, with Harper telling Tane that he should go for things with Jo (Maddison Bown), whilst revealing that she was going to begin dating too, a break would still do the pair good.
So, Tane, John and Mali escape Summer Bay this week on their boys’ camping trip, and John couldn’t be more excited.
“John is touched by the community coming together to rally his spirits,” Shane tells Aussie magazine TV Week. “After fully exploiting the captive audience in the car, to tell his naval stories, John settles in for a relaxing weekend with caring friends.”
“Welcome to paradise!” he exclaims as the trio arrive at their campsite.
However, despite John’s years of stories of his time in the navy, he’s not in his element in the wilderness, as he struggles to pitch his tent.
The boys quickly bond over pranks, as Mali and John trick Tane into thinking he’s just eaten kangaroo droppings, and the trip seems to be just what John needs to lift his spirits.
However, as night falls, things take a dark turn for John.
As the three share stories around the campfire, Mali begins to tell a series of traditional indigenous stories, and they’re far scarier than John could have expected.
“John is unaware that Mali is setting him up for the ‘Hairy Man’,” Shane adds.
The stories leave John in genuine fear, and as he retreats to his tent afterwards, he struggles to sleep as he worries about every sound from outside. Is the Hairy Man coming to get him?
After a sleepless night, John carefully cooks breakfast the next morning. The Hairy Man still on his mind, he tries to get the cooking over and done with as quickly as possible, so as not to disturb anything.
Tane and Mali are confused as John then suggests that they pack up and head back to Summer Bay. Mali has no choice but to help his friend pack, but it seems his campfire story may have backfired.
However, while John may be put off the wilderness for life, the bonding exercise might have been just what he needed to remind John how happy his life in Summer Bay makes him.
“After a night of being scared to death in his tent, John is happy to come home to more familiar territory,” Shane concludes.
