It’s August 23, 2016, in a sleepy Queensland town named Home Hill, south of Townsville. 

Shelley’s Backpackers is a modest hostel in the small regional town, where backpackers on working holiday visas stay while completing their mandatory farm work.

The days are long. And hot. They see snakes and operate heavy machinery without any training. Aren’t those brown snakes meant to be deadly, they think to themselves. At night, they sleep in dormitories, some sharing rooms with strangers. 

On the evening of August 23, a few of the British backpackers go to the pub. They have a few beers and something to eat, before heading back for an early night. Among them, is a 21-year-old woman named Mia Ayliffe-Chung. Another is Chris Porter. 

When they return to the hostel, everyone climbs into their separate beds and drifts off to sleep. 

Mia, at this point, had only been working there a week. Already, though, she was anxious. Something was troubling her. 

A few hours later, Chris awoke to screams, unlike anything he’d ever heard. 

Something was terribly wrong. 

And shockwaves were sent from this tiny Queensland town, all the way back to England. 

CREDITS

Guest: Rosie Ayliffe, author of Far From Home

Host: Jessie Stephens

Producer: Gia Moylan

Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri

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