A 'trans'gression confession

I didn't think too much about the people walking past in the opposite direction, who nudged each other, pointed and giggled - or why there were no men; strange, these Victorians…

Then the passage opened into a large room with mirrors and hand basins along one wall, toilet cubicles opposite, but no urinals. The penny dropped as squeals and laughter erupted among a score or more of women and girls of varying ages.

I blurted out "Sorry", turned on my heels and ran faster than anyone has entered or exited that big female toilet block before or since - and that's a long time!

Back at the entrance, dodging the crowds who knew exactly where they were headed, I looked up again at the sign and realised I had taken one right turn too soon.

Some might say that's the story of my life and it's how I ended up spending time in the southern metropolis during a round-Australia spearfishing road trip that encountered a few snags, sharks, road blocks and wrong turns …

But back to my confession, Moira, which also involves a tropical tourist island once famous for getting wrecked on.

Fast forward about 30 years and I'm a married man with three young sons. It's my preference for cool and casual which lands me in hot water when I shout my wife Cathy to a weekend on what was then a thriving resort on Great Keppel Island.

Actually it was a door prize at a function I attended, about the only thing I've won in my life, and we're making the most of a break on this dream island without the kids and the pressures of running a busy newsroom. Everything is great until we rock up for the Saturday night lounge entertainment.

We're sitting back sipping drinks and soaking up the live music when a bouncer approaches our table.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'll have to ask you to leave and put on some appropriate footwear," he says.

I look down at my feet resting comfortably in a pair of worn beach sandals and ask, "Aren't these appropriate? This is a tropical island famous for getting wrecked on, isn't it?"

"The rules are quite clear sir, you must wear proper shoes in the lounge at night," he insists.