Propelled by the collapse of an intense love affair, eighteen-year-old Bruce Lowery sets off from his home in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria for a yearlong adventure in 1968. 

Unexpectedly armed with a letter of permission from his father, Bruce and various mates hitch-hike to the remotest corners of outback Australia. They master the rudiments of fettling and sheep mustering, and find lodgings in some of the most isolated places on the planet. It's hard yakka under the hot Australian sun, and encounters with wildlife are part and parcel of the experience. 

It's an era when social mores are changing and young men and women have more sexual freedoms than ever before, yet Bruce still chafes against the conservative views he comes up against. His long blonde hair is considered an impediment to employment, but he'll be damned if he's going to cut it. As Bruce struggles to come to terms with the ambiguity surrounding his relationship back in Victoria, he encounters a host of colourful characters who amuse, alarm and inspire him. 

From the middle-aged nurse with an unhealthy interest in young men's testicles, to the drunken railway ganger and the law-evading jackaroo, join Bruce as he travels vast distances across this wide brown land.