
Vic & Des exorcise Hollywood demons by immersing themselves in the true Casablanca, drinking in the shadows of a revered French colonial dive with an unscrupulous comedian of a driver.

Michelle has the long-skirted swagger of a spinster schoolmarm, the kind of woman whose corset you could really sink your teeth into. She appeals to Gutter’s sense of chivalry with her distressed damsel antics, but Gutter admits he shat out his manners long-ago, about the same time he stopped giving a damn about Cleveland dames. Michelle pleads for Gutter’s help. Her sister is missing.

With its lush flora and fauna, Wekiwa Springs State Park is a mimicry of Eden. It has all of the prerequisites for paradise: crystal-clear spring water, a snack-bar and tame woodland creatures. A leisurely float downstream, across the park boundaries, beyond the jurisdiction of park rangers, is Wekiva Island. If the state park is Eden, Wekiva Island is man’s fall from grace.

If Australia is a continental escape from the dregs of Northern Hemisphere normality while maintaining the same imperial thirst for beer and leisure, Gagaju is the trailer park microcosm of this departure. Vic Neverman and Rescue Diver Dave Mosby are on the run and there isn’t a better place to hide than Gagaju.