Tristram Jones is given an opal by his dying
grandfather. Little does he know its connection to an old aboriginal
witch doctor with bright orange eyes. He is Dinewan - meaning Emu -
taken from the Great Spirit of the Dreamtime. But is he just a wicked and bitter misfit, or something far more marvelous, and dangerous? The
stories that swirl around Tristram and the opal stretch across
generations and are connected by both Dinewan and the fabled monster of
the billabong: the Bunyip. Scottish highlanders, bushrangers, and an old
Chinese goldminer each play their part in a family legend that seems
doomed to end in blood. Bunyip is a modern tale influenced by
much older stories and spiced with science, legend, and sensual
experiences. It is gruesome in places, funny in others, and tender where
it counts.