While the ex-partners may have partially resolved their awkwardness at the end of last week, with Harper telling Tane that he should go for things with Jo (Maddison Bown), whilst revealing that she was going to begin dating too, a break would still do the pair good.

So, Tane, John and Mali escape Summer Bay this week on their boys’ camping trip, and John couldn’t be more excited.

“John is touched by the community coming together to rally his spirits,” Shane tells Aussie magazine TV Week. “After fully exploiting the captive audience in the car, to tell his naval stories, John settles in for a relaxing weekend with caring friends.”

“Welcome to paradise!” he exclaims as the trio arrive at their campsite.

However, despite John’s years of stories of his time in the navy, he’s not in his element in the wilderness, as he struggles to pitch his tent.

The boys quickly bond over pranks, as Mali and John trick Tane into thinking he’s just eaten kangaroo droppings, and the trip seems to be just what John needs to lift his spirits.

However, as night falls, things take a dark turn for John.

As the three share stories around the campfire, Mali begins to tell a series of traditional indigenous stories, and they’re far scarier than John could have expected.

“John is unaware that Mali is setting him up for the ‘Hairy Man’,” Shane adds.

The stories leave John in genuine fear, and as he retreats to his tent afterwards, he struggles to sleep as he worries about every sound from outside. Is the Hairy Man coming to get him?

After a sleepless night, John carefully cooks breakfast the next morning. The Hairy Man still on his mind, he tries to get the cooking over and done with as quickly as possible, so as not to disturb anything.

Tane and Mali are confused as John then suggests that they pack up and head back to Summer Bay. Mali has no choice but to help his friend pack, but it seems his campfire story may have backfired.

However, while John may be put off the wilderness for life, the bonding exercise might have been just what he needed to remind John how happy his life in Summer Bay makes him.

“After a night of being scared to death in his tent, John is happy to come home to more familiar territory,” Shane concludes.

Has John turned a corner?