On our family holidays, we like to dress up as ghouls and scare the life out of each other | Patrick Marlborough

It can be hard to explain to friends and strangers, but the tradition goes back decades

The most important question a newcomer to my family can be asked is not “which footy team do you root for?” or “milk and sugar?” or “beer?” but: “Are you rabbit hunting tonight?”

Uninitiated partners, friends and park rangers alike tend not to know how to answer this question, and their confusion is only compounded further when it’s followed up with: “Are you scaring, or are you in the van?”