Drover's Luck

Interwoven generations of indigenous and colonial culture battle harassment and tropical conditions beginning before the 1939-45 World War days in outback Cloncurry, in north west Queensland. DANIEL PRESCOTT befriends mixed-caste bush child FREDDIE XXXX who survives by stealth alone. Daniel loses his mother to arson and billets in the Vicar’s stables. Promiscuous daughter CHERYL shares Daniel’s bed until the Vicar catches them and Daniel flees town in fright.
Daniel travels east to Julia Creek and romps in a hayshed with DELIA before working on a sheep station. Freddie XXXX tags along with Daniel as his ticket for work and a better life. The boys leave after a fight and meet a drover EDWARD BRENNAN at Richmond who employs them to drive cattle to the railhead at Kajabbi, north of Mount Isa. Daniel enters a bakery where Delia shows Daniel his son ALBERT. Sex education has its ups and downs.
The war left many farm properties vacant and Daniel sees this as a better way to prosper. He brings Delia onto the property. Freddie chooses CHANTELLE, a Chinese woman from several mail-order applicants. His second choice is LINDA – she comes later. Delia’s mother VERONICA cosies up with Edward to make a three-way partnership. An Aboriginal family JACKY and NELLIE Wanum want to live on the property, originally their land. Edward continues droving, Freddie tends the cattle while Danny shears and attends the sheep. Freddie and Chantelle take up residence in an out-station homestead, tell Danny and Ted where to get off and sell half the cattle.
Freddie arrives back without Chantelle once he cannot find work. Daniel and Delia, Ted and Veronica decide to marry. The neighbouring Ferguson farm seems a way to expand. Fred brings Linda to live there.
Daniel takes wife Delia and son Albert to see geologist BART MAUGHAN at Cloncurry. Police sergeant Catchpole notifies him Cheryl is deceased leaving daughter ELIZABETH and cites Daniel as the father. He pains to explain this to negative Delia and takes Elizabeth back to the farm. A governess MERRYL arrives to teach the children and uneducated natives.
The land begins to prune the farm's community until Danny, Delia, Albert and Elizabeth leave for the east coast to begin another side of life growing sugar cane, then a tourist enterprise amongst coconut palms on a beach front. Past enemies continue to plague them.