It is 1947. The city of Sydney is settling down to the idea of a world without war. The sun is shining, the pubs are open till 6.00pm and its business as usual at the beach.
Into this post-war paradise sails British Able Bodied Seaman Henry Golightly, fresh from the Carribean looking for love. Not the kind of love sailors are expected to pay for with their beer and tobacco, the kind that he has dreamed of under a thousand starry skies at sea.
Wealthy young debutante Amanda Mayberry is that dream. It's love at first sight, until Big Quids Mayberry with one eye on a knighthood and the other on his only daughter steps in with a condition: before Henry is allowed to put his feet under the Mayberry table there's a proving ground - the parched and pitless wastes of Dead Goanna station, under the iron will of Bread'n'fat Jones...