In 1841 young Ishmael signs aboard the whaling ship Pequod, under the command of the strict, one-legged Capt. Ahab. Ishmael soon finds out that Ahab is searching for the legendary while whale Moby Dick, who cost Ahab his leg, and he will let nothing stand in the way of his getting his revenge on the beast.
In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida, and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling, and a racehorse will all have a part in the final decision.
Kim Marsden inherits a cattle station near Alice Springs after the death of her father. Kim becomes convinced her father was murdered. She sends for a legendary local bushman called the Sundowner, who was one of her father's best friends.