A maniac is stalking and killing female students at a university.

In 1830s England, a young man from a good but troubled family is unjustly convicted of stealing a watch. He's transported to Van Diemen's Land where he suffers under the enmity of Lt. Frere while falling in love with Sylvia, the Warden's daughter. Meanwhile, back in England, an imposter lays claim to the young man's inheritance.

Australian lawyer David Burton agrees with reluctance to defend a group of Aboriginal people charged with murdering one of their own. He suspects the victim was targeted for violating a tribal taboo, but the defendants deny any tribal association. Burton, plagued by apocalyptic visions of water, slowly realizes danger may come from his own involvement with the Aboriginal people and their prophecies.

Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.

A hard-drinking but hard-working gun shearer leads a group of Outback sheep herders into striking after wealthy landowners attempt to drive them from their territory.