Cornelius Laffey, an Irish-born journalist, wrests his family from the easy lives of 19th century Sydney and takes them to Cooktown in Northern Queensland where thousands of diggers are searching for gold in the mud. The family confronts the horror of Aboriginal dispossession - Cornelius is sacked for reporting the slaughter. His daughter, Nadine, joins the singing whore on the barge and goes upstream, only to be washed out to sea. The cycles of generations turn, one over the other. Only some things change. That world and this world both have their Catholic priests, their bigots, their radicals. Full of power and independent characters, this is an unforgettable tale of the other side of Australia's heritage.