The year is 1829: Jason Firbeck, a retired naval lieutenant recently widowed, takes sons Samuel and Luke and daughter Jassy to New South Wales to claim land bequeathed to them by a wealthy friend. A strange new world greets the Yorkshire family. Amid red-coated soldiery, yellow-jacketed convicts, and a tanned peasantry governed by a wealthy elite, the Firbecks equip themselves with arms and supplies, and set off across the sweltering plains; the hardships and hazards they face confirm Lukes resolve to become the leader of his family of pioneers.