Following in the pioneering footsteps of the women who have gone before her, Ruby and her new husband James brave a long and treacherous journey to start their new life together. However, they soon discover that there are many more dangers than just those that meet the eye. When James is tempted away by the gold rush, Ruby must join forces with the Aborigine girl Kumali and learn to adapt, if they're going to survive. Meanwhile there are other new arrivals to Australian shores: a Tahitian with a mysterious past, a naive young schoolmistress, and an English aristocrat, all unaware that their destinies are irrevocably intertwined. As fortunes are made and lives are lost, many secrets will be uncovered. But those torn apart by feuds, greed, hatred and circumstance, will ultimately find they have to unite under the same flag...