A new century dawns, and new hopes drive the children of convicts and colonialists who proudly call themselves "Aussies". Some, like young idealists Tolo Mason, will journey into the outback--the far never-never, the back of beyond--looking for treasures of gold and glory, finding danger in a desert land where only the mysterious aborigines survive. Others, like the famous Broome family, will turn to the intrigue of politics, raising new cities and grabbing the raw power to sail north to primitive New Guinea, where they can reign as the conquerors, the takers...the imperialists.