The Bells live on a sheep station in the Australian outback, struggling from year to year just to get by. In this story, they have suffered for a number of years from one of Australia's periodic droughts, and are practically the last holdouts in their part of the country to remain on the land. Everyone else has been forced to abandon their farms and move into the city. Despite that, their sheep are doing fairly well, and they have hopes that they can survive the drought. Just then, the government lowers its price supports for wool, and they can't get enough at shearing time to make even a reasonable payment on their debts. They are forced to kill off their sheep, sell their land, and move in with relatives in Sydney. The Bell's daughter Mathilda (Amy Terelinck), who is heartbroken at all these events and who desperately misses her half-wild (dingo) dog and misses the outdoors, runs away. Though the family is able to "get by" in the city, it becomes clear that from their perpsective they are not living - only surviving.