Lucius 'Luke' Carpenter leaves for Alaska during the gold rush but is buried in a glacial avalanche. After 67 years he is thawed out and returns to the home of his now-elderly son, Edwin, a land developer in California.

High school car enthusiast Frug Sajak (Shaun Micallef) is sent to live in Adelaide with his turtle, only to find solace in the city's beautiful treatment works at Bolivar.