Local farmer Colin Judd is devastated when he is forced to place his property in the hands of an auctioneer following the death of his father - but is even more shocked to see his estranged brother Andy at the sale. Andy seems unusually desperate to get his hands on a box of old junk, which goes from one villager to another and puts Blaketon and Jack in danger when they stand in his way of getting it back. Debbie confronts an old flame and later gets into trouble for drink-driving, and David is left stranded in the middle of nowhere with a pompous couple when Aunt Peggy buys a horse and carriage for her new sightseeing enterprise.

Bellamy is distraught to learn the extent of Debbie's alcoholism when she goes on a late-night drinking spree by the river, but her actions get her into trouble when she becomes implicated in the murder of a bank manager. Meanwhile, Joyce Jowett takes action when Peggy and David allow a colony of hippies to stay on their land when it brings about yet another money-making scheme, and Younger finds himself caught in the middle when the two strong-minded women come to blows, whilst Helen and Rob patch things up after their break-up.