Laura becomes increasingly convinced that she is living alone in a world made of couples - the arrival of an invitation to the annual magistrate's dinner-dance spurs her to bite the bullet and invite Dan.

While Laura suffers the fallout of a cancelled wedding, 'The Oyster' - publishing anti-nuclear material - is seized. Max and Phrani conjure a plan to keep the newspaper in print but Morton Tregonning prepares to open the nuclear waste dump regardless...just as soon as the tunnel is completed. After protesting at the tunnel site, Miranda and Craig are arrested for trespassing. When Laura learns all police and legal authority in town are Morton's Port Deakin stooges - including her new co-worker, Port Deakin magistrate, Tucker - she is angered. Feeling utterly powerless, Laura quits her position as magistrate, deciding to defend Miranda and Craig herself. Tucker's bias and corrupted self ensure the case will be impossible to win until Max discovers an anomaly which saves the day...but not the fate of the town. As the ends of the tunnel come close to connecting, the locals pray for a miracle...which comes in the form of a natural disaster courtesy of an enexpected source...Meredith. Frust

Laura, Miranda and Bob Jelly join forces to save Pearl Bay from destruction. Miranda is forced to confront her true feelings for Fin.

The death of a teenage boy on a road is investigated and the whole town is distressed. Rupert is trying to do a project on His Favourite Thing but doesn't know what to do. Jules feels she is responsible for Jerome's death, as do his mother and Rupert. Dan tries to help Rupert but sparks up fights with the whole town when he gets drunk. The inquest discovers Jerome killed himself and Rupert and Dan bond.

The town is being terrorised by monster crabs, let loose in suspicious circumstances.

Conflicts are overflowing in the town. The courthouse is being closed, Meredith doesn't know what to do, everyone wants to know about Laura and Max and the list goes on. Without warning, the town knows everything. In a revelating meeting, the town's secrets are all brought out. Heather and Meredith tell all and Trudi reveals her baby isn't Jack's. Meredith begins a seige at the courthouse, where the town's residents inside say a gunwomen is holding them hostage. Laura stays in her office thinking it is real while Karen, Angus, Max and a small group of our favourite's sit in the courtroom enjoying a sing-a-long. When the demands are met, the only problem is to get away with it. Karen decides to leave Pearl Bay and travel, much to Angus' dismay. Phrani and Kevin become closer and Bob and Bucket blow up the bridge. The town waits for the aftermath, not sure what it will mean

Laura's mother, June, arrives in town during a geriatric traffic crime spree. June's suspiciously sudden appearance is more of an inconvenience than a pleasure for Laura, who is too caught up in her own life to sense her mother's sadness. When Laura eventually discovers her father's declining health has forced June to place him into respite care, she is forced to reassess her priorities. Max begins to spend more time with his father and his friends, learning of Pearl Bay's real, great, textured history. However, Bob has his own interpretation of the town's past and plans to turn Pearl Bay into Ye Olde Pearl Bay : a sure-fire tourism hit. Max plays along with Bob's redundant plan for his own entertainment. When judgement day arrives and the city tourist agents descend on the town, instead of letting Bob hang himself, Max turns an inevitable disastrous slide show into a tribute to the older citizens of Pearl Bay. Meanwhile Harold feels the grip of old age tightening. His frustration is w

In one day successful city lawyer, Laura Gibson's world falls apart. Laura grabs at a position as magistrate in a small coastal town and with two bewildered kids in tow sets off to change their lives forever.

Old feelings reawaken in all the Gibsons, exacerbated when Laura is offered a tempting job by her old firm.

Pearl Bay is going to change forever. Bob's dream to open Pearl Bay to the outside world is about to be realised.

Laura and Dan grapple with their relationship while Rupert embarks on a campaign to get his parents back together.

Laura's first days in Pearl Bay are a far cry from life in the city she has left behind. As the new magistrate she flounders, ill-equipped to deal with the idiosyncrasies of local residents.

Justice is played out on stage by the Pearl Bay Dramatic Society and in Laura's courtroom.

Post-mortems on a Pearl Bay storm leave Laura facing a legal quandary and Bob Jelly with an invitation to quit.

There's an outbreak of broken hearts in Pearl Bay - on both sides of the bench.

Bob Jelly sells out one of Pearl Bay's most revered traditions to a commercial sponsor and an old girlfriend of Angus's drives into town.

With the Fire Brigade dance looming, Laura struggles to get a date. Max is taken with the new Latin Dancer and even Griff has a date in Karen! Jules is arrested for theft, much to Heather's dismay and the dance is the fire of everyone's emotions. Max and Laura however seem to be getting on well - dancing on the pier in the moonlight.

While Laura's on a one way track to the altar, Maxs announces he has accepted a lucrative job with an international newspaper and will be leaving Pearl Bay - and Laura - behind. Of all things, a trivia night question causes Max to reassess his life. Max is reminded of his likeness to the mariner in Colerdige's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', who shot an albatross, his potential saviour. In other words, Max realises he should stop making a habit of sabotaging his own happiness. Meanwhile, Bob launches his campaign with Morton at the reigns. Mr Jelly receives female attention from his forward image consultant, Astrid Moore, prompting Bob to warn Heather she'll let a tiger out to play if she doesn't take him back. Heather knows Bob couldn't cheat on him no more than she could on him. Her theory is proved when a terrified Bob bails out a restaurant toilet window to escape Astrid's advances. Trudi finds herself in court...as Vietnamese interpreter. As the case unravels, the defendant is

With the kids away in camp, Laura's thoughts turn to a quiet dinner with Diver Dan until Dan's wife turns up suddenly in Pearl Bay.

Laura is introduced to the magic of Brabey Point - a local 'parking spot' where legend has it, strange things happen - especially when it comes to romance.

Bob Jelly's community bank goes belly upwards and Bob faces the same fate.

Laura desperately wants to be honest with Warwick about her night with Max, but the moment constantly eludes her. To compound on her anxiety, Jack, distraught since Trudi left him, refers to Laura as the 'good', faithful sister. Work is no help either. Barry Boston and his ex-lover, Ari, are in battle trading accusations of deception and passionless love. With the rocky Jelly marriage creating bad PR, Morton threatens Heather into supporting Bob to keep face. However, newly independent Heather can not be swayed and throws her support behind the new candidate on the block - Meredith. To add to Bob's woes Craig goes through a sexual crisis, closely observed by a bemused Miranda. Yet despite the setbacks, Bob's campaign rolls on with Morton in the driving seat. Max's investigations reveal Morton plans to turn Pearl Bay into a nucelar wastedump! An incredulous Bob goes public and withdraws his nomination. Meanwhile poor Karen bravely accepts her fate as the 'dude bride' at her forthcoming

Laura's sister, Trudi, visits Pearl Bay to heal the rift caused by her affair with Jack. Her attention is diverted to Dan who may well fall for her charm as every other male in town appears to have.

An ominous dream of Kevin's looks like coming true when a mysterious woman arrives in Pearl Bay; Meredith's phenomenal memory fails her; and the locals hide a guilty secret from the past.

It's vocational guidance time for the younger citizens of Pearl Bay. Bob wants Craig to follow his footsteps into the glorious career that is real estate.