Bob is distraught after the council has been fired. Worried that he will be involved, Bob must track down the Port Deakin mayor. Karen returns from her travels to split up with Angus and find a new job. Angus takes some time off from his role as Court Clerk. Max must fight to keep his boatshed from being destroyed.

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.

Laura joins the Women's Auxilary to be a part of the town's women. Meredith and Karen try to stop her, but she won't. The newly elected president - Vicki Drury, wife of Dave, is opposed to Heather and her ""minions"" - Phrani and the like, but Laura joins anyway. Angus discovers he is too predictable and changes his timetable, causing Kevin to get into all sorts of troubles. Max and Carmen go on a stakeout but it ends up turning into a night of love.

After Max and Carmen's affair, Carmen goes to the city for a job interview. The whole town thinks he took advantage of her and shuns him. Laura has no idea though. Bob convinces the town to boycott Port Deakin, causing Phrani to be at a loss for supplies. The town has to pitch in to help. Morton Tregonning is the only person who Max thinks can help - with a vision of the Robert James Jelly Tunnel connecting Port Deakin and Pearl Bay - much better than a bridge!Bob is sucked in and cancels the boycott. Sergeant Grey meets a group of hippies who are fighting over Television. The leader is Harold's nephew. In a court battle, Laura is put to the test.

The new court reviewer, Warwick Munro takes an instant delight to Laura and they start dating. Max tries to stop them but to no avail.

Griff is being kicked out of his home and moves into the Jelly's house. Laura tries to help him using a law of Adverse Posession. As Laura continues to see Warwick, the town grows to like him and wonder what Max will do. Trudi is back in the town and Rupert is fond of her child. However, Laura is not impressed and still will have nothing to do with her.Kevin and Phrani continue to work on their relationship after moving in does nothing

An old friend of Max's arrives in town but no-one seems to like him when he is locked up for breaking Grey's trumpet. As music fills the jail all weekend, Grey and the prisoner have to bond to survive. Laura and Max consider their friendship and the entire town seems to be contemplating the future. Grey is rejected from the police band to his dismay and the town is left wondering if their lives are really good or just blowing in the wind

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.

Laura's ego is battered when she is not chosen to speak during Eminent Persons Week at Rupert's school. Laura heads off to the principal's office under the guise she is concerned about her son's education. She should be, her visit brings Rupert's report card fraud to the attention of Ms Philby. But perhaps worst of all for Laura, Warwick has asked her to marry him.

Kevin is acting strangely. He heads out of town without Phrani, won't speak more than three words at once and most worrying of all...he's wearing slacks. Phrani's worrying is appeased when Kevin's sister, country singer Suzy, arrives in Pearl Bay to claim their recently dead father's silver guitar. The case ends up before Laura where Suzy's adamant belief her Dad was a member of the ""Master's Apprentices"" is challenged...and eventually proven correct, resulting in a cliff side tribute concert.

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.

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.

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.