McLeod's Daughters

Becky brother Sean visits and she is secretly thrilled, seeing it as her chance to stop Sean from going down the same path as their jailbird older brother. Peter arrives to check on Claire's progress training the quarter horses, and their flirtation takes a new turn. Jodi is torn between the truth and Becky's feelings when she realises that Sean's sudden visits are not as innocent as they seem.

Peter and Claire struggle to deny their feelings for each other, but Claire worries that after the first romantic move, he's now got cold feet. Tess and Alex's relationship is put to the test when a baby is abandoned on his doorstep. Meanwhile, Drovers Run has a vermin problem when Meg discovers a potential rabbit infestation in the vegetable garden.

Becky is thrown from her horse and injured when someone takes a shot at her. Claire and Peter's relationship is deepening and they are spending virtually twenty-four hours a day together as they seek out horses for training. Tess finds a surprising ally in Nick when she wants to save some wild brumbies. Liz Ryan takes Jodi under her wing as she begins preparing for the Miss Gungellan pageant.

It's a dry spell and the women are suffering shared baths, stained washing, and unflushed toilets. Claire cleans out an old bore to water her stock, but the newly-discovered water soon dries up when Nick irrigates his barley crop. Initial attempts to resolve the situation amicably fail, so a water licensing representative is called in to adjudicate on who is entitled to the water.

When a good looking charmer arrives out of the blue at Drovers Run, no-one is more surprised than Jodi to find out he is her father, who has returned after an 18-year absence. Meanwhile, Meg's world is thrown into turmoil at the sudden return of her first love, Kevin. As Meg and Kevin spend time together she remembers all the reasons that she fell in love with him in the first place.

Preparations for the Miss Gungellan ball continue, and Meg is faced with the difficult decision of whether to stay at the place she loves or to leave with the man she loves. Jodi is desperate to go with her father and is over the moon when Meg decides to take a chance for once in her life. All the women at Drovers enjoy the opportunity to dress up for the big event.

Claire and Peter's growing relationship is leaving Tess feeling more and more isolated from her sister. Tess works hard to bring Nick and Alex back together, which causes trouble for the Ryans when she lets a divisive family secret out of the bag. Meanwhile, Harry yearns to know all about Peter, and his background check turns up a surprise.

Claire and Peter move closer to marriage when he presents her with a ruby pendant. Tess is feeling like a third wheel and makes plans for her own future, agreeing to join her friends in the city to help run their new business. Becky realises that she has no choice but to tell Claire that Peter is married, while Liz attempts to patch things up with Alex and Nick.

Claire's relationships are fragmented. She and Becky are barely speaking, and Tess is now living in Melbourne, unaware of recent events. When Peter arrives, Claire asks him straight-out whether he is married, and on learning that he is, she sends him packing, telling him that their relationship is over.

Claire is taking the loss of Peter and Tess badly. She can't raise enthusiasm for anything, and things reach a crisis point when she decides to sell Drovers Run. Meanwhile, Tess is busy with the success of the café in Melbourne and is unaware of recent events on the ranch. Her friends are trying to make sure things stay that way. Despite being cautioned against it, Nick starts riding again.

Becky's troublesome older brother Mark returns, determined to drag Sean into his life of illegality. Mark assaults Nick in a remote paddock and while everyone is busy searching for him, Mark talks a reluctant Sean into helping him steal Alex's prize horse. Meanwhile, Meg discovers that she has competition for Terry's affections and Terry finds himself under scrutiny by the law.

Frank Da Costa, the new cop in town, has it in for Terry. When Terry unwittingly sells Tess a pair of stolen alpacas, he sets up an explosive confrontation that will unearth the dark secret at the heart of Frank's animosity. Meanwhile, the Ryan brothers try to help Claire get rid of a fox that is hunting the livestock of Drovers Run.

With the drought continuing and no money to truck in water, Claire, Tess, and Nick join forces. Meg is delighted when the Ryans send Terry along to help and she sees a chance to win him back. The attraction between Nick and Tess grows. Back at Drovers Run, Becky, who has been left in charge by Claire, tries to keep Jodi from taking advantage of the situation.

Tess motivates Claire into rekindling her dreams of becoming a stock horse trainer and breeder. Drovers Run needs the money, and with Peter safely out of the way, there is a slim chance of crossing paths with him again. There should be no reason why the dream can't be pursued.

When Jodi's cooking gives five young men food poisoning, the women of Drovers must convince the Killarney men to put on a strip show. At the same time, Claire and Alex's business partnership gets off to a rocky start, whilst Nick and Tess form a partnership of their own.

Drovers Run is cleared out by thieves while Jodi and Craig take advantage of everybody else's absence from the ranch to enjoy a secret rendezvous in the spa. When Wilgul is burgled, Tess and Nick set a trap to catch the criminals. The events expose some of the fault lines in women's relationships.

Claire is irritated over Tess's three homestay guests: they're starting to shear today, and the last thing she needs is tourists getting in the way. Marty comes back and sparks fly between him and Claire until a certain incident with one of the guests happens, and the police are called. Meanwhile, romance is in the air for Jodi when Alberto returns.

Claire and Alex's potential clients are being put off by rumours circulated by Peter that, ten years ago, Alex was responsible for crippling a boy, Stefan Van Amstel when he deliberately ran his car off the road. The incident was hushed up by Harry's blood money.

Tess meets Sandra Kinsela at the cattle sale yards and likes her instantly, only to discover Claire dislikes her intensely. Their childhood dispute is renewed when a herd of calves is stolen from Drovers Run and Claire is convinced that Sandra is responsible. Meanwhile, Jodi worries about being perceived as a failure when she is fired from her job, and Tess and Nick's relationship escalates.

Tess is on the brink of committing to Nick but she is struggling with the intensity of her feelings for him. Meanwhile, Jodi and Alberto are forced to move back to Drovers Run when they are kicked out of their apartment in town after being unable to pay the rent. Meg is happy to have her daughter back but it may be too much of a good thing.

On the eve of the Gungellan Show, Claire is presented with repossession papers for Drovers Run. Nick and Tess become estranged after Tess walked out on him, but she tries to explain her actions of the previous night. Becky is crushed when Brick doesn't return as promised, and Claire struggles with a surprising discovery.

Peter offers to stop the repossession of Drovers Run if Claire marries him, but she rejects his proposal. She is injured in a fall during the Stockman's Challenge and the accident reveals her pregnancy. In order to help Claire, Alex steps forward to claim paternity. Meanwhile, Tess faces an ultimatum from Nick, and Jodi finds that living out her dreams may be harder than she imagined.