Cirrus@Austlit

A Croation man now working a tobacco farm in far north Queensland is overjoyed at the birth of his son and endeavours to make a worthy speech at the Christening party. However, his past political passions invade his emotionally impassioned speech for his son, leaving him deflated because he has not honoured his son as he had wished.

Alex, home on holidays from boarding school, has no patience with his father's unrelenting passion and patriotism for his former homeland, Croatia. He cannot understand why his father will not forget his life in Croatia to enjoy the comfortable life he has built for himself in Australia. For Alex, his father and Croatia have become tedious objects of resentment.

Twenty-year-old Alex bristles at his Croatian father's judgmental opinion of his relationship with Mary, who is older than him and has a young child. When his father orders Alex to leave the family farm, years of estrangement ensue until the birth of a child facilitates a reunion.

Three Spanish friends come to Australia to make money picking and grading tobacco. When one of them proves to be less efficient, the other two assist him by pooling all their earnings. However, the farmer's malicious wife hears of their arrangement and, jealous of their friendship, makes life intolerable for them.

Envious of his friend's farming success, a tobacco grader challenges the accuracy of the farmer's weighing scales. Having been proven wrong in his accusation, the man annoys his co-workers by finding more subjects to argue about.

A migrant worker becomes restless in a small, tobacco farming town. He speaks enthusiastically to the farmer's young son of the delights of the rest of the world and, filled with ambition, he soon leaves to travel America and Europe. However, it is not too long before he realises that the small North Queensland town offers him more after all.

Vinco is dogged by bad luck. No matter how hard he tries to produce a good tobacco crop, it fails. He relocates to a farm directly beside the most successful grower, follows that farmer's every move with the crop, and is rewarded with a fantastic result. That is, until a freak wind rushes through and destroys it. Disillusioned, he tells his wife he must visit a sick brother in the Northern Territory, but is never seen again.

Ivor has left Yugoslavia, established himself successfully as a tobacco farmer in far north Queensland, and married Elaine, an English girl. Ivor feels acutely uncomfortable visiting his wife in hospital after the birth of their first child, but he is unable to share this with her, which leads to misunderstanding between them. He is also unable to put aside farm matters to take an interest in his new son.

Country bumpkin, George, and his meek girlfriend, Dorothy, are both nearing forty and, to Dorothy's frustration, their eight year relationship is stagnating. However, when Dorothy's former boyfriend returns to town, George is prompted to offer her a rather ungracious marriage proposal.

After leaving his war-torn country, all Stipe Dominivic wants is to live peacefully and earn enough to marry his fiance, Barbara, and buy a house. However, even far-away in the tranquility of Dimbulah he is unwillingly embroiled in Serbo-Croatian animosity with a belligerent acquaintance. Stipe narrowly escapes serious conflict when the man causes his own death through reckless driving.

A disgruntled tobacco share-farmer steals cattle, tobacco, and even a labrador in bungled attempts to both improve his lot and compensate for his appalling behaviour. However, the threats of harm he issues to innocent people in order to cover himself prove more detrimental to himself than to others.

A young girl listens to the stories of local characters being told by her father and another man of the tragic life and loves of an old, alcoholic farmer. Romantically impressed by these stories, she relates them to Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', which she is studying at school, and writes an essay that does not impress her teacher.