Damian’s curiosity is aroused when he discovers a mysterious woman in the bush. Alf predicts trouble at Tug’s bronze medallion celebration.
LAURA BRENNAN (KRIS McQUADE)
First episode. Damian’s reclusive coach. Lived in remote shack.
Extended Summary
It starts in the Surf Club and Alf congratulates Tug on passing his bronze medallion theory but he’s got the practical to complete, which will be Adam’s responsibility and Adam assures him he knows what he’s got to do. Michael is checking the kiosk and Alf goes over to chat with him and suggests they have a game of cards with the wives that night, seeing it’s been a while, since they’ve done it. Luke catches up with Bill at the caravan park and tries to reason with him about returning to school but Bill hated the students laughing at him and refuses to listen. Pippa hears the confrontation and suggests Luke leaves Bill to cool down and join her for a cup of tea. As they talk about Bill’s problems, Michael returns and Damian leaves to go and wish Tug luck before going on a training run. Luke decides to go and talk to Bill, leaving Michael tactfully asks Pippa if she’s interested in going to the Stewarts. She realises it’s time she started to get back to normal but would prefer Alf and Ailsa come to them and he’s sure they won’t object. She goes over to the Diner and talks to Bobby about how awkward Michael was about suggesting a night out but adds it was really sweet of him. Sarah’s about to leave to watch Tug finish his course and Bobby and Pippa send their wishes for success. She passes Shane on the way out and tries to get him to support Tug but he’s not interested but when she has a go at him before leaving, he changes his mind and follows her out. Bobby tells Pippa she ignored her advice and tackled Greg on whether he was seeing someone else and is happy to say he isn’t. She’s convinced he was telling the truth because she would have known if he was lying and Pippa’s relieved. She goes home and bumps into Bill, who helps her take the baking utensils inside. He hangs around and they get chatting about why he’s staying with Luke and when he sees a Mother’s Day card on the fridge door, he tells her he’s missing his mother. When she says it’s a good job he’s got Luke, he gets angry and tells her he doesn’t understand. Michael goes over to check that Alf and Ailsa don’t mind changing the venue before going to the boat shed to catch up on things. Ailsa is concerned things could get out of hand but Alf doesn’t agree – it’s the best thing for Pippa. Back home, Pippa tries to find out why Bill got so angry but all he is interested in, is talking about her extended family after seeing all the photos on the mantelpiece. He touches a raw nerve when he spots a picture of Dale and wants to know who he is. All she will say is that it’s her baby and deftly changes the subject by saying she’s got work to do and he wants to help. Outside, he helps her take the washing down and as he starts to talk about Dale again, Ailsa arrives and Pippa’s relieved. Inside, as Pippa prepares the vegetables and Bill continues folding the laundry up, he gets upset when he hears them talking about Dale’s funeral. After assuring Ailsa that the card game is still on, she leaves and Bill tells her he’s sorry if he upset her because no one told him. He gets her to talk to him about what happened to Dale and she then steers the conversation on to why he should go back to school.
Down at the Surf Club everyone’s wishing Tug luck, including Shane, although Tug was sceptical at first before shaking hands. Sarah goes out with him, as Damian calls Shane back to ask him what’s he up to and true to form, he admits it’s a ploy to get Tug of balance by feigning friendship and Damian’s not impressed. He goes off for his run, as Shane joins Adam and Sarah down on the beach, to watch as Tug completes the course. The last leg is saving a swimmer, which he does successfully and Adam tells him he’s passed. Sarah and Shane congratulate him, even though Shane is keeping up the pretence he’s his friend. Midway through his run, Damian runs out of water and spots a shack in the bush and goes to see if he can get some water but the woman who is living there, chases him away with a pitchfork. He’s all in when he gets back home and as he hoses himself down, Luke comes by and he tells him about the crazy woman he encountered in the bush. He goes off for a shower, as Pippa and Bill arrive and Bill’s got great news for Luke – he’s going back to school.
Sarah returns home and just before Alf goes off to get some beer for the card game, she tells him about Tug’s success and he and Ailsa are thrilled. When she asks if they can hold the celebrations there, Ailsa agrees, providing she doesn’t mind looking after Duncan, who’s happily playing with toys on the floor. She goes off to the Diner to tell Tug the good news where he’s celebrating with a milk shake. Damian finds out a little more about the crazy woman from Bobby but doesn’t think he should ask Fisher about her because he’ll probably get a lecture on trespassing. She thinks it would be better to ask Alf, who’s just returned home and is not at all happy about the planned party.
It ends with him imagining all sorts of things happening with a bunch of unsupervised teenagers and he reckons it will be a flaming disaster…
Avril M Harrison