Kate Harcourt
Laura Chant. 16, lives with her mother and four-year-old brother Jacko in a poor new suburb on the edge of a partially demolished Christchurch, New Zealand. Laura is drawn into a supernatural battle with an ancient spirit who attacks Jacko and slowly drains the life out of him as the spirit becomes ever younger. Laura discovers her true identity and the supernatural ability within her, and must harness it to save her brother's life.
MARIAN is an 80 year old resident of Meadow Park Rest Home. During a difficult visit, her daughter PHILLIPA is forced out and accidentally leaves something important behind. Wandering out of the rest home, the outside world proves challenging, as Marian battles her mind in an attempt to return her daughter’s beloved possession.
Henry Waghorn and his father Henry Waghorn Senior run a circus of performing chickens, however the chickens’ real value may be more to do with taste than performance. An offer from Theo Theodolite to join him in a fried chicken outlet has little attraction for the Waghorn family. However Thoe’s daughter Wilga sees a different side to Henry and his training skills and their relationship might have flourished if Henry Senior hadn’t had an unfortunate accident. Finally the truth of the accident is discovered and the explosive finale sheds new light on the need for better-trained chickens.
Three friends, whose lives have been drifting apart, reunite for the funeral of a fourth childhood friend. When looking through their childhood belongings, they discover a trunk which contained details on a quest their friend was attempting. It revealed that he was hot on the trail of the $200,000 that went missing with airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper in 1971. They decide to continue his journey, but do not understand the dangers they will soon encounter.
Women talk about the circumstances that drove them to seek illegal abortions and the often traumatic result. Interwoven with historical photographs and newsreel footage, the stories expose how the reality of women's lives were counterposed to what was socially and morally expected of them.
The girls and gorillas at a singing telegram company are overworked because it is Valentine's Day. A series of sub-plots - a sexist disc jockey loses his dog and the girls fine it; one of the girls fights for custody of her child; an aspiring opera singer gets her chance to audition; and evil developer demolishes the telegram company's offices, etc, which all adds up to a large dose of confusion.
A young woman searches for her identity by joining a "free love" hippie commune, against the wishes of her darkly possessive widowed father. The tensions of small town New Zealand and individual conflicts generated by intolerance and fear, unleashes forces of violence and betrayal.
Nathaniel Williamsen is taken to an island mission with his fiancee Sophie. Their ship, the Rona, is captained by the roguish Bully Hayes, who also takes a liking to Sophie. When Sophie is kidnapped by slave trader Ben Pease "Nate" teams with Hayes in order to find her.
