The approach of a solar eclipse draws various people to Alice Springs, an Australian town surrounded by primitive tribal outback, where it can be best observed. Constable Hugh Delaney's son, Toby, and his partners expect a bus-load of Germans, but a crazy truck driver destroys their hotel, so he improvises an 'adventurous bush trip'. Future Med student Matt Marione takes the train searching for lost medicinal treasures from the aborigines and finds a mysterious lover aboard. 'Pellican' jogs all the way to Ayers Rock, accompanied by his wife and her grumpy friend who wants him out of the way. Former rock lead singer Jack Jaffers, who deserted his band's reunion to revisit the desert where they had their first success, joins them.