An artist runs off to the South Pacific and falls for a young girl there.

Bradley Morahan, a highly successful artist, is frustrated working in New York City and decides to return to his native Australia. He first goes to Brisbane, where he spends some time at the racetrack, and then goes to an island off the coast of Queensland that he remembers as being uninhabited. There he establishes himself in a grass hut and prepares to begin work; he is dismayed, however, to discover that the island is inhabited by an old alcoholic, Ma Ryan, and her beautiful granddaughter, Cora. The young girl gathers shellfish and sells them on the mainland to support her grandmother's drinking habits, but since she is also saving money to become a hairdresser in Melbourne, she gladly accepts a job as Bradley's model. Cora poses in the nude, and a love affair gradually begins to develop. Meanwhile, Nat Kelly, an old friend of Bradley's, suddenly appears, and after an unsuccessful attempt to borrow some money, Kelly steals £300 from the painter and flees the island. Ma Ryan then discovers Cora's savings from modeling and threatens to inform the authorities that Cora is below the age of consent. Their argument precipitates a fight over the money, and in the struggle the old woman falls off a cliff to her death. The police determine that the death was accidental, leaving Bradley and Cora free to continue their affair.