Louisa Atherton (Kerry Armstrong) has just turned 50. She has a loving relationship with her daughter Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence), gets on well (most of the time) with her mother Minna (Julia Blake) and having found a gold nugget, now owns her own cottage. She has a caring group of friends, a job and a place in her community at Rainbows End. And she has just about decided that her childhood mate, local mechanic Nick Pickering (Jay Lagaaia), might be her Mr Right.
But when charming Tim Price (Philip Quast) takes over management of The Rainbow Echo and becomes Louisas boss, life, work and love become a little more complicated.