Episode 396

Extended Summary

Martin sneaks into the store, dressed in dark glasses and trench coat, but is instantly recognised by Alf and Celia, who are busy arguing about a load of bunyip tea towels that Celia is selling. A large group of tourists arrive and start buying the stock. Adam and McTavish are loading up Adam’s boat with McTavish’s gear down by the wharf. Martin appears and Adam tells him about the bunyip hunting tours, saying there’s money to be made in the bunyip.

Later, at the Diner, Martin sees Bobby and Ailsa rushed off their feet with tourists and still hawking the expensive, but cheap to make, bunyip burgers. Carly arrives and tells Bobby what Steven told her about the raft design: That because the raft will sink when they get on it in the water, they will need to build it higher. Martin is recognised by a couple of tourists and makes a sharp exit. At the surf club, Matt and Steven are working on the raft and discussing McTavish, who Steven has heard of as a famous explorer who spends all his time searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Matt is annoyed by the girls stealing their plan and thinks it was Bobby’s idea but Steven says it was Carly’s and Viv didn’t really want to do it. He asks Matt if he and Viv are still together and Matt says it’s on and off and he’s seeing lots of girls. He realises Steven has the hots for her and tells him to go for it.

Martin is on the phone to someone, claiming to be from Dibble Investment Industries, and asks them to make him 2,000 toy bunyips. On hearing they need to know what a bunyip looks like, he goes to the Diner and persuades Ailsa to sell him their cuddly bunyip mascot for $30.Meanwhile, Adam and McTavish are trekking through the bush and, despite Adam trying to convince him otherwise, McTavish insists bunyips stick to high ground, leaving Adam with a long trek to the top of the hill.

Bobby, Carly and Viv are looking over their plans and still not certain if Steven was telling the truth or not. Carly asks if there’s a way to tell and Viv comes up with a mathematical sum involving their combined weight and the volume of water…or they could just build it and try it out. Bobby reminds them they’ll have to build it in two parts otherwise it won’t fit out the door. At the store, Celia tells Ailsa she’s sold forty-three towels. Alf comes in and Ailsa reminds him they were meant to be going on a picnic. Alf says they might as well have it inside since the tourists have left litter everywhere, including the golf course, and blames Ailsa and Celia for promoting the bunyip. Ailsa tells him about Martin buying the mascot and they wonder what he’s up to. At that moment, Martin is putting the mascot in a box with a letter telling the company to make it in a smaller size and works out he’ll make $8 profit on each of the 2,000 bunyips. He later takes the box to Celia at the store and asks her to post it.

Steven goes to the Diner and asks to see Viv but doesn’t really know what to say and they end up making small talk about Tom and Coral before getting into an argument over the raft. Steven tells her about Matt dating lots of girls but Viv thinks he’s just jealous and trying to get revenge and storms off.

Adam and McTavish arrive back on the wharf with McTavish disappointed at the lack of results and how they didn’t even see any footprints. However, they agree to try again the next day. Matt approaches and reminds Adam they’re meant to be working on the raft together that night; Adam says he’ll meet him at eight because he has things to do first. Martin also tries to talk to Adam but he hurries off. Wearing the lower half of his bunyip costume, he makes some footprints in the bush…but walks straight into Martin, who tells him he wants to offer him a partnership. Back at his place, he tells Adam they need actual bunyip sightings on the tours for it to work but it can’t be Adam because he’s doing the tours. Martin offers his services for $100 a day and, after knocking him down to $50, Adam agrees.

Bobby, Carly and Viv are still debating whether to trust Steven or not. Viv says he’s a liar because of what he said about Matt dating lots of girls but then notices the others are quiet and asks if it’s true. They tell her it’s not lots, just three or four: Emma, Jane, Liz and Sharon…Apparently oblivious to Viv’s upset, they decide to paint the raft pink for its trial run and wonder about giving it a name. Later, at the Stewart house, Bobby tells Alf, Ailsa and Celia that they’ve gone with Viv’s suggestion as Ratfink for a name and asks for a free can of paint from the store. Alf points out they’re supporting the boys’ raft and Celia backs him up. He asks Ailsa if she’d give the boys a free hamburger; Ailsa says she’d give them a discount so Alf agrees to sell the paint at cost. After Bobby’s gone, he says the raft will probably sink anyway. Ailsa offers to bet $5 that the girls will beat the boys but Alf persuades her to make it $50.Meanwhile, Adam and Matt are working on their own rafts. Matt is annoyed by the double standard that the girls think it’s funny for them to cheat when they’d pay out the boys for doing it. He tells Adam he still has a key to the Diner and suggests they do something childish and immature to their raft.

Next morning, Adam phones Martin to tell him that McTavish has put the tour off till the next day. He and Matt wonder if the girls have found their handiwork. Bobby and Carly arrive at the Diner with the paint; Bobby has only brought one paint brush but says they can take it in turns. However, when they open the door to the store room where the raft is, they both react in horror…