Geoff and Melody though had other problems in the shape of her overprotective mother who attempted to ruin Miles career until Morag came to his rescue. Christine Jones forced Geoff and Melody apart but Nicole, in a rare moment of generosity tried to get them together at the party she threw. Geoff though was sick of the pressure from Mrs Jones and broke things off with Melody who went upstairs to be alone. She was approached by a drunken Axel and appeared visibly upset. She later told Annie that Axel had assaulted her and she had fought him off. Annie told Geoff, Aden and Belle and Belle found Axel soon after, badly beaten on the beach. She took him to hospital and it became clear that it was Aden who had bashed his former friend. Geoff meanwhile went to Tony for help and they both approached Mrs Jones and eventually Melody confessed what had happened. Mrs Jones told Melody it was best to forget about it but Melody, with Geoff's support, went to the police. It was Axel's word against hers until she shamed him into admitting the truth and he turned himself in.
The chemistry that had been simmering between Belle and Aden came to a head when he broke in through her window and found pictures she had taken of him on her laptop. He returned later and took photos of her with his phone, telling her that any photos he took would be of the person and kissing her. After a second kiss Aden was on cloud nine but when confronted by a jealous Nicole, Belle denied their relationship upsetting Aden. She later kissed him in public to prove that she wanted to be with him and they became an item. Things weren't plain sailing though as Aden backed away every time they got intimate, eventually pushing her away and calling her a "scrag". An upset Belle started seeing Angelo, prompting Aden to confess about his grandfather's abuse. Belle was incredibly supportive and Aden began seeing a counsellor and soon enough he was ready to sleep with her.
Irene finally got a storyline when she received a mysterious phone call and then met with a mystery person and agreed to look after their son. Oliver was sick and after calling Rachel, he was admitted to hospital and in a frantic phone call we realized that his parents were none other than the fugitives Kirsty and Kane. Kane asked Irene to keep Oliver permanently but Irene refused until she spoke to Kirsty. Her instincts were right when on seeing Irene again, Kirsty admitted she was tired of running and wanted to hand herself in. What she didn't know though was that Kane had been committing armed robbery in order for them to survive but his latest robbery had gone wrong when Ric had been the security guard and had recognized him. In the scuffle that followed Larry Jeffries was knocked unconscious and Aden tried to flee town but with Kirsty reluctant he was soon caught and cut a deal with he police. He agreed to take full responsibility if the police cleared Kirsty and Irene and after he was sentenced he asked Kirsty to move on and not visit him again.
Matilda received an offer to study at Perth University but with Ric still reeling after his armed robbery ordeal and Alf offering him a partnership in the bait shop, she didn't want to tell him. He was furious to find out from Jai and Matilda eventually decided to go without him. They split up and Matilda was gutted when Ric didn't show for her leaving party, not knowing he was locked in the bait shop. He phoned her in Perth but another guy answered her phone and thinking she had moved on he kissed Kirsty. Alf fired him from the bait shop, telling him he was miserable without Matilda so he followed her to Perth where they reunited and started a new life together.
Kirsty meanwhile moved into the caravan park and after being caught by Miles in her underwear, the two shared a kiss and eventually became a couple. Kirsty started working as school secretary for Martin Bartlett who seemed to have a soft spot for her and put money intro her account when she was struggling to make ends meet.
New cop in town Charlie was revealed to be Ross Buckton's daughter and took an instant dislike to his relationship with Morag but her blossoming relationship with Roman caused her to soften towards Morag. Morag and Ross later married and left the bay for an extended honeymoon. Charlie was soon followed to town by her minxy little sister Ruby who bought along her older boyfriend Pat but he left town soon after, telling Ruby that she was only using him to shock her father and sister. Roman meanwhile had his own problems when Elliot, the brother of a former army colleague, arrived in the bay wanting to know how his brother died and refusing to accept Roman's explanation. His distrust of Elliot deepened when he hooked up with Nicole and he had other problems when Martha revealed she was pregnant and didn't know who the father was.
Following Sally's departure, Miles had turned his attentions into tracking down Jai, a boy he had befriended in Phuket who had also lost his family in the tsunami. Jai accepted Miles's offer to come live with him but was incredibly uncommunicative except towards Matilda who he seemed to have a crush on. When Ric caught him sniffing Matilda's clothes he admitted that she reminded him of his Mum.
His openness didn't last for long though as he teamed up with social outcast Axel and the two began causing trouble together. Their friendship was to be short lived when a joyride on Matilda's scooter led to a drunken Larry Jeffries knocking them off. Axel was killed in the accident. Jai was devastated at having lost his only friend and became convinced he was invincible, climbing up on the school roof to prove his point. Annie copied him though to prove a point about how he was scaring other people but it wasn't until Jai electrocuted himself that he realized he wasn't invincible and opened up to Miles. He and Annie became a couple.
Larry Jeffries meanwhile was still missing and so was $4000 of Belle's savings after she lent it to Aden in order for him to keep his house. Furious with Larry Aden confronted him and Larry admitted that his father had abused him too but Aden's reaction was not the sympathetic one he expected, instead Aden held him hostage, refusing him medical treatment and telling him he wanted him to die in the Olympic cliffhanger.
The Olympic cliffhanger should have been Tony and Rachel's wedding but with Rachel having increasingly cold feet, she disappeared on the eve of her wedding leaving only emails from Hugh behind her. Thinking she had left him, Tony left town to take some time out in Broken Hill.
Having found a lump in her breast, Martha went for a biopsy and was revealed to have breast cancer. Determined not to harm her baby she refused radiation and Jack appealed to Roman for help but he agreed to support whatever Martha wanted. She agreed to find out who was the father of her baby and it was revealed be Roman but before they could process the news, Martha collapsed at her marriage ceremony to Jack and was flat lining on the operating table at the Olympic cliffhanger.
Roman though was not at her side as Elliot had finally revealed his true colours and taken Nicole captive. Taking her and Geoff who insisted on going along, out in his boat, he cut off Nicole's air supply and left her for dead, shooting Geoff in the leg as he dived in to save her. Meanwhile Roman had been left a video tape informing him that Elliot had Nicole and instructing him to drink the contents of a flask. Roman was unconscious as the credits rolled on the Olympic break.
The Olympic return episode will probably forever be known as where Roman played Rambo. Following clues set by Elliot, Roman managed to escape from being blown up, shot and pushed off a cliff before eventually tackling Elliot and taking him into the police. With the clock ticking on Nicole and Charlie unable to break him, Roman told Elliot the truth, he had shot his brother Mark to prevent him from killing their whole regiment. A broken Elliot revealed what had happened to Nicole and a search team was sent out. It was Charlie though, who broke the rules to get a helicopter, which eventually found Geoff and an unconscious Nicole.
Martha came round from her collapse and dreamt she had a healthy baby daughter but was devastated to hear that her baby had died. Possibly the biggest shock of the Olympic return came with the flashbacks showing where Rachel was. Having realized that medication was missing from her car and being told that Aden had taken it, Rachel had gone to confront him, only to find that he had been holding Larry hostage. Having lost his grip thanks to his father's revelation Aden refused to let Larry go and when Rachel wanted to go to the police he took her hostage too. He later added Belle to his hostages when she saw through his lie about being out of town and found Aden and his captives. With Belle managing to alert the police they were rescued by Angelo and Aden was sent for psychiatric care. Belle told him she could no longer be with him.
After her ordeal on the island, Nicole forged a strong bond with Roman and with Geoff when it was revealed they had slept together on the island. Geoff though struggled with having broken his moral code and asked Nicole to marry him and her refusal and her jealousy in not passing on a message from Melody, led to them splitting up.
Back in the real world Rachel struggled to forgive Aden for her ordeal and was further devastated when a lady called Bridget turned up and Tony revealed that he had slept with her in Broken Hill and that she'd followed him here. Alf had offered Bridget a job in Noah's but after Tony and Rachel's intervention he sacked her. Martha found her crying on the beach and appealed to Alf on her behalf and Alf offered her a job in the bait shop instead. Martha also convinced Rachel that she should forgive Tony and the two reunited. After some meddling by Colleen, Alf and Bridget began dating.
With Roman caught up with Martha he neglected Charlie who went on a date with Angelo. She quickly realized though that it was Roman she wanted and his jealousy led to them becoming a proper couple. Her sister Ruby meanwhile developed a crush on Miles and when Annie thought she'd seen them kissing, Miles was forced to reveal the truth about him and Kirsty. Martin Bartlett, who had bought a motorbike to impress Kirsty and given her a massage, reacted furiously to their relationship and sacked Kirsty. After a talking to from Miles he offered her her job back but Kirsty refused, as Leah had already got her a job at The Sands. She did accept money from him though when a letter arrived from Kane saying he needed money and with Miles having just said he loved her, Kirsty felt she had nobody else to ask. She used the money to buy Kane a lawyer.
The Buckton girls suffered more heartache when, following Ross and Morag's return from their honeymoon, it became clear that something was seriously wrong with Ross. After sending the Police on a wild goose chase, Morag finally persuaded him to see a doctor and Rachel diagnosed him with Alzheimer's. His condition caused conflict between Morag and Charlie and Charlie talked him into moving in with her for a while and he agreed so that Morag was given a break but Morag was devastated and Ross decided he wanted to live with Morag and move away from the Bay before his health deteriorated. Upset about her father, Ruby joined a chat room and found a member call Skye who seemed to understand her, little knowing that Skye was really her fellow classmate Matthew. Mathew used Ruby's diary to bond with her but she rejected him and vowed revenge. She tricked him into a skinny dip and he retaliated by posting her diary all over school.
After being turned down by Charlie, Angelo began seeing Belle but it came as a shock to Aden who caught them kissing whilst on day release from the clinic. Belle was in need of Angelo's help though when a guy approached her saying that the council was in on a plan to build a development on toxic waste land. They were humiliated at the town meeting when the proposal was passed by the council and Murray later disappeared but Angelo revealed to Belle that he had an extra $20000 in his count, leading Belle to believe he'd been paid off.