Adventures in Rainbow Country

- Season 1

(1970)

Father Bob Coburn leads a group of canoeists who are retracing the original route of voyageur and explorer Etienne Brule. Billy and Pete get involved scouting portages and campsites. There is disagreement among the group as to whether Brule would have shot a ferocious set of rapids. Billy and Pete become concerned when Father Coburn considers shooting the rapids himself.

Billy and Pete go on a fishing trip and plan to climb a fire tower as well. They are reluctant at first to have Billy's sister Hannah come along, but decide she can help with the cooking. Hannah stays behind at camp when Billy and Pete go fishing, then decides to climb the tower herself after the boys described the magnificent view. Hannah makes it to the top of the tower, but gets a panic attack when faced with the prospect of climbing back down.

A man claiming to be a police inspector comes to the lodge stating that he believes Billy's father Frank Williams, believed to have died in a plane crash, might still be alive. Billy and Pete accompany the inspector on a trip to find Frank's old wilderness cabin. When Dougall MgGregor finds out that the inspector is a fake he sets out to find the boys and the mysterious impostor.

Roger is behind schedule shooting footage of a free-falling skydiver. Washed-up former champion Jack Sheldon is hired to do the jump but loses his nerve and cannot complete the scene. Unable to find a replacement jumper in time, Roger agrees to let Billy do the jump. Sheldon however has sabotaged his equipment and upon learning that Billy plans to use it, races to warn Dennis and Roger not to let Billy jump.

A group of inner city youths stops at the lodge while on their way to Whitefish Falls. Ricco, a troubled loner of a boy, takes an outboard from the lodge and runs the tank empty. He swims to shore and happens to land where Billy and Pete are camping. Ricco steals Billy's equipment and hides in an abandoned mine. When Billy confronts Ricco a struggle ensues and the two are trapped inside the mine when a beam gives way. The youth leader and Officer Nixon undertake to rescue the two boys.

Billy and Pete go on a canoe trip to find an old hunting lodge. When they split up, Billy finds the canoe drifting away and tries to stop it before it gets washed over the rapids. Billy loses his path, then suffers a panic attack when he realizes he is lost. While flying in from Sudbury Dennis spots the wrecked canoe and organizes a search for Billy.

John, struggling to support his First Nations family, trains for the town's upcoming 10-mile race. Dr Janet Rhodes is staying at the lodge and learns that John's sister is very sick. John and Dr Rhodes clash over the course of treatment for the sick young girl.

Roger and Billy set out to make a film about Bourke's Creek which became a ghost town after a local mine closed. The locals are very unreceptive and urge them to move on. Roger becomes suspicious that something about the town is being covered up. When Billy is arrested and jailed on trumped-up charges, Roger is more determined than ever to find out what is going on.

When Dougall has a rough landing while docking the tug, Transport Canada officer Fred Vincent insists that Dougall get an eye exam before his license is renewed. Vincent and his assistant Duvall get stranded due to a boat engine failure, and Dougall responds to the distress call. Dougall reasons that by going through a treacherous passage called "The Needle" he can reach the disabled vessel hours before expected and Vincent will leave him alone. However, Dougall's eyesight fails and it is up to Billy to pilot the tug safely through. The doctors determine that Dougall ...

Hannah wins a school debating contest for which the prize is four tickets to the circus. Hannah invites her mother Nancy, brother Billy and friend Pete. As they sit down to dinner Hannah discovers that she had left the tickets back at the lodge. Billy and Hannah boat back to the lodge to retrieve them. Billy waits for Hannah at the dock and when she doesn't return after a long time, goes inside to investigate. He can't find her anywhere. Billy calls in the strange disappearance to Nancy back at the restaurant. Nancy and Pete borrow a motor launch and race back to the ...

Pete is convinced that he saw Eli Rocque, a guide who disappeared with Billy's father Frank two years earlier. Billy and Pete head to Whitefish Falls where Pete last saw Eli. There, Dougall McGregor confirms the sighting. Despite Dougall's insistence, Billy does not inform his mother, not wanting to upset her. Nancy learns the news from Dougall and is concerned for Billy. She and Dennis set out separately to find Eli. Meanwhile, Eli has fallen under the spell of s mysterious medicine woman and goes into a trance. Billy, Pete, Nancy, Dennis and Officer Nixon converge ...

Billy is helping local mechanic Wilbur soup up a hot rod called The Hornet, built from the body of a Model A Ford. Biker Vince wheels his disabled motorcycle into Wilbur's garage and when Vince is unable to pay for the repairs, Wilbur hires him on as an assistant mechanic. Billy notices that Vince has taken a shine to The Hornet. Billy's suspicions deepen when he hears Officer Nixon tell Wilbur the police are looking for a lone motorcyclist.

Roger, Billy and Pete set out to disprove the rumours and superstitions regarding Lac du Diable (Devil's Lake). First they must find Big Joe Lavallee who is the only one who can guide them there. The three get bogged down in a swamp and Big Joe comes along in an ATV to bail them out. Big Joe can't understand why Roger wants to tangle with the devil, but agrees to take him and the boys to the lake the next day. Roger wonders why it is taking so long and Billy, having stolen a look at Big Joe's map before they set out, says they are going the wrong way. When confronted,...

Former swimming champion Philip Hurst brings his son to the lodge for some muskie fishing. Philip Sr is determined that his son become equally adept at the sport and pushes him relentlessly. Billy is chosen to be their guide, to Mr Hurst's disapproval. When Billy heads the boat back home after the water gets rough, Hurst grabs the motor and breaks the propeller, standing them on an island. Hurst gets attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets and doesn't have his anti-allergy medicine with him. It is up to Philip Jr. to save his father by swimming to a camp miles across ...

Dennis flies to Sudbury on a routine "milk run" and takes Billy along with him. While they are getting airplane parts from Shorty, Russ Jordan is eluding the police, steals a gun and stows away in Dennis' plane. During the return flight, Jordan holds the gun on Dennis and demands to be taken to Sault Ste Marie. Dennis is forced to land on a remote lake when a storm breaks out, but there is not enough water and the plane beaches. Dennis is knocked unconscious and Billy and Jordan assess the damage. The pontoons can be easily repaired, but Dennis very badly hurt. Jordan...

A military jet crashes into the bay close to the lodge. Nancy and Hannah go out in a boat and rescue the downed pilot. Meanwhile Billy and Pete are paddling a canoe and see the jet go down in the distance. Before they can get to the lodge they are stopped by army officers. On their way to inform Dougall, the boys recover a wooden box from the water. Believing that the box may have something to do with all the cloak and dagger, Billy, Pete and Dougall devise a plan to get through the blockade and back to the lodge.

Billy and Pete look after the general store while Mr Davis is at a curling tournament. Big George Thundercloud and his son Duke come by on their way home to the wild rice harvest. Pete tactfully informs Big George that he has a past due bill of over $300 and cannot get further credit. George takes exception to Pete's reminder, pays the bill and abruptly leaves. Meanwhile Billy had seen Duke steal some tins of salmon and a few apples but Pete offers to pay for them. Later Billy and Pete learn that the salmon from the store is contaminated and they set out to find ...

Billy and Pete are opening a new discotheque in Whitefish Falls featuring their own band The Thunderbirds. Billy tells Pete that Roger is bringing his cousin Sidney to stay at the lodge. Both boys are pleasantly surprised to find that Sidney is actually a stunningly attractive girl around their age. Sidney constantly puts down Rainbow Country while touting the superiority of her native Montreal. Billy and Pete take Hannah and Sidney to the disco where a hooligan from Serpent River named Bragon threatens to disrupt the teens' good time and tries to hit on Sidney.

Jim Rusk is a hunter who has stalked big game all around the world. Dennis flies Jim and Billy to a remote wilderness lodge. Though the area is teeming with deer, the lodge manager Frank has never had hunters before. Jim is intent on bagging a couple of bucks but Frank's mute son Danny has formed a special bond with the deer and doesn't intend to let any of his friends into the hunter's sights.

Dougall is hired to accommodate two divers, Lucas and Braydon, at Whaleback Bay. Billy and Pete convince Dougall to take them to the lodge where Dennis is flying in the clients. While waiting for the divers to arrive, Billy and Pete check out the waters and bring up a bag filled with priceless jewels. Dougall keeps the discovery under wraps when his clients arrive, but Billy and Pete blurt out the secret to Lucas' partner Braydon.

Pete is looking after lodge while the Williams family is away for the weekend. Pete gets an anonymous phone call telling him his uncle has been in a very serious car accident. Pete races to his uncles's house only to learn that everything is fine. Meanwhile, the lodge has been broken into and vandalized. Nancy relates that there have been previous incidents and she received an offer to sell the lodge from Ralph Walters, acting for Frank Williams' old nemesis, Ed Reynolds. Convinced that Walters is involved, Billy and Pete go to his office where both Walters and ...

While fishing at Lake on Blue Mountain, Billy and Pete discover several dead fish and a milky substance in the water. Dougall gives them a tow to Whitefish Falls, where they are unable to contact Dennis or the Lands and Forests rangers. The boys borrow a truck from the chief, and transport fish from Lake on Blue Mountain to Phantom Lake, unaware that they are about to unleash an ecological disaster.

Billy accompanies Dougall on a trip to Little Current to pick up parts for the tugboat's failing engine. On his way back from the store, Billy sees a strange man taking Dougall's tug. Billy hops aboard just in time to confront the hijacker. Billy learns that the his name is Miroslav, a defector from an Eastern Bloc country who wants to go to Copper Cliff. Meanwhile Dougall is convinced that Billy has taken the tug on a joyride and calls in the police. The tug's engine gives out and Billy is astonished that Miroslav is able to fix it without parts. With the net closing...

Roger and Billy travel to a wild bog to film some wildlife footage. Dennis flies Pete in at a later time. Roger and Billy learn that a large consortium has bought the bog and has hired a security officer to drive out Hawkins, a hermit who has lived there for over thirty years. Hawkins, meanwhile is unaware that Billy, Pete and Roger plan to help him elude the security guard.

Pete is guiding lodge guest Mr Johnson along the Aux Sables river. When Nancy learns that Mrs Johnson has gone into labour, Dennis flies with Billy to take Mr Johnson home, leaving Billy with Pete to return with the canoe and gear. Pete tells Billy about strange "clues" discovered by he and Mr Johnson - an inukshuk with a directional arrow and a boy's school jacket. Billy and Pete decide to canoe down the river and investigate further. Dennis meanwhile hears a radio bulletin that 14-year-old Norman Cartwright has been kidnapped and takes Officer Nixon with him to find...

Dreamer's Rock, a quartzite peak just opposite the lodge is a sacred place where First Nations youth would experience a vision to determine their life's role. Mr Travers of the Serpent River Mining Company is staying at the lodge, ostensibly to relax. Meanwhile the Chief at Birch Island has expressed concerns that Pete is not spending enough time among his own people. The Chief tells Pete that the mining company is planning to make a quarry out of Dreamer's Rock. Pete, beginning to question his friendship with Billy, finds Travers and Billy at the top of Dreamer's ...