A heart-rending psychological drama, The Waterhole explores the blurred margins of reality in the life of an abused twelve-year-old girl. Growing-up in the natural beauty and dramatic volcanic landscape of New Zealand's Coromandel Range, school sports star Jolie Overwater has a home life she dare not expose. The intelligent, unloved daughter of violent misogynist Victor and barely-functional 'rag-doll' Ruth, she is desperate for deliverance. Only at the waterhole does she feel safe; swimming in the cool water, or listening to the stories of her mysterious friends - enchanting little Mary and brave taniwha hunter Mahinarangi. Where do they come from? Can they help Jolie escape her father? What secrets does towering Blood Rock hold? Enter Jolie's world, where time and space refuse to conform to the laws of physics. Enter the world of the mind!