Once in a Lifetime

It’s one of those perfect autumn days in the Blue Mountains, the land of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples. Endless rains have cleared, and the horizon wears a hazy eucalypt halo that melts into the flawless blue sky. The sun radiates warmth deep into my bones and just before it gets too hot, the soft breeze whips the heat away with a cool breath

Bursting bouquets of new growth decorate the valley. On the eucalypts, this means enormous baby leaves that will eventually shrink to slender half moons. Amongst the fresh greenery, rivers of black cut through the landscape like lightning bolts. Last year’s Black Summer bushfires destroyed 80% of the Blue Mountains National Park, annihilating entire mountainsides and