All of my grandparents came from China. They were Russians.
They left a snowy country where people wore furs.
Snow melts faster than predicted
They crossed the deserts.
They worked in factories after losing their family businesses in revolutions.
They raised the money to come to Australia.
They sold everything they owned.
Came here with nothing.
They cleared land to farm in western Queensland.
They lived in tin shacks with dirt floors.
They ringbarked giant trees. That's what was done in those days.
Do you know what ringbarked means?
I remember one great grey tree that stood on the farm I grew up on until only a few years ago.
Everyone thinks Australians grow up in the sun.
But don't we actually grow up in the shade?
And for me trees are as much icons as the Sydney Opera House.
And it seems that there are still quite a few ringbarkers out there!
They're ringbarking Australia's future.