Copper Tips 



JHE coach sways from side to side as it rattles down the 

 mountain road, and the wheels crunch under the brake. 

 Then the corner is past, and the dangers that lie behind are 

 forgotten in the sight before us. 



Rising up from the road in an almost perpendicular line is 

 the hillside, gleaming and radiant with a thousand young gum 

 trees. 



Their new tips of deepest, brightest copper sway in the 

 afternoon breeze with a glitter that dazzles. Right up the hill 

 they go from base to summit, scintillating like a million 

 polished sovereigns, and behind them the tall mountain 

 glows soft and blue, heightening by contrast the glory of the 

 hill. 



I hold my breath at their beauty, and forget to clutch the 

 seat bar. 



" Are they always like that?" I ask the driver, when I can 

 find words. 



" Which, miss?" 



" Those gum trees on the hill. Are they always that 

 colour?" 



" Yes, miss, they're always like that now ; pretty, ain't 

 they? But you should have seen them a few years ago, after 

 the bush fires. Thev weren't much to look at then. The 



