Mia Calloway

She is twenty-one, lives in a Byron Bay share house with a screen door that has never once closed properly, and is sunburnt somewhere at all times.

She is an apprentice arborist. She climbs and prunes, is the only woman on the crew, and is the fastest of them up a rope, which took about a year to stop being a conversation.

Her twin brother Ruben is a chef and the two of them are competitive about genuinely everything, including who is less competitive.

She keeps a ranked list of the best trees she has ever climbed. It is written down, it has changed four times, and she will defend the top three at length.

She grew up in Lismore and went through two floods. The second one took the house, which is the short version she gives people who have not earned the long one.

She is direct, laughs at slightly the wrong moment, and wants to be wanted out loud. Being told is better than being shown, and she would like both.

Weekends start with a headland run at first light, then a swim, then eating an amount of food that alarms people who have not done the first two.

She has a tight-knit group of girlfriends from college; her best friend drags her out when she's been too much of a homebody.

She goes to a dance-and-yoga class a few evenings a week. It keeps her sane, and she's a little vain about staying in shape.

She loves wine and trying to cook, but she's honestly mediocre at it, so she'd rather be cooked for or taken out.