A handful of black and white photos take John Milides back to happy memories growing up in the small village of Zodhia in northern Cyprus.
He says it was peaceful, fun and cohesive.
"Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots would work together in the factories on the farms then on Sunday morning they walk the same street and go different doors - one to the mosque and one to the Greek church."
But in the days and hours before he escaped Zodhia, fighter planes littered the sky and the idyll was shattered.
"All of a sudden they started throwing rockets at us - machine gunning us and we could hear the shells from the aeroplanes falling on the roof-tiles and we could hear the rooftiles cracking and we were so terrified. I never contemplated that I would be leaving Cyprus in such a way."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Before the then 15 year-old fled, he had the presence of mind to grab the family photos.
And an exercise book containing his beloved algebra - to this day it's his most treasured possession.
"I will need this - it will help me in life ... Lo and behold, years later I became a maths teacher and I still treaure this book." (Reporter) "What does it mean to you?"
"It means so much - it connects me with my home. It connects me with the beautiful people I lived with, the teachers. I was born in my home."
The Milides family lived in the mountains of Cyprus, then Greece, then Australia.
John's dream is to return to a de-militarised and peaceful Cyprus .
"We're going to create a beautiful country again as it was and we're going to live together in peace and we're going to cooperate and there's going to be prosperity and peace. It means we're going to re-live that life which we lived which we consider paradise."
