World War One digger delivers olive cuttings from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem to southern NSW

Olive tree cuttings from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, where Jesus spent the night ahead of his crucifixion, are thriving in a tiny rural community in southern New South Wales. When Jim Speer returned from serving as a digger in the Middle East, he brought with him cuttings from the garden’s olive trees and planted them in the tiny hamlet of Laggan, north of Crookwell.