Winter 2019 - OZ 7 Gloucester Tree

2019 - OZ  7    Gloucester Tree

Entering the Karri Forest

 

Platform at the Top of the Gloucester Tree

We drove through an old section of Australian forest; the Karri Forest. Years ago the wood from these giant hardwood trees (Eucalyptus Diversicolor) was used as building material and/or even firewood. Today, these forest sections of Australia, these Karri Trees are protected by law. The Karri tree  grows well here, in the South Western part of Australia. The soil is loamy and ideal for those giants. Underbrush grows up to 10 meters high but is dwarfed by trees that can reach 90 meters and more.

 

Bottom of the Gloucester Tree

In order to protect these forests, Australia had a fire watch established and the biggest of the Karri trees served as lookout towers when the weather was too dry or troublesome. Men and some women would climb the trees and keep a watch over the surrounding woods, looking for any kind of smoke that might indicate a fire. To climb those tall trees, people would use spikes on their shoes and a belt around the trunk, but it was a cumbersome way to climb up those trees. 

A 6 Hour Effort to Get Up and Down This Way

It took 6 hours to climb up and then back down one tree. Someone had the idea to drive spikes into the trunk, using these spikes as a kind of ladder to climb up a tree. They even built a platform on top and this way could spend more hours watching out for smoke. A system of look-out trees was established throughout the forests, in strategic places and now the forests were truly better protected from wild fires.

Be Careful!

Carol picked the Gloucester Tree (24 feet circumference (7.3 meters)) and 53 meters high for our visit to see one of those look-out trees. This tree is the 2^ndlargest tree with those spikes in the trunk. Yes, you may climb up to the platform but mind you, you are doing it at your own risk and it is NOT an easy climb. I read that only 20% of the visitors attempt to climb those trees and most go only up a bit, then come down again. Carol did this; she climbed up a bit, but then came down. Not to be outdone, I followed her but I, too gave up after some time. It’s a climb up without railing, just rebar steps, one after another, winding around the tree. Without good shoes, I wore just sandals; this was not a good idea to go all the way to the platform. But, teenagers who were there before us were on their way down when we got to the tree. They seemed glad to be on solid ground when I watched them touchdown. I am sure it’s not an easy climb. I saw their facial expressions and that confirmed to me that I did the right thing to NOT climb all the way up.

Going Up - Slowly

And Coming Down

Eucalyptus Diversicolor - Shedding

We missed the turn off for another large ‘fire lookout tree’ but there were many, many large trees around.

The trees were huge and the bark seems to somehow peel off those trees naturally. There is lots of bark litter all around each tree. Research tells me that about 10 tons of debris falls off each hectare of trees - a hectare is 100 meters by 100 meters - (a hectare is about 2.47 acres).

That is a lot of ‘trash’ falling off those trees but this fall off is good stuff, it helps nourish the tree’s soil. Yet, it’s a messy looking ground cover, strips of bark all over the ground.    

More Peeling Bark

I am not sure how the wild fauna manage in this kind of underbrush. I stood still and listened to any kind of noise but it was very, very quiet in the Karri Forest. 

Leaving the Karri Forest

No people were around us, the teenagers had left and it was just Carol and I at the end. It was a bit of an eerie situation, alone in a forest, no sound but our own feet shoveling around the undergrowth. We were deep in the woods. 

I told myself:  So I did not climb the tree, so what! (It still bothers me that I did not go all the way to the top). It’s hard to realize and accept that I am getting older.

We could not find a hotel room that night in the town of Pemberton, a Golf tournament had used up all the rooms, we had to keep on driving to Walpole, a forlorn place, with rolled up sidewalks at night. We found a somewhat pricey hotel with a pricey restaurant next door to it. We cannot always be ‘choosy’ when we travel, we were glad to have found a room for the night. 

Dusk Before a Stormy Night

Ah, one sad thing happened that day. A nice, fluffy, blue/green bird flew right into my car grill. I checked after I stopped, nothing was left of the bird but a few feathers.

Winter 2019 - OZ 6 Busselton Jetty

2019 - OZ  6   Busselton Jetty

Driving to Busselton

The world’s 2^nd largest wooden Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, started in 1853 as a puny 176 meter jetty. But… sand accumulated around the jetty over the years.  Sections were added over the decades so that by 1971 the jetty was a whopping 1841 meters long. The maintenance costs grew with its length and in 1972 the 

Jetty Destroyed by Hurricanes, Fires, Termites

Government shut the jetty down. It lay abandoned for quite some time, hurricanes tried to ‘eat’ the structure, but somehow, with all the misery of wood eating worms, fires from careless visitors or fishermen, this jetty survived.

 Needless to say that there was never enough money to repair the whole thing. Then, one day someone had the idea of putting an underwater observation section at the end of the jetty.

 Voila, tourists came to see what grows below the waves. All of them bring money.

 And that is how we got there, too.
 

Electric Train to the End of the Jetty

We did not walk the 1.841 KM walk just to get to the end. We took the train!

Yes, this jetty has a ‘toy’ train that rides its entire length. It’s really a nice ride. I waved to the ‘walkers’ while passing them sitting in a comfortable seat. The walkers loved it, they waved back. 

At the end of the jetty is a larger platform with a staircase going down, down and down.  Windows along the outside of the staircase make it possible to see out and soon one walks below the water line. Going ever down we

Yes, the Jetty Is Curved

 finally reach the ‘bottom’. Well, we are not 

standing in the ocean sand but we can see the bottom of the ocean through viewers, we see the wooden pilings that hold up the jetty and the cross members. We are ‘under’ the jetty. Fish float by, crabs rummage about, and the view shows us how the posts of the jetty work like a breeding station for sponges, crustaceans, small fish, etc.

It’s a world only a diver would see but we are wearing our street clothes.

Pilings Holding Up the Jetty

A bit of a weird sensation to be ‘under’ water yet totally comfortable, breathing the air we always breathe. 

The whole jetty today is an environmental affair; A very good setup for children and youngsters and a fair bunch of them were on this tour with us.

Pilings Underwater

Very Colourful Kelp & Seaweeds on the Pilings

Six-Banded Coral Fish (Small Pointed Head)

We paid extra to get a guided tour but it was more or less a speech on how Australia now handles their Marine areas responsibly. 

The huge shipping loads from years ago have changed. Containerization has taken over from old time jetties like this one. Like a lot of things, progress has killed a lot of businesses. 

More Colour

But somehow this jetty was impressive, it was very long, very well built and it gave me a view on how it ‘was’ when sailing ships still had to dock in the deeper water to load and unload.

But just like sailing ships, it is more for the nostalgia than for necessity that those structures still exist.

A Sea-Worm Attached to the Viewing Window

We made a good visit out of exploring the Busselton Jetty, though.

End of Jetty, Life-Sized Whales Painted  - This Is a Humpback

Great Crested Tern On the Jetty

New Holland Honey-eater - Eats Pollen, Insects

We slept that night however a bit away from Busselton; we slept at the Hotel Margaret River. Had a bit of a time finding the hotel and it was a party hotel, some local celebrated a 70^th birthday at the hotel. Lots of whoopee going on, the verbal kind.

Looking For Our Motel and Found Several Wild Kangaroos

Margaret River Dairy