Climbing Giant Australian Eucalyptus

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moray

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The second-tallest flowering plant in the world is found only in a few pockets in the soutwest corner of Australia, where I was fortunate enough to spend a week in January. The tree is the spectacular Karri, Eucalyptus diversicolor.

Even second-growth trees 100 years old ("regrowth" in Australian) are 200+ feet in height.

The cheapest way to build a fire lookout tower is to put the tower in the top of a tree. The one I climbed, the Goucester Tree, was topped at 200 feet to build the lookout building. The tree at the bottom is about 8 feet in diameter and it is still about 4 feet in diamter where it was topped. The heavy rebar rungs wind around the tree several times before reaching the lookout building, from which, of course, there is a terrific view. You can see from the photos that the tree has formed heavy callosities around the rungs. To my eye the tree seemed perfectly healthy with plenty of green foliage on the upper limbs. There are no lower limbs any more; the first limb was probably 100 feet high.

It was a bit unnerving climbing those open rungs without a harness or a rope. It is said that about 80% of the people who start up the ladder turn around without going to the top.

GloucesterFar.jpg

GloucesterBottom.jpg

GlolucesterLadder.jpg

GloucesterLookUp.jpg
 
Wow, very cool...do you have any pics of the lookout house on top??...would love to see it, heck, and climb it!! :)
 
Yeah i am suprised we are still able to climb it as well! I have some pictures from the top i will upload when i get home tonight.
 
Here's a picture of an Australian tourist who did make it to the top.
GoucesterTourist.jpg


The building is actually 2 stories! I would estimate it is about 8 ft. x 8 ft.

The second row of rebar is to hang the security curtain, the 4-inch steel mesh you can see in the third photo. It would have been great fun to rappel down from the cabin, but you would soon have run across the spiral steps with the security curtain; for the rest of the way down you would be held 3 feet away from the trunk while your rope was merrily chafing away on the steel mesh. Not exactly a pure and uplifting experience.
 
Back in my early 20's(a long time ago) my sister had a boyfriend who's family raised cattle in Tasmania. He told story's of 300' + eucalyptus that grow in steep valleys in Tasmania. That image has never left my mind. Its nice to know its true. Beastmaser
 
Back in my early 20's(a long time ago) my sister had a boyfriend who's family raised cattle in Tasmania. He told story's of 300' + eucalyptus that grow in steep valleys in Tasmania. That image has never left my mind. Its nice to know its true. Beastmaser

Yes its true...'Queen of the Woods' in the Tahune Forest Reserve in the south part of Tasmania was reputed to be over 300' whe in its prime, it's still over 200 now and is the most massive tree in all Australia, not the tallest, the most massive. It's HUGE, seen it, touched it.

Cool pics Moray! It'd be like plinko if you lost your grip...I am also surprised they let folks climb it unsecured, oh well, an outpost of 'at your own risk', cool!
 
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dave evans memorial tree

the dave evans tree is nearby and stands at 75metres or 246 feet. the lookout at the top has i think 3 levels and weighs two tonnes!!!! its an awesome view, hairy when the weathers bad tho, came down in a storm once. was 'interesting' - should really have got down when i saw it coming!
 
Open rungs to climb trees?! Wow, I have never seen something like this. Must share it with my niece who has a slightly off beat hobby - she keeps track of trees she has climbed and also makes a list of trees she would like to climb. She started keeping track on small chits she dropped into a bottle. After learning about doing this digitally, she has virtual flash cards with the details. I've been encouraging her to read up about jobs where she could use her tree climbing skills. I see very few kids climbing trees nowadays. Not sure what the reason could be.
 
Not a chance this would happen in the US. Nothing is at your own risk, lot of hand holding.

I'm all for having a tie in point though.
 
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