Tree House Challenge Day 1 : 07-08-2017

There's a very light sprinkle of rain on the tree house as I lie here writing the first report from the dry eucalypt forest. Mind you I am suspended less than one metre off the ground! This video introduces some of the team who made it into the forest with me today.

The goal today was to set up a base camp near the eucalytpus (gum) tree we plan to climb tomorrow. All the equipment you saw on yesterday's video had to be brought in plus other gear from Yoav (more climbing and camping stuff) and Saul (filming and camping stuff). We are not travelling light on this adventure!

Dr Alastair came up just for the day so after setting up the tents we went for a walk to see what we could find. There are at least four different species of eucalypt trees here and patchy understorey of small bushes and shrubs. The ground is almost completely covered by grasses and sedges. Closer to the ground we found a mushroom and tried to identify it with the FungiFlip. Not sure if we guessed correctly? Where old trees have fallen down and begun to rot Dr Alastair did a quick search and found some animals- he might even describe a few in the discussion board for us. There were different aged trees and some looked healthier than others. 

The tree we have decided to set up a tree house in is an old Eucalyptus obliqua (stringybark). Before we climb it we wanted to make sure we happy that it was safe so Yoav decided to climb a nearby tree and check it out from a different angle. It also gave me a chance to practice some of the new climbing skills I've been learning. Yoav used his yellow slingshot to fling a beanbag high into the branches and we pulled a climbing rope through to make the ascent. Wow, what a view looking down on Saul and the forest floor. We attached the tree house to a rope but hung it just off the ground. Tonight I'm hovering just centimetres off the ground as a test run. If all goes well tomorrow we'll set it up properly in the old stringybark and sleep up high. 

Mystery object: What is the circular band around the white gum in photo? How did it happen? (Tip: We don't know the answer so any guesses welcome.)

T-shirt Winner Day 1: 4buck, Tahlia

Thanks for all the comments on Day 0 everyone.