Tree House Challenge Day 14 : 20-08-2017

The last forest type we're investigating is wet eucalyptus, or wet sclerophyll. It's home to the giant to beat all giants, the Eucalyptus regnans tree. 

The noises of the wet eucalyptus forest are the first thing I notice as I pause to write tonight's report. Birds, birds, birds! Currawong and yellow tailed black cockatoo are two that I recognise, but there are several others holding a good tune as well. A lyre bird has just right now hopped past the tent and down the road  camped next to. They are not a native species but their song is something special. 

In front of me is a dense tangle o forest with myrtles, tree ferns, leatherwood, dogwood, silver wattle, horizontal and more. Towering over them all are the giant eucalyptus trees. Wow! They are huge. 

Most of the biggest ones have dead crowns. Is lightning strike the only reason the tops of the tallest trees die I wonder? One of them will be our climbing tree but I'll wait until Yoav comes down tomorrow morning before settling on one. 

The base camp is set up on a dead end forest road that sidles a steep hill. The up slope has been logged quite some time ago, with regrowth trees about 20-30 meters tall. Down slope, where we are going, hasn't been logged at all as far as I can tell. More detailed explorations begin in the morning. What a wonderful place to be hanging out of a tree from!

ALERT for Southern Tassie Students: This Sunday 27th August at 11.00am Dr Sue and I will be at the Tahune Airwalk. We are inviting up to 6 students accompanied by one parent or legal guardian to join us for a walking tour of the forest. Must be actively part of the expedition in their classroom, must be accompanied (no drop off's), must be keen to learn and willing to report back to their class. Places strictly limited. Students must get their parent/ legal guardian to email me andrew@expeditionclass.com with student name, age, school, their name and relationship to student. There is an entry price for the Airwalk which participants will have to pay for themselves. Dr Sue just had this idea so that's why it sounds a bit disorganised!