Tree House Challenge Day 4 : 10-08-2017

Before watching the update please be warned that the animal we captured on the remote sensing camera is a big disappointment. What was not disappointing today was being visited by East Tamar Primary School. I've also dismantled the tree house and am preparing for a wet night ahead.

I awoke before sunrise and lay back to listen to the noises of the forest. The wind was blowing gently with stronger gusts rolling through the upper leaves. It sounds like surf washing up on a sandy beach. There were still frogs croaking to their buddies. They must have been up all night. Why do frogs spend so much time croaking? Why do they croak at all?

With that thought I poked my head out of the tree house zipper. There was a grey pre dawn light that made the sky look overcast and the surrounding trees sinister. Clipping an ascender on I hauled up off the ledge so I could swing out and descend to the ground. Zzzzzzzzrrtt, down to the ground and then plonk. After being in the tree all night it took a moment to feel steady on my feet. The weather forecast predicted strong winds later in the day so I began packing up everything on the ground and taking it out to the ute. 

I left the tree house up because East Tamar Primary were on their way with Hannah and Darcy from the Forest Education Foundation. Three classes came up one after another and each time I climbed back up the rope to show them how it all works. Sore elbows and shoulders!

In between I had a chance to climb a little higher and I could nearly see inside a huge tree hollow. It must have been the one the possum scarpered from the other day. Reaching across I could just get the camera in there to take a photo and video. Nothing at home today. Down on the ground there were more hollows in the fallen limbs (another word for branches) and I couldn't help but look for a few more cryptozoans. See the video for some of them.

When the last group of students arrived I decided it was getting too windy for the Tree House so I lowered it to the ground. Doing a search around for equipment and rubbish I found the throw bag we jammed up the tree on Tuesday had fallen to the ground. The wind knocked it down. I'm now camped on the 4WD track not far from the tree and will begin making my way across to the rainforest in north west Tassie tomorrow. I might stop in a few places along the way to visit other forests. With the weekend coming I'll only do very brief reports tomorrow and Saturday with the next full report on Sunday night ready for Monday at school. 

The t-shirt winner today is Jeeves. Excellent netiquette!