Tall Timber

The majestic Gloucester Tree, near
Pemberton

Pemberton - 24 years later!

I didn't notice whether the Gloucester Tree had grown a few inches in that time, but I do know that Daniel is a whole lot bigger now than when we visited this area before. He was a very cute, chubby little toddler at 18 months of age. (And we didn't actually let him climb 'the tree'). We however, did let Jed and Lily climb it! As if we could stop them - they galloped up and down the 65 metres for the Gloucester Tree and the 71 metres of the Bicentennial Tree in about 10 mins each! I decided my efforts of 24 years ago would suffice and I didn't need to do it again!!

Typical Karri forrest

Jed's account:    

At Pemberton we went to the Gloucester Tree. The Gloucester Tree was used for fire lookout in its ‘hey day’. The tallest point of the tree was 65m off the ground!!! So we started climbing the tree. Half way up dad piked out so it was just Lil and I. mum did it 24 years ago so she said she wasn’t climbing it again. We eventually reached the top, took in the views and started heading down the steep descent. The next day we moseyed to the Bicentennial Tree which was a much higher tree, reaching 71m. This tree was purposely pegged with steps for tourism. We sat at the bottom for a while and watched people climb up and down then it was our turn. Dad didn’t even try this one but Lily and I did. We got to the top in what felt like 2 minutes and surprisingly we could see the sand dunes on the coast which would have been 30ks away.

 The Gloucester Tree and the Bicentennial Tree were both karri trees. The karri trees were very tall, straight, white in colour and only bushy on the top. Because these trees are so tall they have a tap root that is 50 to 60m in length. They have so much wood in them that two small cottages can be made out of them.

Typical cottage that the first inhabitants of Pemberton,
many of them timber workers, would have lived in. One full
grown Karri tree provided enough wood to construct two
of these cottages.

Other activities we undertook while in Pemberton:



We took a ride on the Pemberton Tramway, and went 12 kms
through the forest and across a number of wooden rail
bridges over rivers, hearing about the history of the area
and encountering lots of wildlife.

Feeding Mr & Mrs Khaki Campbell, who wandered past with their family of 5.

            

We walked around Big Brook Dam - 'a healthy few kms'!

More birds! ... this time Lincoln Parrots, that came in at "nibbles" time!  

 

 Climbing the Bi-centennial Tree - kids made it the 71 metres to the top, no worries! (Except from their mother!!

Heading towards the middle platform...



Cate's "token effort"!



Drove along the tourist drive past a few
lookouts and along the Warren River.
Jed was responsible for this scenic photo shoot!