Well, here's some trees I didn't think I'd see in Australia:
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| REDWOODS! |
Yep, that's right, authentic Californian redwoods,
Sequoia sempervirans, in the flesh. Er, in the bark.
Back in the 1930s the Australian Board of Works planted a patch of land that had been cleared of its original eucalyptus forest with 1,500 redwood trees imported from California (along with Bishop pine and Douglas fir) in an experiment in hydrogrogy. (The experiment's results are, sadly, unknown.)
I got to experience this cool home-away-from-home forest due to some friends from church, who planned a New Year's Eve barbecue lunch with a bunch of other people out in the
Yarra Valley about seven kilometers from the forest, which we explored afterwards.
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| They're not too big around yet, but they're already quite tall! |
The redwoods are planted in regular rows, giving an interesting effect as you walk around. Otherwise, add a few banana slugs and you could almost be back in California! (At least until you get to the edge of the forest and see the old-growth eucalyptus forest all around.) I've got some other pictures from the trip that I'll post when I get a chance, but for now, I'll wish you all hauʻoli Makahiki Hou, and I'll see you all in 2018!
Edit (1/1/2018): Have a few more pictures I didn't have time to include last night:
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| The Yarra River, where we had the barbecue before going to the redwoods, in the beautiful Yarra Valley. |
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| Most trees here are between 55 and 80 meters tall (180–288 feet). |
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| One feature not usually present in Californian redwood forests are these large man-made bird nests. |
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| And while there may not be any banana slugs here naturally, it's nothing a few minutes with GIMP can't fix! |
(Banana slug picture from the last time I used the “redwoods” tag on this blog, all the way
back in 2010!)
I got to experience this cool home-away-from-home forest due to some friends from church, who planned a New Year's Eve barbecue lunch with a bunch of other people out in the Yarra Valley about seven kilometers from the forest, which we explored afterwards.
The picture of the banana slug was fun, although I am not sure that I would like one on my shoulder! It was interesting to compare the redwoods in these photos with the ones in your 2010 blog. There was a lot more undergrowth in California. They a massive trees!
ReplyDeleteThese young ones have many long years of growing ahead of them!
DeleteAlso I probably wouldn't want a banana slug on my shoulder either, but it makes a cute picture.
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