A Walk in the Rain Forest


Before we went back to Brisbane, we just had time to go to the Sky Walk. This is a place that teaches you all about the rain forest that grows all over Tamborine Mountain. 

It's called the Sky Walk because there are walk-ways that take you high up into the canopy of the rain forest. It makes you feel as if you're on 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!'

Do I look like Ant?

Or Dec?

In actual fact, 'I'm a Celebrity" is filmed not very far away from here; it is filmed on an old pineapple farm between Tamborine Mountain and the Gold Coast. There's one very annoying thing about that programme: there is NO JUNGLE in Australia. They have rain forests, mangrove swamps, desserts, bush and mountains but NO JUNGLE! Never mind, it's a funny programme and Ant and Dec make me laugh. 

Here's some information about the next photograph:

Here I am sitting at the bottom of a Strangler Fig.

And here's a bit more of it. 

There are lots of vines hanging down from the tops of the trees and twisting around the trunks. 

Here's some information about them.

Look at how close together the trees grow. When the first settlers came to the mountain there would have been no roads or paths to help them travel around the mountain. Gradually, they chopped down more and more trees, which were sold for a lot of money. In the spaces where the trees had been, people were able to make fields (they call them paddocks in Australia) and build houses. People did not realise at the time that they were in danger of destroying an environment that we could never get back. 

This picture shows you how the wood-choppers managed to cut down such huge trees. 

• They cut notches in the trunk as high up as they can reach. 
• They insert a board into the notch.
• They start cutting another notch further up. 
• And so on!
• As they got towards the top of the tree they would start trimming off the branches.
• Next they would saw off the top of the tree.
• Finally, they would go back down to the bottom of the tree and saw through it. The tree would now create less damage to other trees as it fell because it was shorter and had no sticking out branches. 
•  Very tall trees would be chopped down in segments, starting at the top. 

Here's a hundred year old notch left in the stump of a tree. The fact that it is still here and hasn't rotted away gives you an idea of why the wood is so valuable. It is strong and long lasting. 

Here's some more information. People don't chop down trees like this any more but wood cutting competitions are still a very popular event in agricultural shows all over Australia. Giant telegraph poles are set up and men compete to see who can get to the top first. Another exciting competition is the one where they compete to see who can chop a tree trunk in half. They do that at the Ekka (short for exhibition) at Brisbane every August. 

I took this picture to try and give you an idea of how tall these trees are. You can't tell very well from a picture so I hope that one day you will be able to see for yourself. 

We are off the Brisbane next where we will be looking after my friend Chilli while the Bride and Groom are on honeymoon. 

Hooroo! 

Here's a video about woodchopping at the Ekka

As you can see, woodchopping is for women as well as men nowadaysbut, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS.