During our trip around Queensland (Qld), we have visited several forests and walked their trails. Some have included rainforests. The main distinguishing features of these rainforests are high rainfall and fertile soils, such as basalt. Rainforests have a multi-layered canopy of up to 50 tree species, many of which exhibit buttressing. These include booyong (Argyrodendron …
While staying at the Atherton Tablelands, we enjoyed a visit to Wongabel forest. It interested us so much because the forest had a history of timber harvesting and whilst now reserved, it is an excellent example of a remnant rainforest alongside commercial forestry programs and research plots. The walk is in excellent condition and very …
Several years ago, I stopped listening and watching the news and current affairs on the ABC. I was sick of being consistently fed what I believe was biased and unbalanced reporting. We are told by ardent ABC supporters this is not how the ABC operates. But you only have to look at their main website to see …
Unconfirmed reports from seagoing fishing parties suggest that Fraser Island is again suffering considerably as a result of bushfires which some say are raging from the island’s “stem” to its “stern.” Maryborough Chronicle, Tuesday 5 February 1952 I have decided to bring this blog forward ahead of others I have already written for several reasons. Firstly, …
As you travel north from Winton to Cloncurry along the Landsborough Highway, you see spectacular open Mitchell grass (Astrebla app) plains with their distinctive golden colour under the relentless sunshine. I had heard about these magnificent plains but had no idea how extensive and beautiful they really are. After McKinlay, you start to see a …
Our walks through the forest stimulate a lot of my blogs on forestry. I often see some features and plants which remind me of the Aboriginal uses of the bush I learnt while I was a forester. Over my 33-year career, I have tried to understand the indigenous use of the forests. I have studied their …
While on a bushwalk through Cania Gorge National Park near Monto last June, I tended to do what I always do. I studied the forest around me as I walked up a particular gully off the main gorge and looked for clues about the history of the forest and its condition. Since the mid-1990s, governments …
While we were in Narrandera for a few days before the COVID-19 lockdowns last March, we went on a lovely walk along Talbots Lake and the Town Common. It is within a river red gum forest (E. camaldulensis) near the Murrumbidgee River. The area has a fascinating history. The attraction was an opportunity to see …
