Treetowers in the Southern Forest

This is a photo of Nikki attempting the climb the Bicentennial Tree with the firetower at the top, at 75 metres up. Needless to say, I did not get very far, unlike Andrew who climbed right to the top. Unfortunately only one of us could have the camera - him.

The view from the ground up. Between 1937 - 1952, 8 lookout trees formed a network of fire watch points through the Southern Forest.
The tree towers were built to provide a way for foresters to keep a lookout for fires in the forest.

The Bicentennial tree is not one of the original tree towers but was built especially for the tourists in 1988 as part of the celebrations to commemorate 200 years of European settlement in Australia. The tree was chosen for its great height at and commanding views of the countryside around (now grown over a lot).

The tower at the top is 75 metres from the ground. The first rest platform is 25 metres up. There are 130 climbing rungs.

This is the view from the top of the tower taken by Andrew of the forest canopy. I am down on the ground looking up.

Another view of me on the ground. In high winds, the top tower swings 1.5 metres ineach direction