Sitting a little above the more famous lake of Cradle Mountain National Park , Tasmamia – Dove Lake, is Wombat Pool. Some tourists are confused by the name – assuming its a good place to see wombat. It’s perhaps not a good idea to tell them it was named by a pioneer of the park,… Continue reading Are the consequences of a fire in Tasmania 3,600 years ago, still present?
Tag: forests
The Jurassic fossil soils of Curio Bay, and Fortrose-Otara, New Zealand
Soils “lie at the interface between earth, air, water, and life” (Needelman, 2013). They are constantly evolving in response to what is around them – such as the climate. For this reason, some scientists have made the study of fossil soils one of their specialties. One of these is Greg Retallack, who has written many… Continue reading The Jurassic fossil soils of Curio Bay, and Fortrose-Otara, New Zealand
The Last Tree in Papanui Bush. And that last palm tree on Easter Island
“What did the kiwi bloke say while cutting down the last tree in Papanui Bush?” Here, I’m just re-phrasing of the question Jared Diamond wrote in his 2005 book ‘Collapse’. The original question Diamond posed was: “What did the Easter Islander say while cutting down the last palm tree?” Diamond was trying to make a… Continue reading The Last Tree in Papanui Bush. And that last palm tree on Easter Island
Dunedin’s Ghost-Forests in 1901
When a forest is dead, but somehow still there – either as bleached stumps, and felled, and possibly burnt trunks, I call it a ghost-forest. There were vast areas of ghost-forest (or ‘ghost-bush’ if you like) throughout New Zealand in the 19th century (see Envirohistory NZ’s post: ‘Scorched forest farm – Wildbore cache no.7‘ for… Continue reading Dunedin’s Ghost-Forests in 1901
The Lost Bush of South Dunedin
We owe so much of what we know of early Dunedin to just a few artists! Up till 1850, there’s only a dozen or so publicly accessible images of what the place looked like, and four of those, that I know of, are by members of the Valpy family.. William and Caroline Valpy came to… Continue reading The Lost Bush of South Dunedin
The Immolation of Waimate Bush, Canterbury, New Zealand
In the court case following the 1878 fire that virtually annihilated Waimate Bush, a witness described the wind conditions as “a hurricane” (The Lyttelton Times, 25 June, 1879). A lawyer, seeking a definition of ‘hurricane’ was given: “a very strong wind indeed; a wind that blew no one any good”. His Honor, Mr Justice Johnston,… Continue reading The Immolation of Waimate Bush, Canterbury, New Zealand
The Lost Taieri/Taiari Bush, near Dunedin, New Zealand
![A green patch indicating the location of what was the Taieri Bush -cropped from 'Crown Grant Index Records Map. Taieri [and Waihola] Survey District. Constructed October 1859'. Archives New Zealand Item R10302830_01. (Creative Commons BY 2.0 license)](https://mikepole.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Taieri-Bush-R10302830-2050.jpg)
Leads to New Zealand’s ‘lost forests’ turn up in all sorts of places. I was in the Dunedin Public Library when I came across the wonderful book ‘Under the Eye of the Saddle Hill Taniwha’ by Sharron Bray, Graeme Thomas, and Victor MacGill (1998). Their book reproduces an 1847 map of the Taieri (preferred spelling… Continue reading The Lost Taieri/Taiari Bush, near Dunedin, New Zealand
A Short Walk in the Lamington Kush – The Stintson plane wreck, Australia
“If I had a camera I could take a photo and show guests what my uncle’s legs looked like after he found the Stintson”. ****** Between teaching my groups of American students ecology up at the rainforested O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, and in the adjacent Lamington National Park, it often seemed like there were a couple… Continue reading A Short Walk in the Lamington Kush – The Stintson plane wreck, Australia
Australia’s Bunya Mountains and Alternate World Histories
Could the Bunya Mountains be the one place to turn your preconceptions of human nature on its head? *** I recently finished Bruce Pascoe’s book ‘Dark Emu’. It’s an accumulation of the abundant evidence that Australian Aboriginals practised what was, by any objection definition, agriculture – and on a large scale. It’s not just a… Continue reading Australia’s Bunya Mountains and Alternate World Histories
Travelling with Landscape-Awareness
Over ten years ago I taught visiting American classes at the University of Queensland. The itinerary of one lucky class was to be taken to a remote location for what was a pretty genuine ‘wilderness experience’. It was located on the ‘Youth Enterprise Trust’ property on the boundary of Carnarvon National Park. When I joined… Continue reading Travelling with Landscape-Awareness