Climbing the Gloucester Tree
21st July, Pemberton, Australia
When was the last time you climbed a tree? Admit it, it was a long time ago ... but given the chance would you?
At 32 years of age, perhaps I should know better, but today I went a-climbing. Near to the place we stayed overnight - a town called Pemberton in Western Australia's southernmost corner - is a tree known as the Gloucester Tree, one of many old-growth tall trees that carpet this particular area. It's a very strange feeling, actually, to drive through these forests as it's a total change from the usual Australian forests we're used to seeing. Tall, rod-straight trees with a good girth on them, these Karri trees are quite impressive. The Gloucester Tree is one such tree, but it has been 'pegged', that is steel pins have been driven deep into the tree all the way up and around the trunk to a distance of 61 metres. It's actually a fire lookout tree, and one of the highest in the world - now that's some good climbing!
So, the safety warning suggested sensible, sturdy footwear (no sandals, jandals, flip-flops, or thongs ... or whatever your local name for that particular type of footwear may be), not climbing in high winds and in the wet. It was drizzly weather, mind, and I did have solid trainers on (but they are not tightly laced up, as in I haven't tied a knot - just cut off the ends untied and treat them like slip-ons).
I began the climb up, and made very sure to follow the rule of keeping three points of contact at all times; it wasn't a race, and given that I was not harnessed I gripped so tightly that my hands were bright red. The other reason my hands were going red was because of the cold - only half way up and the weather got worse with the wind picking up and the rain coming down harder.
They say that the trick to climbing in such places is not to look down. Well, looking down was a little daunting but looking up was even more so - you mean I've still got all that distance to go?! By the time I'd reached the top, I was quite tired from the gripping on and the relentless moving forwards, and in some places the 'ladder' was almost vertical. At this point, though, it's customary to say 'but it was worth the effort' and in better weather that would certainly be the case. The views over the forest canopy must be great on a good day, but by this time I was getting battered by the high winds and the rain was threatening to give me another camcorder malfunction. Besides, I was doing this more for the experience of the climb than for the views that I might get at the top (I knew before the first rung that the visibility would be poor). I quickly snapped some photos, captured some film then packed everything away safely before making my way down again.
Easier said than done.
It was the same thing as climbing up - take it easy, keep a tight grip on the steel pegs with my hands and be as sure-footed as it's possible to be in the wet. The problem with coming down, though, was that I had to look down at my feet, and I noticed a strange optical illusion taking place. The best way I can describe is this: you know on old car hood-linings (as in the roof interior) that they always had a dotted finish to them? If you looked at them for a while your eyes would go funny and you could only re-focus by pressing the lining, forcing your mind to accept the actual point of focus. Well, a similar thing was happening with these pegs - looking down at them snaking off around the tree below me, it became difficult to see exactly which peg was the nearest one, and once or twice I found my foot landing earlier than I had expected.
Soon enough I was back on terra firma, a lot wetter than when I went up. A quick cup of coffee soon brought me round again, and kept the sneezing at bay. Soon after that, we carried on our journey through horrendous rain and gale force winds to Augusta, a place reknowned for whale sightings. Yes, we do seem to be following the whales along their migratory path, but we should try to make the most of it before we carry out our own winter migration to warmer climes, in our case to Thailand in just a few weeks' time.