For years we have enjoyed the spectacle of the “Totem Tree” on Skeleton Boundary Track. An old dead ironbark, it had escaped the miners and loggers saws due to the grotesque burls along the length of its huge trunk. It must have been well over 150 years of age.
Its picture, taken in 2005, is in on our website and when someone asked for permission to use it I was pleased to offer it.
Since the person preferred a photo without anybody in it I decided to take another photo. I had great trouble locating the tree even though I had seen it so many times.
Frustrated, I decided to walk along the line where it grew thinking it may have fallen.
Sure enough there it was, lying unshattered, weakened by age, weather and termites but still in one piece.
Its many burls had lovely holes in them probably former homes of many forest creatures. Now its great butt, hollowed out by termites, is making a good shelter for a Swamp Wallaby. No doubt the forces of the forest will eventually turn it into rich soil.
Eileen Collins 2009
