Hollow tree

Nov. 14 - 4WD Safari

An optional side trip was a really neat 4-wheel drive “safari” into the back woods on the Bloomfield Track. Judy, Richard and I signed up for the trip, but Bill and Phyllis took the afternoon off. The road starts out as a paved road, but quickly degrades to dirt. Our first stop was at a strangler fig tree. Strangler figs don't really strangle the trees they climb. What the fig does is completely surround the host tree until the host tree dies of old age. By that time, the fig has become strong enough to stand on its own. Here are Judy and Richard at the bottom of a strangler fig. It's hollow inside where the original tree died. The aborigines used to search out these figs to use as shelter during typhoons. They sway in the wind, but because they are hollow, the wind blows through them and doesn't blow them down.