Thread: Camping and trees

A fortnight ago we were camped at Davons Flat just up the road from Sheepyard flat. Not more than 100 metres away from us at a camp site, a guy pulled up in his 4WD and scanned the area as a possible spot to camp. He must have decided not to set up as he hopped back in his 4WD and drove off. Less than 5 mins later there was a large noise like a shotgun had gone off and a massive gum tree snapped in half and fell right where he was standing
The tree broke at a part where the tree curved out to reach light from the rest of the canopy.The guy didn't even know this but he was extremely LUCKY.

Very dangerous and I always look up when after a spot. Gums aren't the only things that drop braches though, some years ago I saw the damage to a buzz box when a Moreton Bay Fig dropped a huge branch on top of it.
Not a pretty sight but at least no one was in it at the time.
Someone said about camping in river beds being dangerous and I can testify to that as I saw a creek rise from nowhere when I was working at Bamboo Creek years ago.
We could hear just a rushing noise and then a wall of water (minimum of a metre) roared down the creek yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but mobs of rain must have fallen miles away.
Alan.

Here's a pic of my neighbour standing next to another branch that has dropped off the Large Spotted Gum in my front yard, a week earlier I had been burying my dog exactly where it landed, there would have been 2 funerals if it had of fallen then.
I was hit by a 100mm thick branch on the other side of this same tree 15 years back which knocked me cold and left me eating dirt, also had a 600mm thick X 6M long branch off this tree fall on my garden shed which reduced it to scrap, they don't call them Widowmakers for no good reason, Regards Frank.

Some of the LROC (Sydney) members will remember a photo taken of a row of club Landies with a tree across the lot of them. Terry and Rhonda Boyce's Defender took the brunt of the damage.

This wasn't long after their Rangie had been destroyed by a wayward trailer wheel going through their windscreen on the M4 Motorway when they were travelling at 100km/h. Luckily no one was killed in either accident.

Can someone post up that pic Ron?

Pretty sure the tree fall was at Coolum Tops but not on the trip I did there with the LROC a little while earlier.

I'll ask Terry if he has the pics.

Yep both trees and bry creeks can be a problem.

Last camp I did with Dobbo we were camped in a clearing in the watgans. Never did set up the tents as by the time we had cooked dinner the ground was covered in rivers. By morning all the debrie on the ground had been washed away. Could tell where the track out was as it was a river in the grass. We even had leeches climbing the doors of the rigs.

I've had branches fall within inches of my swag whilst I've been asleep.
It's scary, but sometimes it's just unavoidable.