The Ada Tree

Ever since my first trip to Noojee, I had always been curious as I passed the sign post to the Ada Tree.

Well today I solved the mystery and investigated the area.

The turn off to the Ada Tree is a few kilometres out of Noojee on the Powelltown road. The road, which is seventeen kilometres long, is unsealed and is clearly used by the timber trucks. The surface is dirt, but the top has been covered with crushed rock, which of course drifts around as vehicles use the road. Corners always were tricky as the stones migrate to the outside of the curve. The worst places for stones are where the log trucks are active and come out of the forest, very thick and treacherous.

Little did I realise that getting to the car park wasn't the completion of the mission. Reading the few signs there revealed that I had to negotiate a walk to reach the site of the tree. The exact distance wasn't clear. The first sign informed me that the distance was one point 5 km. An updated sign a little later on informed me that the distance was one point 6 km. On reaching the tree I was informed that the distance is two km. The estimated travel time is one point five hours. I made the walk back in forty minutes, so that's pretty close.

The walk is quite pleasant and has several moods as you pass through different flora.

There are still quite a few large trees left standing and they are quite impressive. Because of the thick forest there is no 'view from a distance', you just walk around a corner and there it is.

A wooden walkway/decking surrounds the tree and there is wheelchair access. Not sure how that works as you wouldn't be negotiating the track I walked in with a wheelchair. I saw the wheelchair walkway disappear into the forest from the opposite direction I walked in from. Perhaps there's a road out there somewhere?

There are two signs in front of the tree. One shows a cross section of the tree and historic notes referring to various ages. One of the earliest ones was the birth of Ludwig Van Beethoven. The tree is that old. The other sign shows the trees height in relation to other objects. The thing to understand is that the tree is not in its full splendour. The top of third of the tree has snapped off, most likely due to wind, so it's shorter than it would have been. The sign shows the current height and the estimated height as a short of shadow. It's still impressive at something like 150 metres tall, nearly the height of the great pyramid at Giza and higher than the Californian Redwoods.

It sure is a most pleasant walk and most relaxing apart from my fitness level. The only down side, if you could call it that, is that from the base of the tree, you really can't see the top of the tree. It's a bit like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' it just disappears out of view. Maybe it's impossible, but maybe you can view the tree from another vantage point to really appreciate its magnitude.