Just because this experience of totally immersing yourself in nature within the Witches Falls section of the Tamborine National Park is totally free does not lessen the value. It is amazing to walk the tracks through this ancient rainforest and be truly amazed at the wildlife, the old logging tracks now the walking trails, the trees and ferns, the waterfall and ponder the stories surrounding the origins of the name Witches Falls.
About half way around the Witches Falls circuit you cannot miss the absolutely enormous strangler fig. It has to be 10 meters in diameter and we are told it is some 400 years old. It is very special and the one thing you “must do” once in a lifetime is to photograph yourself standing in the buttress roots of this giant. Can you see yourself standing amongst the large sprawling roots of this giant fig tree looking up and up skywards into the upper branches of one of nature’s amazing creations?
Framed and hung in your home your photograph will not only remind you of this unique place but your children and grandchildren will be inspired by it to ask you to show them this giant of nature.
An interesting adaptation of fig trees is the aerial roots. Fig trees often grow in nutritionally-depleted soil, or begin their life by germinating in rocky crevices. Aerial roots grow down from branches and take up nutrients and moisture from the air. Eventually the roots grow into the ground. They thicken up and become what is commonly called ‘buttress’ roots. These strong aerial roots support the branches they make for some amazing structures and shapes.
The Witches Falls section of the Tamborine National Park was declared a national park in the Government Gazette on 28 March 1908, becoming the first national park in Queensland. Over the years additional reserves have been declared and today the park is made up of 14 sections of land on the Tamborine plateau and surrounding foothills.
For more detailed information on Tamborine Mountain national park and walking tracks click on the following links…
Walk this track…
Tamborine National Park is home to many rainforest animals including the rare Albert’s lyrebird and one of the world’s largest skinks, the land mullet. The Richmond Birdwing butterfly and noisy pitta migrate seasonally to the park.
Lyrebirds
Have you heard the song of the Albert’s Lyrebird?
While walking in the cooler months, you may hear the song of the Albert’s Lyrebird. The lyrebird is an excellent mimic, intermingling its own calls with those of other birds such as bowerbirds and whipbirds.
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