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Hunting >> Hunting in Australia, NZ & the South Pacific

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EzineAdministrator
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Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum
      #41151 - 10/11/05 12:41 PM

When camping in Australia, especially during the hotter months it is always nice to pitch a tent under a shady tree especially if near a creek or running water.

But beware, the River Red Gum is notorious for dropping very large branches without any notice or warning.

Tents, cars and buildings have been crushed and people killed or injured. Some of the branches could weigh several tonnes.

An extract from the "Victorian Eucalypts" web page

In reply to:

Eucalyptus camaldulensis
River Red-gum
GENERAL APPEARANCE: A large, spreading tree, to 45 m tall. Bark pale grey to white, shed in broad strips.
LEAVES: Adult: alternate, petiolate, narrow-lanceolate, more or less symmetric, to 20 x 3 cm. Juvenile: alternate, petiolate, lanceolate, to 7 x 1.5 cm.
BUDS: In leaf axils, usually 7 per cluster, small spheres, to 3 mm across, with sharp point, attached to slender pedicels, to 5 mm long; pale green; operculum hemispherical with a sharp point; peduncle cylindrical, slender to 5 mm long.
FRUITS: Crown-like, to 5 mm across, with 4, triangular, protruding valves; on slender pedicels.
ENVIRONMENT: Riverine flats that are subject to periodic, albeit irregular, inundation.
NOTES: The most widespread eucalypt in the country, found in all states except Tasmania. The hard, deep-red wood is exceptionally durable and River Red Gums are still an important timber and firewood species.
KOORIE USE: Renowned canoe and corroboree trees. The bark was used for shields, water vessels, shelters and canoes. Leaves were used in steam baths to treat ailments. Gum was used to treat diarrhoea and burns. Other similar Eucalyptus species may have been used in the same way.



http://www.viridans.com.au/EUCS/E1258.HTM





A news story

In reply to:

Campers sue over lethal branch fall
By Jewel Topsfield
May 13, 2004

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A caravan park at Barmah, in northern Victoria, is being sued for more than $1 million after one holiday maker was killed and another left brain damaged when they were struck by a falling branch from a river red gum.

Wendy Baldwin, of Koondrook, cried as she told the Supreme Court that she and her daughter, Megan Anwyl, were inside their caravan on January 25, 2001, when she heard a loud noise she thought was a clap of thunder.

When she opened the caravan door she found her husband, Ross Baldwin, and her son-in-law, Scott Anwyl, who had been sitting under the awning near the caravan crushed by a massive branch.

Mr Anwyl, 29, died the next day and Mr Baldwin, now 55, suffered severe brain injuries, which made him unemploy-able and unable to care for himself.

Mr Baldwin and Ms Anwyl are suing Segment Grange Pty Ltd, the operators of Barmah Caravan Park, and Moira Shire Council, the committee of management of the caravan park, for breach of duty of care.

Their lawyer, Jim Kennan, SC, said camping should have been prohibited under river red gums, which can shed limbs without warning.

He said the pair's claims included pain and suffering, loss of income, medical expenses, housing modifications and loss of support.

But Ross Gillies, for Segment Grange Pty Ltd, said the fami-lies were frequent visitors to the caravan park and well aware that falling branches were a hazard.

He said signs warning visitors of the risk posed by falling limbs from the park's 530 trees were at the entrance of the caravan park and in the office.

"There was nothing the proprietor of the park could do to avoid the accident, apart from shutting down the park," Mr Gillies said.

The trial, before Justice Robert Osborn, continues.








***

This post was prompted by a great branch fall only a few minutes ago. I have many dozen great old River Red Gums on my property. Some are a good seventy feet in height and probably were saplings when white man first stepped underneath them. A lovely tree, but also a good source of natural fall firewood. NitroX



--------------------

Ezine.NitroExpress.com


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mickey
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Reged: 05/01/03
Posts: 4647
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Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: Ezine]
      #41365 - 12/11/05 03:48 PM

In reply to:

In reply to:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Campers sue over lethal branch fall
By Jewel Topsfield
May 13, 2004

Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
A caravan park at Barmah, in northern Victoria, is being sued for more than $1 million after one holiday maker was killed and another left brain damaged when they were struck by a falling branch from a river red gum.

Wendy Baldwin, of Koondrook, cried as she told the Supreme Court that she and her daughter, Megan Anwyl, were inside their caravan on January 25, 2001, when she heard a loud noise she thought was a clap of thunder.

When she opened the caravan door she found her husband, Ross Baldwin, and her son-in-law, Scott Anwyl, who had been sitting under the awning near the caravan crushed by a massive branch.

Mr Anwyl, 29, died the next day and Mr Baldwin, now 55, suffered severe brain injuries, which made him unemploy-able and unable to care for himself.

Mr Baldwin and Ms Anwyl are suing Segment Grange Pty Ltd, the operators of Barmah Caravan Park, and Moira Shire Council, the committee of management of the caravan park, for breach of duty of care.

Their lawyer, Jim Kennan, SC, said camping should have been prohibited under river red gums, which can shed limbs without warning.

He said the pair's claims included pain and suffering, loss of income, medical expenses, housing modifications and loss of support.

But Ross Gillies, for Segment Grange Pty Ltd, said the fami-lies were frequent visitors to the caravan park and well aware that falling branches were a hazard.

He said signs warning visitors of the risk posed by falling limbs from the park's 530 trees were at the entrance of the caravan park and in the office.

"There was nothing the proprietor of the park could do to avoid the accident, apart from shutting down the park," Mr Gillies said.

The trial, before Justice Robert Osborn, continues.




I don't even live in Australia and I know not to camp under a River Red Gum. Isn't it common knowledge?

--------------------
Lovu Zdar
Mick

A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.


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Marrakai
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Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: mickey]
      #41389 - 12/11/05 09:15 PM

Mickey, I don't even live in America, but I know its more lucrative to sue first, ask questions later!

Yes it is common knowledge, and I sure hope it gets tossed out of court. I'm sorry for the death and injury of course, but I don't want to see every tree felled in the Barmah Forest because it could drop a branch on a camper.

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au


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Bakes
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Reged: 31/01/03
Posts: 589
Loc: QLD
Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: Marrakai]
      #41393 - 12/11/05 11:21 PM

Alot of gums drop their braches. We had one that dropped a big one on the sun room roof at the in laws. Scared crap outa me

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HiWall
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Reged: 01/11/03
Posts: 85
Loc: Brisbane, Qld
Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: Bakes]
      #41452 - 14/11/05 12:56 AM

There is a reason they are commonly known as 'widow makers'.

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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: HiWall]
      #41453 - 14/11/05 01:13 AM

I had a lucky escape once. I was driving an old open tractor with a high roll bar and forgot about the roll bar behind. They caught on the lower branches of a Red Rive Gum branch and the whole thing came down behind me. The main branch was 2 1/2 feet thick. Oops.



--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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Taylor416
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Reged: 25/11/04
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Re: Camping in Australia - the River Red Gum [Re: Ezine]
      #43726 - 11/12/05 03:20 PM

There's a bloke in Queensland that makes a pretty fair living out of using a thing like an ultra sound device to pinpoint trees that are likely to fracture and fall in National parks etc. I think he posts with NitroExpress.


cheers

--------------------
Love to hunt!


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