The Boab Prison Trees of Australia

The Boab Prison Trees of Australia

australia boab Nature prison trees

The Australian baobab tree, a relative to the baobabs of Madagascar and mainland Africa, is a large tree with a big swollen trunk that resembles a bottle. So sometimes they are also called "bottle trees". Because of their unusual shape, and the fact that they are one of the longest-living life forms in Australia, baobabs have always attracted sightseers. Some baobabs have drawn more tourists than others.

There is one such baobab on the King River road just south of Wyndham in Western Australia. The tree is about 15 meters in circumference and the trunk is hollow. On its hollow trunk, a door was cut to give access to its roomy interior. The story goes that once a police patrol, in the nineties of the 19th century, was leading a group of aboriginal prisoners to Derby for sentencing, when they halted at Wyndham for the night. The patrol team noticed that the tree was hollow, and so they cut a small opening and put the prisoners inside.



The Boab Prison Tree in Derby. Photo credit: Marie-Luise Klaus/Flickr

photofun4ucom Pada June 21, 2016 Komentar

The Drive-Through Trees of California

The Drive-Through Trees of California

california drive-through Nature trees

The giant redwoods of Northern California are the biggest trees in the world with trunks so thick that it’s possible to carve a small driveway through them. Early park promoters thought this was a good idea — create drive-through tunnels and charge tourists a fee to drive their cars through to the other side. It provided a great photo opportunity and the idea quickly caught on. Over time numerous drive-through trees, as well as walk-through trees and even step-thru stumps came along. The National Parks Service and environmentalists no longer allow drive-through trees to be created, but a handful of these tunnels that survive are carefully preserved.

California’s first drive-through tunnel was carved out of a dead and burned giant sequoia at Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite National Park. The tree was struck by lightening but was still living when she was cut down at 90 feet from the ground and debarked. She was tunneled in 1875 to promote tourism. The tree still stands, although you can no longer drive through the tunnel.



The tree that started it all. The dead giant at Tuolumne Grove. Photo credit: faungg's photos/Flickr

photofun4ucom Pada June 15, 2016 Komentar

Carving Dead Trees Into Public Art

Carving Dead Trees Into Public Art

Art carving dead into public trees

Trees have long life spans, but eventually they too die of old age or succumb to diseases or get damaged in thunderstorms and hurricanes. When trees in urban spaces die and show signs of toppling over or breaking off, the city might decide to remove them for the safety of those around. The remaining stumps then provide a wonderful opportunity for wood carvers to showcase their talent and liven up the neighborhood at the same time.

Here are nine towns that show us that not all pieces of public art has to involve steel, granite and concrete.

Orr Park Tree Carvings

The Orr Park in Montevallo, Alabama, the United States, has over thirty carved trees located along the park’s walking trail along Shoal Creek. The trees were carved by local artist Tim Tingle.

In 1983, a storm had hit Montevallo and caused a lot of damage to the wooded area of Orr Park. The city wanted to remove the damaged cedar trees, but local artist Tim Tingle stepped in and offered to have the dead trees turned into works of art. Tim began carving the trees in 1993 and over the course of several years carved figures, faces, and story book characters on the trunks of over thirty trees. The carved trees are now known as Tinglewood.

photofun4ucom Pada June 15, 2016 Komentar