Childers to Bunya Mountains National Park - Queensland 02-10-11

Childers Post Office

Windera Park circa 1988 Our tea stop

Spotted camels in paddock en-route

Windy day

Chinese Dowry Tree plantation

I was told that when a girl child was born in China, her placenta was buried in the garden and this tree was planted on top. The child had to tend the tree until she was ready for marriage. The tree was then felled and the wood used to make her dowry furniture.

The wood from this plantation is used to make furniture to-day.

The Chinese Dowry tree blossoms have a sweet perfume similar to the lilac and I noticed a huddle of bee hives next door. No honey for sale though!

A kind of thistle?

Mature Grass Trees ( Xanthorrhoea glauca) At almost 5m high they are some of the tallest now in existence. They are extremely slow growing and could be over 500 years old - It was a cold day in Bunya Mountains National Park!

Brush-tailed rock wallaby Petrogale penicillata) perhaps not since this species is listed as endangered.

Not so the Satin Bowerbird!

Satin Bowerbird’s bower!

A cross Pied Currawong

Bunya Pine (Arucaria bidwillii)

Bunya Pine foliage

Bunya Pines stencilled against the sky

Bunya Pine forest as seen over 200 years ago

Australian First Peoples -They came from the north, from the south, east and west travelling hundreds of kilometres along traditional pathways, across hot, dry land towards the Bunyas – and the promise of cool forests, cold mountain streams and nourishing flesh of bunya nuts. They gathered to feast and celebrate the bunya nut harvest – to tell stories, to settle disputes, to renew friendships, to pass on wisdoms, to marry and dance.

The soft, juicy young bunya nuts were eaten raw, while the mature nuts were roasted. After cracking the outer shells of the mature bunya cones(as big as a football!) on an open fire, kernels were pounded into a meal and roasted into a kind of cake that could be stored for several weeks. Rich nutty meals were the main food. Hunting of wild life was strictly controlled during the gatherings, which could last for several months from December to March.