Ferntree Gully

One of my favorite things dotting the Australian landscape (other than tiny furry marsupials) is the tree fern. These funny palm-tree looking things make me feel like I've been transported into the Jurassic period or some other long past land.

Like the ground ferns you’re probably familiar with, these guys grow fiddleheads that unravel into full fronds. But instead of completely dying back each year, they just keep growing from the top, leaving what looks like a trunk propelling it into the sky. So depending on the microclimate, tree ferns can be short and fat, tall and thin, bendy, stubby, or super huge!

These plants, along with the other wet-forest foliage also reminded me of something else. It took me a little while to put my finger on it, but after catching on that these were “rainforests”, it hit me. The LAST rainforest! A few of you reading this may also have been raised as a 90’s recycling loving kid, and so must remember the adventures of Crysta and her fairy friends in Fern Gully.

Ah… the 'comforting' conservation phase of my life! Back then I thought all I had to do in order to save the world was pick up litter, learn what numbered plastics were recycled, and hug a few trees.  Well, at least I still do those things…

Anyways, as it turns out, the premise of Fern Gully was supposedly set in one of these rainforest remnants characteristic of Victoria & Tasmania. The big timber companies are still a force to be reckoned with in this region, and are a point of political contention with the locals in Tassie. Furthermore, as it turns out Fern Gully is still there… well, sort of. Fern Tree Gully is a subdivision east of Melbourne. Here it is on google maps.

I guess putting the 1-4’s in the bin and connecting with nature (even teaching a magically shrunken chainsaw-happy dude to feel the essence of the forest) isn't enough to stop large scale economic forces.

Australian vocab:

Dunnie: toilet

Bum-bag: fanny-pack (be careful with this one, as you could get some strange looks as explained by the definition below; ex: Heath Ledger sports a bum-bag in the film Two Hands

Fanny: c***

. Unfortunately, it does appear to have been turned into a subdivison.