A reverence for trees - Redgum Road

Although River Redgum trees are known as icons of Australia, their almost ubiquitous distribution and ever presence means that they are not always appreciated. This is especially the case on roadsides where they are all too often hit by erratic car drivers with mortal consequences for both people and the trees. It tends to result in the trees being removed from beside the road, deemed too significant a motoring hazard, but not a significant tree. It always seems odd to cut the trees down after such accident? There was an extraordinarily large one cut down recently at a local intersection in the name of road safety, it must have been 300 years old but was lost without a whimper to the chainsaw and the accident statisticians. In this case it appeared to be a preemptive strike.

Redgum road, western Victoria

Fortunately on some of the smaller roads with less traffic there are fewer road accidents and the redgums tend to be left alone. Finding such roads is an absolute joy and there are enough about to make it worth exploring some of the lesser traveled roads in the south of the country. In some cases they form wonderful tunnels or arches over the road, a welcoming tribe of friends in a world perhaps otherwise dominated by actuaries. If you're really lucky you can find enormous, wise old redgums with a road threading its way quietly through, probably put in place during the era of the horse and cart, before both the planner or the bulldozer.

Redgum road, Barossa Valley, South Australia