Huon and Arve
The Huon and Arve forests are perhaps the most visitor friendly in Tasmania. Not only are there are truly massive Eucalyptus regnans trees right by the sealed Arve road. You also have the added luxury of being able to visit the cafe at the Tahune Airwalk after taking a stroll through the forests!
'Bigfoot' is over 20m in girth and 82m to the top of its broken and decayed top. Its trunk does not drop below 2m in diameter until after 40m in height. It remained undiscovered until 2003 despite being only 100m from the busiest foresty road in Tasmania.
'Papa Zig' is 87m tall and 17m in girth. It is a stunning tree with a perfectly straight trunk that is free of branches for about 65m on the southern side (see below) As the top of this tree is broken it is estimated that it was at least in the mid 90m range in its prime
'Centurion' was discovered by 'accident' when a Forestry Tasmania LiDAR flight went further than it intended back in 2008, uncovering a small patch of very old forest in an area that had quite a lot of fire and logging disturbance. Initially measured in 2008 at 99.6m, it was remeasured in 2014 and it had grown over 20cm to be 99.82m tall. However, a further tape drop in 2016 gave a figure of 99.67m, indicating that growth may have been negligible in the past 10 years. Nevertheless, it is easily Australia's tallest known tree. Interestingly, it's trunk is broken at over 80m up and the current crown has regrown from the break - this indicates that the tree may have been considerably taller in the past.
Looking down the trunk of 'Centurion'.
The Arve Big Tree
If you only have the chance to see one tree in Tasmania, the 'Arve Big Tree' is probably the easiest of all the giant trees to visit. It is only 10km from the Town of Geeveston and the road is sealed all the way. The raised wooden platform that once took you close to the tree has been removed and has been replaced with a much sturdier steel structure (September 2018). The tree itself is stunning - while its lower stocking of brown bark, stripping away to reveal the cream and light green smooth bark above, is similar to most other Eucalyptus regnans trees - most people are taken aback by the sheer scale of this monster. The tree is 87m tall to its broken top and the massive trunk holds 360 cubic meters of wood. It is also a survivor: The 1967 fires swept through this area killing many similarly aged giant trees. Loggers in the pre-industrial days before the 1950s also seemed to have ignored it - perhaps it was just too large to contemplate trying to cart it back to civilization? Luckily, road surveyors for the Forests Commission were impressed enough when they came across it in the 1980's that subsequently, the tree and the surrounding area were reserved.
Above two images: 'The Shield Maiden' 87m tall 17m girth - off Arve Loop road
'Master Bennetts' was found in 2007 during a survey of the old growth off Bennetts road. It is 18m girth and 81m tall. It had recently been impacted by a spot fire from an escaped regeneration burn. The fires had only burnt around the big old eucalypts and not escaped into the rainforest nearby.
Swirly Burly Megs is almost 19m in girth. It was only discovered in January 2013 off Barnback Road, west of Judbury. The presence of thin, pole stage regrowth Eucalyptus regnans around the tree, indicate that there was an fire in the area about 25-30 years ago. The photo of its huge bole below gives a fair indication of where the tree got part of its name!
