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Ancient Rainforests...
Magnificent old trees, ancient ferns, palms and vines find abundant nutrients in the sands of Fraser Island to form very dense rainforests.
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Outstanding among all the rainforest pockets is the Wanggoolba Creek valley near Central Station. Here magnificent trees, huge kauri, satinay, brush box, hundreds of airy piccabeen palms and many more push upwards for the sunlight. They are so dense in places that its light does not penetrate their canopy. Vines of all sorts tangle their way upwards among the trees. One vine is particularly unique to Fraser Island. Another drip’s clear drinking water if tapped. The angiopteris fern as well as the piccabeen palms are a rare and very ancient species. The angiopteris is notable due to its use of water pressure rather than structural tissue to keep its fronds erect. The walkways along Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station, inland from Eurong, pass several of the magnificent ferns. Central station in the heart of the rainforest is so named because it was the central Forestry Department station from 1920 to 1959. This is now one of the most popular scenic areas on the island. |
There is a small museum here, a camping area with showers, picnic tables, and a BBQ. Many of the tall rainforest trees are festooned with huge crows nest ferns and staghorns which the early foresters saved from felled trees and brought to this area.
These giant Kauri trees form part of the forest surrounding Central Station. Their straight trunks with branches limited only to their tops makes them highly prized for timber, and made them wonderful masts for ships during the days of sail. Timber felling became a big industry on the island during the this century, but ceased when Fraser Island attained its World Heritage Listing in December 1992.
Forests like this remain one of the island's most controversial features. Though the island was heavily logged, large areas of satinays and brush box still remain. Pile Valley between Central Station and Lake McKenzie, where much of the logging took place, now has some of the tallest trees.
