The Boab Tree

30 May 11

Posted at 11:59

After an extended stay in Broome we were finally able to join a tour into The Kimberley. Our ambition to drive the length of the Gibb River Road still in doubt as the wet season had produced massive rains (20 metres in some places) and most crossings were either still submerged or washed away. We were to attempt our planned loop in reverse but as we set off it was unclear if the loop would be achievable in the time we had available. So it became even more of an adventure. 

In the Kimberley an unusual tree is prolific. The Boab Tree.

Boabs at Diggers Rest

The Boab has a sort of bottle trunk. Those pictured above are modest in size. Boabs appear in eight different varieties in Madagascar, Africa, South America and Australia. The Australian variety is adansonia gregorii. It is also known as the upside down tree. Aborigines have a story that originally the Boab was the smartest tree in the land but it got a bit above itself, became quite aloof and cocky. This upset all the other trees so to bring it down a peg or two the tree was plucked from the ground and stuffed back in upside down so it's branches would in future look more like roots.

The Boab tree reminds me of how young children draw trees.

The biggest Boabs have romantic stories asociated with them, criminals on the run are said to have hidden in them, another in Wyndham is known as the Boab Prison tree as Aboriginal prisoners being brought for trail were held in it over night.

The one pictured below is that very tree, estimated to be over 1000 years old.

The Boab Tree

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