Jerome
Busselton, south west of Western Australia
8 January 2007
I built these "platforms" (with loads of assistance of course) in 2004 in response to the impending threat of a forest of native "Tuart" trees being cut down. There is Titanium Oxide in the soil and "Cable Sands", a mineral mining company, wanted access to it.
Titanium Oxide is used, among other harmless things like colouring toothpaste and paint white, for coating Depleted Uranium weapons! It's apparently very strong you see.
The Ludlow Forest is near Busselton, a town in the South West of Western Australia. Yes some of it is still there, thankfully. The structures are affectionately known amongst forest activists as "platforms", which is probably fitting of such spartan construction, but the collection of platforms we dubbed our little tree-village.
There were eventually five platforms (one was fifty metres from the other four and I personally only had a small part in its construction) and the occupants of four of them could visit each other via rope swings or traverses.
I was very proud of our little two storey platforms but am totally gobsmacked by the extensiveness of actual tree-houses around the world. My eyes are wide open and I'm totally inspired to let my creative juices flow to build something equally amazing and wonderful.
I hope that by adding this message, I might meet other keen climbers and builders in Australia.
Climb on!
Jerome
John Underhill
Auckland, New Zealand
30 October 2005
I have just completed my third treehouse, 5m up in a Kanuka tree. A triangular viewing platform with a seat and enough floor area to sleep, if one wishes. Built from H3 treated rough sawn, anchored to one branch with 12mm galvanised bolts and sliding on bearers on two others. Previous works include a two story packing case arrangement in an oak tree as a kid, and a sleeping platform 4m up in a Ghost Gum in Broome, Western Australia with a view of the Indian Ocean in the 1980s.
K.Koo
Sydney, Australia
7 May 2005
Possibly two of Australia's best treehouses, two treehouses of different designs, one classic wooden 2 story ski lodge and one (really two) side by side houses sharing the same roof sail. Different in construction than any other treehouse using lightweight sheet metal for the roof, painted bright blue, corrugated plastic board on the walls and Plexiglas and clear roll up windows, Christmas lighting for night light and nuts,bolts and duct tape assembly allows the whole treehouse to be rebuilt in many different ways. Was shown on 60 Minutes TV show in July 2003.
Kingsley Koo
Sydney, Australia
1 October 2004
Much of the material for the blue treehouses is scrap wood from nearby construction sites, with the blue plastic board and window (smoked and clear acrylic) glass coming from a shop that "reverses garbage" sells stuff like industrial offcuts, wood, craft items and other items that would otherwise go to landfill. The tall wooden treehouse is made from an fence pieces hauled home on makeshift wheels on a billy cart. Windows are (new) plastic sheeting and floors are floorboards from construction sites. This one had massive construction delays due to running out of materials several times.
K. Koo
Sydney, Australia
27 September 2004
There's 3 treehouses in my backyard, one double decker fastened to two trees, and the other two are right next to each other with a roof sail over the space to make an atrium. The blue treehouses are "one of a kind" and very different from every other treehouse and don't put screws in the tree. The paired treehouses hang from the tree and can be easily taken down for rebuilding in another tree or on the ground. The blue treehouses are lit with Christmas lights. In the neighbor's yards there is one treehouse and another is being built. Some of my work was shown on 60 Minutes on July 6, 2003.
Paul Guard
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
28 September 1998
We have 3 treehouses, constructed by my father, me and others. The first was a one storey structure supported by drilling through the tree and 4x4s morticed in. The second is a 3 storey treehouse built in the fork of a large gum tree, with a fig tree going through the middle and a flying fox exit on the first floor. The third is a 3 storey treehouse also, the main level is in the style of a gazebo and is accessed by planks from tree to tree to a height of about 13 metres above the ground.
Mathew
Wellington, New Zealand
22 August 1998
My Dad and I have been building a tree hut for the last few weekends. I have 2 big pohutakawa trees (native NZ trees with red flowers) in the back yard and I have a hut in each tree. When we are finished the 2nd hut we are going to build a flying fox that connects the 2 huts.
