25-Nov-2019 -- The lesson from today’s visit was “How quickly commercial pine forests grow in subtropical regions” (like southeast Queensland). I’ve now made three visits to this point - about 10 years apart. During my first visit (in March 2000), the point lay in a stand of mature pine trees. On my second visit (in February 2010), I discovered that these trees had recently been cut; the point lay in bare ground. Almost 3 years later, in November 2012, Rainer Mautz reported that the area had been replanted; there were now new pine seedlings growing at the point.
Now - seven years after Rainer’s visit - these pine seedlings have grown quite tall - to at least 10 meters each. As before, I was able to drive on dirt roads to about 80m North of the point, leaving me an easy hike.
Perhaps I’ll end up visiting this point a fourth time - around 2030. Will these trees still be growing, or will they have been harvested once again?
Here is a remote-controlled aerial video of this confluence point.