Australia is gum tree heaven, with hundreds of different varieties to delight you. The eucalyptus or gum tree makes the Aussie landscape its own with Blue, Yellow, Box, Snowy and Stringy Gum’s to name a few.
Fully-grown gum’s surprisingly encourage forest fires because the eucalypt seed needs a little scorching to get it to germinate. Naturally thin strips of tinder-dry bark hang down from the trees to the ground and also flash fires are stimulated by the oil-rich leaf litter. Last February 2009 in the state of Victoria had been through many years of drought, which at the end of their summer caused huge out-of-control fires which tore across massive tracts of the bush. When visiting this year I feared the prospect of more fires and was also worried about experiencing the hopelessly devastated ancient forests. Surely with the scale and the intensity of the 2009 fires the largest of trees and the most plucky of seeds would have been totally destroyed.
This year in early February the people of Victoria were gearing up to survive the possibility of more fires with shelters, plans for saving property and most importantly escape contingencies. It probably was a coincidence, but we arrived from Wales and after years of drought it appeared that behind our plane followed a great, big rain cloud! That first week there were daily thunderstorms and there on regular downpours during the month, meaning the fires this year were minimal. The straw-coloured paddocks and fields became green and my Australian brother joked I was the ‘Rain Goddess’!
In the Australian Alps, the eucalyptus woodlands that completely cover this vast range of Mountains were burnt and blackened for hundreds of square kilometres by an unimaginably ferocious fire, which left behind what looked like a dead forest. But it was a joy to see that the Eucalyptus tree is so incredible that it has somehow survived, this year throwing out fresh, young re-growth from the skeletal body of the tree, close to the ground or high up depending on the variety, quickly creating again a vibrant living forest.
Standing amongst the trees after the rain the eucalyptus smells particularly fresh and strong. The atmosphere warming my damp Welsh lungs with the transfered heat of the sun and fires of Australia. I climbed high to the top of Mount Buffalo and the blue gum eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus globulus) can still be seen as a blue haze in the atmosphere over the trees. No wonder eucalyptus essential oil is a wonderful tonic for the lungs, and now the aroma of eucalyptus essential oil will always remind me of the Australian bush and its amazing ability to rise from the ashes.
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On our Holistic Aromatherapy Diploma students have to practice their newly gained massage and aromatherapy skills on friends and family. Initially the students worry that they will not be able to find enough of these ‘guinea pigs’ to practice for the 50 hours needed. Frequently, after the first few volunteers have experienced the lovely treatments the poor student has to manage a rush of enthusiasm so they do not get swamped!