Badger Head is a lovely coastal walk – part of the Narawntapu NP traverse accessed N.W. of York Town. However, there is an added attraction currently on the beach at low tide.

Recent storms have revealed the remains of an ancient forest of trees there considered “elders” by Tasmania’s aboriginals. One estimate suggests the ancient forest could be 40,000 years old. Another expert, Prof Jordan from Utas, says they are at least 8,000 years old, and agrees they could be “tens of thousands” of years old. Their unearthing through wild weather storm surges triggering erosion, relates to our weather systems becoming more extreme. Our sea levels are rising through climate change. However, while rising sea levels are a current concern, they are fairly inconsequential when you think you could walk from Melbourne to Tasmania 12,000 years ago.

Many of the trees are clumped together, resembling the trunk structures of melaleuca wattle. The ancient wood appears fresh and almost still alive as the structures sit frozen on the beach. Parks & Wildlife initially reported the discovery as a “fossilised forest.” It is now thought that “preserved” might be a better description. That is an earlier step in the fossilisation process. Instead of the stumps becoming stone, they are largely maintained in their original condition, keeping a wooden appearance and texture. However, some of the remnants may be partially petrified meaning that some of the roots may have grafted to the rocks akin to fossilisation.

Underlying the preserved wood is also a strange, almost mystifying, substance. While it appears to be grey mud rivulets rising out of the sand, the texture is yielding – almost like plasticine. It’s like stepping back in time.

It should be noted though that the wild weather storm surges that washed away regular sand and debris from Badger beach provide just a brief window of opportunity to see this interesting petrification. It will all soon be covered again by tides and sand in the coming weeks.

Len Gillett