Sunday Selections #111

Welcome back to Sunday Selections!

This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to showing on our blogs.

The rules are very simple:-

1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections title

2. link back to me, River, somewhere in your post

3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and see what you've posted.

4. step on over to The Elephant's Child to see what she has posted.

I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I'm continuing with some photos of the Botanic Gardens.

This week, the Hollow Tree.

A favourite with little kids and tourists who love to photograph each other standing inside the hollow.

The path leads right up to and then through the tree.

The hollowed section straddles the path which is quite wide and this leg here is the thinner portion of the remaining trunk.

This is a small section of the bigger side of the trunk. The hollow is big enough for several children or three adults to comfortably sit.
I once saw a homeless man with his rolled blanket propped behind his back as he sat in here to eat a sandwich.

The larger trunk section has another smaller opening with ground ivy growing through it.

The hollowed section is quite high, I can comfortably stand in it, but I suspect my brother in law, at 6'3", probably couldn't.

There's not much happening at the top of the tree, no new growth at all, not even a bird's nest in there.
You can see the split in the trunk goes all the way up.  I imagine the original tree was very much taller, there is a fallen branch (not photographed) lying to the left which is quite large.

Taken from the other side after I'd walked through, with the thinner leg now on my right side.

One last view of the hollow. You can see it isn't blackened, so I suspect it was eaten out by termites rather than burnt by fire.