...A blustery new year's eve day in the GRS. At least its not too cold.
We had a constructive day today. We tightened the safety back ups, took down a flag that was right up in the top of the tree that had been destroyed by the wind. We put a springer (horizontal diagonal stay or brace) on the top platform to steady it a bit more in the big gusts and we checked every knot karabiner and rope holding the GRS up.

One not so good thing happened though, the generator doesn't want to start, and usually it goes first pull. We took it apart but couldn't find a problem. The only thing we couldn't do for lack of tools was pull apart the carbie. So it's back onto power rationing until we can sort it out. The solar array does well but when it's cloudy for days we end up behind.

New years eve tonight! We'll have to have a feast or something to celebrate. If you'd asked me 3 months ago what I was going to be doing on new years I certainly wouldn't have said " oh I'll probably be spend the night in the top of one of the worlds tallest trees, so it may be a bit of a quiet one"

We're all praying that the new year will be one of progress for people working to save the environment all over the world. We send you all the good wishes we can and believe in you all the way.

Keep up the good work,

Adam

Hi good people out there,

It is so nice up in the sit at the moment. A warm gentle breeze, blue sky, the platforms are all checked and level so I may just make a cuppa and read the last few pages of my book, High Society by Ben Elton. It's a really good read but a bit sad.

We just had a very friendly visit from forestry. They requested that we act as a fire lookout for them as none of their towers can actually see into this valley. We said of course we would be happy to let them know if we see any smoke. Apparently we are headed for a dry summer with a very high fire risk. I pray we don't have to deal with any.

Flo's doing a bit of climb training for the ground crew and everyone else is taking advantage of the lovely day and just lazing around, and I reckon they deserve every bit of it. All the best everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Adam

Friday 26th December

Well, after troubleshooting for days with the email connection we finally have contact! it's been great to receive all the emails that have been backed up for a few days, the Christmas cheers from all over the globe(France, Germany, Japan, UK, ect.) has done wonders for our spirits.

Over the christmas period we've had festivities a plenty! We have had heaps of visitors whom have brought lots of yummy gifts that have been quickly devoured. We have also received lots of calls from the media, requesting interviews and updates, it seems everyone wants to know why we're spending Christmas up a giant tree..........and we tell them........so there will be Giant trees in the future!

Christmas eve we cooked up a huge meal and discussed stories of what we'd usually be doing on a "normal" christmas eve, this was followed up with custard and Christmas cake...hmmmmmm....Christmas cake!

Christmas morning, 5am, wind howling through the sit, rain bucketing down, not the Christmas morning I had in mind but hey, what can you do.
After some discussion we decided that in light of the weather and it being Christmas we should decend and see what Santa brought us! Much to our delight we'd found he'd cooked us a huge feast. This was followed up by a glass of red wine and some fine conversation with the lovely folk who'd come to spend Christmas with us!

Today, being boxing day, it was back to work to ensure the sit is safe, phones are charged, solar panels are aligned to capture what sun we're getting and general house keeping!

Well some hot food just arrived, oh yeah, that might be my signal to sign off for the day, but before we go, we'd like to send out a very big thanks to all those who wrote to us with Christmas well wishes and support for the campaign, with your help we can ensure that this beautiful place is protected and shown the respect it deserves, so from all of us here at the Global Rescue Station........

"Merry Christmas and a safe new year".


-Shannon.

Monday 22nd
It's a fairly wild day today weather wise, and the sits were swaying through the night from the strong winds. The tents got quite wet last night as the flies cannot be completely closed as our safety lines have to run through into the tent. So the rain soaked some of our gear. It hasn't stopped raining yet to get them dry again.

It's Emma's last day with us today as she has family commitments she needs to attend. We've been lobbying her to join us again when she can. So for now Seagull, ciao.

As one character departs so enters another! Shannon joined us today. He's from the Greenpeace Local Group in Melbourne and will be forest dwelling over the Xmas, New Year season. Welcome and happy swaying to Shannon.

from Anne

Sunday 21st
The day in the forest today consisted of giving Emma a hair cut, celebrating Becc's (one of our campaigners) birthday, going to the river for a swim (no it hasn't been warm) and to do some platypus watching (no luck on the platypus spotting today).

Saturday 20th
We've had quite a number of visitors to the tree today including one guy from Albany, West Australia, who heard about the GRS and the Styx Valley campaign on the radio. He travelled all the way here to help us in any way he can. He'll be spending Xmas with us and mentioned he will prepare some prawn cocktails for Sakyo.

Another couple from Sweden who were visiting family on the mainland for Xmas came down to thank us for what we're doing for the trees, and for future generations.

Muchos Grazias to all the people who have come by and to everyone else who is actively writing to the government and Japanese companies to stop supporting the woodchipping of these forests.

Thanks also to the Greens Party who visited and celebrated their staff Xmas with us, and who gave us some really delectable treats.

Friday 19 December

The coffee was on early this morning at base camp. 6.30am to be exact. We were having visitors and some of the crew wandered down the hill to meet them and escort them to The Tree. Yes folks, that visitor was John Butler (and photographers and videographer). John came to not only film a clip for a track on his yet to be released album, but also to voice his support for Greenpeace and The Wilderness Society's campaign to save The Styx Valley.

The clip was shot from the Sit itself. Will and ground crew went through the necessary safety information before hauling them to the top.

It was chilly and windy up in the sit, but that didn't deter the awesome and passionate performance Adrian, Will and myself were to have the privilege of hearing.

At every opportunity John was looking out over the Sit at the Styx forest and studying the surroundings, taking it all in. It's so satisfying seeing someone else's expression to the beauty and exhilerance of what is around us.

After the filming was finished John, his guitar and crew were lowered back down to ground level and as I'm told by the very happy punters that were at the camp, John hung out for a short while and gave them a performance that was very much appreciated.

The track John sung in the Tree is called Treat Your Mama With Respect, so watch and listen out for it.

For now, ciao

Anne

It was beautiful and surreal having French horns and singers in the misty forest and thousands of lights covering the tree last night for our Christmas event.

Unfortunately yesterday was marred for us by the news of Emily Craddock’s death on the Arctic Sunrise in Brazil.

Emily was a beautiful, idealistic and caring person. She wanted to have children and she had a definite vision of the peaceful and sane world she wanted them to live in. I am shocked and saddened that she will not live out her dreams, but she would definitely have wanted us to continue our work to protect the Amazon forest, the Styx valley and all living things (our “brothers and sisters” as she called them).

My sympathy goes out to her family, the crew of the Arctic Sunrise and all her many friends around the world. We have lost something very special.

- Emma , activist

Rather than climbing down the chimney, Santa abseiled down the world's largest living Christmas tree last night.

Find out more at the Greenpeace Australia Pacific website.

"Those of you fighting to preserve the great forests of Tasmania are warriors fighting to preserve a future for our children and grandchildren. As a father and grandfather, I salute you and give thanks to what you are doing."

Writes award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster
Dr David Suzuki.

All over the planet, most of the large forest ecosystems have been invaded by human beings. We live with the arrogant notion that we are so clever, we understand how forests work and can cut them down and attempt to manage them.

Of course, what the forest industry calls a second growth "forest" is in fact not a forest at all but a plantation that attempts to mimic an agricultural crop. Only time and nature are able to grow a forest but we humans are too impatient, our economic system demands returns now.

Even though there are numerous examples that show forests can be used for human benefit and economy, we don't seem willing to live within the regenerative capacity of forest ecosystems and like the greedy folks who had a goose that laid golden eggs, we kill the goose by clearcutting the forest.

The forests of Tasmania are unique, just as the forests of the Amazon, Congo and Canada are unique. Each has untold secrets that we could tease out of them if we had the respect and patience to do it.

The sad thing is that in our arrogance, forestry companies boast that they "know enough to manage the forests they are logging", never acknowledging that this is absolutely untrue. In order to manage anything, even a shoe factory, we need at least two components of knowledge: an inventory of everything in the system and a blueprint indicating how everything in
hat system interacts.

Since we know that we have identified perhaps 10% of all species on Earth (and that is a very generous estimate) and know less than a fraction of 1% of those in any kind of detail, it is
unbelievable that any forester would claim to know how to manage a forest.

The past century has been an unbelievable period of ecological degradation and loss of biodiversity. As biological beings, we are as dependent as any other species on clean air, clean water, clean soil and clean energy, all elements that are cleansed, created or regenerated by
the diverse web of living things on the planet. Our survival is tied up in the integrity of ecosystems around the Earth.

Those of you fighting to preserve the great forests of Tasmania are warriors fighting to preserve a future for our children and grandchildren. As a father and grandfather, I salute you and give thanks to what you are doing.

David Suzuki

Happy anniversary to us at the global rescue station! I am very happy to be here. I am happy that these trees, birds and animals are here too, and I'm really happy that the clear-felling loggers are not here.
Peace, Emma

This is the first decent party we've had in the sit. Any gatecrashers should bring their own bosuns chairs, because we don't have any more room.
Love Adam

Reg (Gandalf's Staff) has dressed up for the party in shiny after-rain colours and we all look dorky in Greenpeace rain jackets.
Love Cat xxx

I don't mind drinking red wine in the sit, but it feels like a lot longer than a month. Due to safety requirements the party we're having now is nothing compared to the party we'll have when the Styx becomes a national park.
Adrian

We have been here for one month but the tree has been here for four hundred years. Save the forests!
Sakyo

Has anyone got any dry socks? I need some dry socks.
Love and light, Annie.

- group weblog

My second day at the tree. After being rocked to sleep by the wind last night, today we woke up to beautiful sunshine. No wind, no clouds, just my red-burned European face.

It was a busy day. Everybody is great at teaching me all the details about the station – Gandalf’s Staff or just the tree. A lot of time is spent on checking and double-checking our security systems. You permanently have to have an eye on all the ropes, knots and other things your life depends on.

But the team is great, today we had to level one of the platforms again, after all the time the ropes and knots get stretched from the constant weight.

Lots of people and friends keep visiting the base camp to have a look and show us their support.

It is very, very beautiful out here....

- Flo

Yesterday I arrived in the Styx, after hearing so much about it. Now I’ve made it here and am finally sitting in the tree - in our little communications tent. I can feel the wind shaking the tree and hear the birds in the forest nearby.

After having a short climb yesterday, today we worked on the tree's decorations, setting up lights and so on. For me it's still very much to get to know the tree, to get used to the height and not get scared too much of every little move.

I feel the longer you stay up here and the colder it gets, the higher the tree is.
All this is new to me, the set up is great. But the most fascinating and impressive aspect is all the people related to it. On my long way here I met a lot of people wanting to help the station, wishing me good luck and supporting the idea of the protest high up in the trees. Now I see why. Here everybody is very grateful for all the support and the mails we get, it is very important to stay here and to know that what we are doing is the right thing.

- Flo, activist

I'm writing another weblog to distract myself from the wind, which is so strong now it's scary - even Adam looks slightly nervous! The tents are flapping like crazy and it's so loud I doubt I could hear someone shouting from the bottom of the tree.

Most of my clothes are wet, and if it wasn't for Val's wonderful (and far-travelled) chocolate brownies I'd be feeling pretty miserable - thank you Val!

We had a visit today from some awesome folk who've been riding in the Cycle for Old Growth up the north of Tasmania, an event which I would have loved to be a part of if I wasn't here, so it was good to meet them.

Once again, unknown visitors the highlight of the day! But it's really encouraging to be reminded that outside this forest I call home, hundreds of positive events are happening and being planned, change gradually achieved... I don't think I'm just telling myself that to make this craziness seem worth it!

Sorry about the incoherence folks, I think this wind is playing havoc with my thought processes! Anyway, a big thank you for taking the time to be on the website, do keep writing those letters.

- Cat, activist

Hi everybody out there in cyberland. It's the first day of our second month since the launch day, and it feels like we haven't gotten any closer to summer. It's so cold at the moment I'm scared to get out of my sleeping bag. I'm going to have to eventually though because the Greenpeace local group from Hobart is coming to pay us a visit.

They sure picked a good day for it, freezing cold, howling wind and horizontal rain. Another reason I'm going to have to get out of my bag is that I really want a hot drink and some food. Adrian braved it this morning and made us all a cuppa so now it's my turn.

Sorry to harp on about the wind but the last gust was a real corker. Adrian was doing something outside and he said it knocked him off balance! Don't worry Bernadette (Adrian's mum), he is very securely attached to the tree.

We were going to have a training afternoon today but I think I'll be cancelling that, as well as any other non-essential climbing until things calm down.

Have a good day everyone, and next time can we save a forest in the tropics? Are the biggest mango trees in the world under any threat? Just kidding, we love this place.

- Adam, activist

I'm sitting on the lower, outside platform with my feet over the edge, listening to the birds - amazing! Just as I was trying to identify a call, two parrots flew straight past. The birds seem as happy about this sudden calm as I am, after a couple of very "weathery" days - but unfortunately no real rain, not the kind the forest needs, or anywhere near enough for the creek to flow happily and us to fill up there easily.

Emma is up near the crow's nest, working while the wind takes a lunch break (we already had ours). The valley looks otherworldly through the mist of rain and fog, and for the moment it's really peaceful up here, in sharp contrast to this morning's rude awakening to cold and wind and a request from below to leave my cosy tent (grr) and lower the ropes.

This, like everything else up here, is a more complicated process than I can quite believe - it takes ages just to change out of my sports (sleeping) harness and into the industrial (day) harness, mostly because there's a shoulder harness involved in there as well... it's no wonder days can slide by so fast here! It's incredible to think that we've been here more than a month now.

- Cat, activist

After a couple of days on the ground spent mainly welcoming visitors and "possum-proofing" (yes, the possum saga continues!), I've had my windiest ascent to date, and discovered that the climb is a whole lot scarier in high wind! I know that it's completely safe of course- thank you Adam - but spinning around on a rope 60 metres in the air is a little unsettling all the same.

The excitement level around here has certainly risen this week with the news of new opposition leader Latham's promise to visit Tasmania's forests - after year's of Bob Brown invitations to, and rejections from, politicians, to have one accept the invitation is just fantastic - for some of us too good to believe.

It seems that the world is becoming aware of the importance of our forests, and now we all hope that the Japanese buyers such as Mitsubishi are also listening.

The only subject more talked about round here than Latham's apparent interest in our forests is the possums, who I'm sure are plotting something right now.

- Cat, activist

Another day in the GRS slowly draws to a close. A low-pressure system and associated cold front arrived today but with only about 10 drops of rain. The bush is getting so dry even the moss is looking a bit sad, so everyone please pray for rain in the Styx!

We did some training with some of the less experienced people here, which was fun. Watching people try and get out of the tangles they get themselves into can be quite funny for but you can’t laugh too much because it's a bit demoralising for the trainee.

We've also started in on rigging for Christmas. Apparently we've pretty much cleaned out Hobart's supply of fairy lights, and I believe it too, we've got thousands of the things to put up. We all can’t wait to turn them on when we're finished, it'll have to be one of the biggest Christmas trees in the world!

We get a lot of emails everyday which is really fun although they can mean a lot of work as well. I've got one from the herald with about 100 technical questions in it. It's going to take me ages to answer them all properly, which is ok I guess, it's not as if I'm about to rush out to the pub or over to visit a friend in the next suburb.

I'm reading a book by David Suzuki at the moment (it's his latest I think) and in it he mentions a tree platform that is up in some old growth forest in British Colombia. This platform is being used by scientists researching biodiversity in the canopy. If anyone knows their email address I'd like to send them a message. It's such important work they are doing and they may be
interested in some of our observations. There's a lot of strange bugs and plants up here that are probably as yet unclassified.

Anyway, Cat is busy cooking something that is smelling very good so that'll have to be it for my web log for today. All the best

- Adam, activist

This is Anne here (from the Greenpeace Sydney crew). I have been
accompanying the Rescue Station crew since arriving in Tasmania a couple of
weeks ago to participate in the direct action to shut down the working coupe
4A, also located in the Styx Valley.

Today, Tuesday, is my second day in succession in the tree after several
shorter visits to hang out with the team.

I've noticed in the last couple of days the increased amount of bird life
that is growing accustomed to our presence. Day and night, their voices are
melodically leading my mind further into the peaceful and serene world up
here. There isn't the distractions that we otherwise subconsciously become
accustomed to in the normal hectic lifestyle we surrender to.

Alas to say that apart from the magnificent view of the remaining ancient
forest and the vibrant sunsets and sunrises, not to mention the interesting,
and freaky looking bugs and spiders that live on Gandalf's Staff, it is
inevitably an unbelievable experience to be contributing to this campaign
for the tallest trees.

Duty calls as I need to check that the crew doing some rigging on the tree
have everything they need.

So adieu for now, although looking forward to some more emails from you tree
lovers out there.

Cheers

Anne Nun, activist

Hello out there world!
Today feels like summer is on its way to the Styx valley of the giants.
There are big thunderheads around and a warm breeze coming from the north. We are all preying for rain as the forest is very dry, quite different to the oozy wet place it was when we first arrived over a month ago.
I had the laziest Sunday I've had in months yesterday. I lay in my sleeping
bag reading and drinking cups of tea until noon!
It's been a bit busier today with people turning up to say hello and also
some fresh ground crew to help us install Christmas lights. Not only will
the GRS be the world’s most sophisticated tree sit but it will also be the
world's best lit and biggest Christmas tree (although I'm not sure, maybe in
America they've had a bigger one, does anyone out there know?)
From a practical point of view the GRS is in good shape; our water and food
storage is at maximum capacity, and with our new big deepcycle gellcell
battery our power storage problems are over. The rigging is all still very
good and showing very little wear considering some of the winds we've had up
here. The crew has all well and truly found their tree legs and settled
into the routine of life in the top of a giant tree. Amazingly adaptable
creatures aren't we?
Keep up all the good work everybody and enjoy whatever is left of your day
wherever you may be.

Adam, activist

Following the launch of their Global Rescue Station to save ancient trees in Tasmania’s Styx Valley from logging, Greenpeace and The Wilderness Society pledged their support for today’s action organised by the Tarkine National Coalition Inc to stop logging operations in the Tarkine, Australia's largest temperate rainforest.

A group of 40 farmers and local residents today staged a protest at the unsatisfactory outcome of negotiations over logging at Eagle Hill, on the edge of the Tarkine rainforest.

“The overwhelming community call for forest protection has now spread to the Tarkine rainforests and we expect it will continue across the state," said Wilderness Society campaigner Geoff Law.

A sustainable livelihood in tourism for locals is being compromised as a result of the destruction of Tarkine rainforest.

As with the Styx Valley, over 90% of the Tarkine forest logged by Gunns Limited ends up as woodchips, and is exported to Japanese paper companies including Oji, Nippon and Mitsubishi.

On November 12 the Global Rescue Station was unveiled to the world. A 65 metre platform was constructed in the canopy one of the world's tallest hardwood trees, a Eucalyptus regnans, to prevent it from being logged. Environmentalists from Australia, Japan and Canada continue to occupy the tree platform to draw global attention to the fact that Tasmania's ancient forests are being pulped for paper.

- Joint Greenpeace/Wilderness Society press release

A paper-thin reason (We all bleed)
We don't want to say goodbye
To the woody giants of green
As trees are so important to mankind
Not to mention they are a beauty to be seen.
Witnessing the blazing bodies
That hollers across the once calm Styx
Smelling the death of poisoned creatures
As the sloth like paper leviathans chase another money fix.
The awing blue mist is lost, in the smothering thick smoke
It's crazy that all this bedlam is over the hunger for a woodchip
That's why we have to speak out, over the things we believe in
No! We don't want to hear paper-thin reasons and no one's biting our lip.
It makes me nauseous, seeing all this destruction that's going on
Just because companies are addicted to taking more than they need
But we have it in all of us; to persuade the government to preserve
Because every time the saws cut through, we all begin to bleed.

- by Daniel North, a supporter

I just returned from a swim in the Styx river (showers? yeah, I think I remember those) where I was nearly caught, rather exposed by some unexpected arrivals.

My initial surprise only deepened when I learnt that the three arrivals were from Forestry Tasmania. They were surveying the riverbank with the intention of “touristing” the place up a bit - a boardwalk (Big Tree Reserve Style) is apparently planned to accompany a new track and picnic
site.

I'm still struggling to comprehend the logic behind boosting tourism to the Styx while simultaneously clearfelling just a couple of kilometres away.

On the happier side, we had a visit today from a guy who's travelled from
NSW just to see the Styx and specifically the Global Rescue Station. As
though this isn't amazing enough already, he brought us biscuits AND offered
to collect water from the creek for me! Paul, you are a star!

Cat Moore, activist

Awoke this morning to find the kitchen covered in what had last night been the contents of our organic waste bucket - the latest work of our possum friend. Well, that'll teach me for forgetting to suspend it out of reach.

The difficulty of keeping the place "possum-proof" is more than outweighed by our excitement at the possum’s appearance. Maybe it's the warm weather, but this week I've seen (as well as our possum friend) plenty of snakes and lizards, two echidnas and - wait for it - a platypus! I've lived in this country all my life and never seen a platypus until now. And there was this little guy, happily paddling upstream, scrabbling away at the rocks on the bottom and paying us (hands flapping and mouths open in excitement) not the slightest attention. My first platypus, and I'll remember to suspend that organics bucket tonight.

Cat Moore, activist

After spending weeks working at the Wilderness Society’s Hobart office, I felt that it was time to get some fresh forest air. I wanted to spend the weekend with the Global Rescue Station inhabitants, to get a real feeling for what it's like living in 'Gandalf's Staff' and understand the daily battles that one faces 65m above the ground.

The tree-sit is incredibly well organised and coordinated. The communications tent is a dome of beeps and lights and charging batteries linked to solar panels. When a few people are moving around on the various platforms it can become really busy, and with two points of attachment at all times, it's a slow process.

The platforms are so sturdy that sometimes when I looked out into the forest I forgot how high I was. It wasn’t until I put on my descending device to abseil over the edge and peered down at the tops of a rainforest canopy about 30m below, that I realised how high I really was.

The silence is astounding... until gusts of wind come blasting through the forest, finding their way under the tents, trying to send anything untied flying over the edge. Luckily everything is always connected to an anchor of some sort! We zip up the tents and sit protected by the enormous tree trunk.

There is plenty of time to ponder the brilliance of the forest and to wonder why it's being pulped for paper. If we are to protect it, we must continue to promote it and will welcome more and more people into the forest to see for themselves what we are losing. It has inspired me to come back to the office and continue at my desk!

- Rebecca Hubbard, Greenpeace forest campaigner

We use a hauling system to get things up the tree. We can pull up people as well as gifts. It is fun when we receive unexpected gifts such as chocolate cake or Tim Tams.

- Sakyo, Japanese activist

Having been in this amazing forest for nearly a month now, I'm only writing my first weblog now because- hooray - I'm in the tree (The real Big Tree, our tree, Gandalf's staff or more affectionately known as Reg, which is short for eucalyptus regnans.

Most of my time here has been spent cooking, carrying water from the creek, hauling stuff up here and the like. I don't think I've ever worked so hard physically, but then I've never had the opportunity to be part of such an incredible project as this. And surrounded by these crazy ancient giants there's no chance of forgetting why we are here, especially now that I'm up
here, cradled by Reg's branches. I like this guy and more than ever I don't want him cut down.

Cat Moore, activist