The largest blackbutt trees in Australia are a ‘portal into the past’ for Birpai, a hidden gem for locals and tourists

Two of the largest blackbutt trees in Australia, having survived years of logging on Middle Brother Mountain on the NSW Mid North Coast, hold stories, history and great significance for local Aboriginal people of the Birpai nation.

Bird tree and Benaroon tower over 69 metres high and are estimated to be over 200 years old.

“We used to come up here a lot as children. We used to explore the walking tracks and come [play] around Bird tree,” Nardja Carter, a Birpai woman and Aboriginal educator, said.

“It’s our connection to our ancestors because at one time they would have been in and around here hunting, probably sitting against the tree playing in and around it.”

These trees are a hidden gem, now preserved in…