I’ve written in this blog before about eucalyptus oil, one of the well-known oils extracted from Australia’s native plants, but there are other commonly known oils, for example tea tree oil from the tea tree, and the oil from a plant called lemon myrtle.
Lemon myrtle is known for “having a stronger lemon aroma than the lemon.” It grows along the coast of New South Wales and Queensland, where the Gold Coast is located.The tree grows to about 20m, its leaf shape is similar to a eucalyptus, and its flowers are small like whitened flowers of the fragrant olive tree. I quite like the aroma of lemon myrtle and use the oil in an aroma oil diffuser, I use soap made from the essential oil, and I use a lemon myrtle air freshener. One of my hobbies is making soy candles, including candles with lemon myrtle essential oil. Like eucalyptus oil, lemon myrtle oil has excellent natural antiseptic and deodorant properties as well as an astringent effect, so it’s recommended for use in the heat of summer, for its aroma as well. The Gold Coast is close to where it grows, so lemon myrtle products are always available at the local markets and shops selling health foods and cosmetics. The dried leaves are also used like lemon grass as a tea and in cooking. Flavored salt with ground lemon myrtle leaves, rock salt and pepper removes smells from meat or fish, tastes of lemon and is excellent with barbeques and so on.
The products in the photos are from the brand most commonly seen in this area. The company is called Natural Lemon Myrtle. The products are shampoo, air freshener and insect repellent spray. As the name suggests, the company makes and sells lemon myrtle products only.
Lemon myrtle dressing in an appealing package. The lemony sharpness is delicious.
Another one, tea tree oil, which is comparatively well known in Japan, brings together a citrusy aroma with a eucalyptus-like aroma but without the minty scent. It too has excellent deodorant and antiseptic properties, and is useful for disinfecting cuts, athlete’s foot, herpes, skin inflammations and more. The most famous brand, Thursday Plantation, puts out a range of products with tea tree oil in them. Even the big supermarkets sell tea tree oil and sprays. A while ago I recommended this brand of tea tree oil ointment to a friend who told me they’d been bitten all over by mites and couldn’t bear the itch. My friend was very surprised and happy to find that it did relieve the itch.Personally speaking, I don’t particularly like the smell of the oil, so I don’t use it as an aroma oil, but I do use it if I’ve been bitten by a mosquito or get a pimple.
Tea tree oil (left), deodorant (middle) and tea tree spray (right)
The other day I heard about Tea Tree Lake, a lake stained by tea tree oil dissolved in the water, and decided to go there.I went to Byron Bay, a famous tourism spot 1 hour by car from the Gold Coast, found a beach called Broken Head and walked inland 100m to find the lake.When the water level is high, seawater connects with the lake in a kind of small river, but the water level was low, so the river bed was dry and I could see the brown staining.The lake is colored brown by constituents in the tea tree oil. There was a slimy kind of moss floating on the surface in the deeper part of the lake, so I was hesitant about going in. But there is a story that the aborigines treat it as a sacred site, and that women used to come and immerse themselves in the water for an easy birth, so it is in a sense a place with mystical powers. I decided that seeing as I had come all the way it would be a waste not to go in. So I went in and found a faint scent of tea tree and sulfur mixed together, creating an indescribable smell. The bottom of the lake felt slimy underfoot, so frankly I can’t say it felt very good. But, to my surprise, my skin felt very smooth. The itch and redness in two places where I had been bitten by mosquitoes went away, so it was worthwhile persevering and getting into the water. Once again I found the benefits of tea tree oil. I hope you check out these oils for yourself when you manage to get to Australia.
Tea Tree Lake, a short walk inland from the sea
The water is brown from tea tree constituents.
