Dean M. Chriss
Photography
A View from Lavers Hill, Victoria, Australia
(Click image to enlarge)
The town of Lavers Hill was named after two settlers, Stephen and Frank Laver.
The town was established in 1891 and at one time had a bank, community hall,
cheese factory, butcher shop, hotel, and 500 students in the school. By 2016
the population was only 78. The haze blanketing this scene is commonly
attributed to the area’s eucalyptus forests. The oil in these highly flammable
trees emits volatile terpenoids that cause the haze. Eucalypts, which encompass
over 800 different tree species, are iconic Australian forest trees. This forest
type is by far the most common in Australia, covering 101 million hectares (250
million acres), which is 77% of Australia's total native forest area.