King Billy Pine
The King Billy Pine is one of the defining features of the Tasmanian alpine landscape. Slow-growing and ancient, these mighty trees dot the mountains and plateaus as green conifers or with their haunting skeletal shapes. Being highly sensitive to heat and fire, the skeletal remains, which can stand for hundreds of years, are a great reminder of the fragility of the wild places. I captured this tree while hiking Frenchmans Cap in the wild western wilderness in Tasmania. The band of the Milky Way arching across the sky, accenting the stark shapes of the King Billy made for an unforgettable scene. It felt like I had gone back in time 1000 years and it’s quite possible this view has remained largely unchanged since then.
