town. When the author was six, her father Walter died in Koroit on 1 August 1879 and was buried at the Koroit cemetery. Traditional ownership The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Koroit sits are the Eastern Maar people, who are represented by the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC). Tower Hill Tower Hill has always been a part of Koroit and in the town's earliest days the lake within the Tower Hill crater was the source of the town's drinking water. Tower Hill is an extinct volcano formed at least 30,000 years ago when a hot rising basaltic magma came into contact with the subterranean water table. The violent explosion that followed created the funnel-shaped crater (later filled by a lake) and the islands seen today. It is one in a line of more than 30 volcanoes that stretch from Colac to the East to Mount Gambier in South Australia. Artefacts found in the volcanic ash layers show that Aborigines were living in the area at the time of the eruption. This area including Tower Hill is part of the UNESCO-endorsed Kanawinka Geopark. Tower Hill has always been public land, initially reserved as an Acclimatization Zone in 1866 it was declared a State Forest in 1872. An Act of Parliament on 5 December 1892 declared Tower Hill to be a National Park, Victoria's first and one of the earliest in the World. With no additional funding, management of the Tower Hill National Park was vested with the Borough of Koroit. To ease the burden on ratepayers, the Borough was forced to collect royalties from quarrying of volcanic road-making material and grazing leases. At the end of the 19th century, Tower Hill was a shadow of its former glory with bracken being the dominant vegetation and rabbits the dominant wildlife species. In 1961, the Borough transferred Tower Hill to the State and in association with the Fisheries and Wildlife Department it became a State Game Reserve. The vegetation of Tower Hill was originally a diverse collection of Manna Gum, Blackwood, Black Wattle, Swamp Gum and Drooping Sheoak. However, early settlers soon removed much of the vegetation. Since 1961, Tower Hill has been revegetated and is now home to koalas, kangaroos, emus and many bird species. A number of walks, picnic areas and public facilities are located within the Reserve. The local cemetery is the Tower Hill Cemetery located