My connection to the ever majestic and unforgiving Mt. Bogong starts with a little town called Tawonga which sits at the southern end of the Kiewa Valley north of the Bogong High Plains. My father’s family lived in this cute little town until they moved to Frankston, Victoria when he was a teenager. During his youth, my father would hike the Bogong High Plains and the surrounding mountains. His Grandmother continued to live in Tawonga for years and the whole family would visit her. Unfortunately, I have no memory of her as I was too young.

From Tawonga you could see Mt. Bogong, always there, forever overlooking us. During the winter months, it would always have white capped peaks. Once my Great Grandmother passed and her house was sold we would then travel from the Mornington Peninsula and camp at Tawonga Caravan Park. It was on the Kiewa River and this was where I started to develop some amazing memories of the area. We would canoe down the river, float on tyres from Mt. Beauty to Red Bank for hours and build epic rock walls to redirect the river. They were such great times and now we continue this with our own children. 

My Grandmother died when I was 12 years old and it was decided we would scatter her ashes around the area including some at the summit of Mt. Bogong. For some of us, including myself, this was the first time we had ever climbed it. We did it in a day via the Staircase and it was exhilarating and exhausting. Once we came out of the tree line it opens up to the Saddle which is an area where it drops down into a valley either side. From there it is the last arduous climb to the summit. We all placed a rock on top of the pile at the highest point and scattered the last of our Grandmother’s ashes. It was all worth it. The view was spectacular, with endless mountain peaks as far as the eye can see.