Traditional Aboriginal life in the Alps included an annual migration of some thousands of people from the valleys and foothills up to temporary summer camps just below the treeline. Its focus was the seasonal harvest of cori, or Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa). The moth season was the focus for great gatherings of neighbouring tribes, summoned by messengers within a range of 160 kilometres. It is possible that even tribes from south Gippsland took part. Five or six hundred people in each campsite would hold corroborees lasting six days before feasting began, when songs were exchanged, trade and initiations would take place and betrothals and arguments would be settled.
The Park supports a large diversity of animals including a number of threatened species such as the Smoky Mouse, Broad-toothed Rat, Powerful Owl, Spotted Tree Frog and She-oak Skink.
The rare Mountain Pygmy possum, the worlds only exclusively alpine marsupial and the only marsupial that stores food to last it throughout the winter is also found amongst isolated boulder slopes covered with heathlands. This specialised habitat can only found in a few places within the Victorian and New South Wales Alps.
The Bogong Moth is an interesting insect inhabiting the Bogong and Dargo high plains and peaks between November and April, away from the heat of the inland plains. For thousands of years, Aborigines travelled to the high country in summer to hold ceremonies and feast on the protein rich Bogong Moths. Here they shelter in rock crevices where they provide food for Mountain Pygmy possums and Little Ravens.
Covering 646,000 hectares the Alpine National Park is the largest Park in the State of Victoria. Linking with National Parks in NSW and the ACT, this protected area covers almost all of Australia’s Alpine environment. The snowfields are the primary winter attraction, with the warmer months revealing stunning wildflower displays. There is even the 655 km Australian Alps Walking Track stretching from Walhalla to Canberra.
The Alpine National Park is one of the eight parks that make up the Australian Alps national parks. These eight parks are managed co-operatively to ensure that Australia’s mainland alpine and sub-alpine environments are protected in a similar way and that policies and guidelines across State and territory borders are as consistent as possible.
Kath and Steve Baird settled in Tawonga with their two young boys Lin and Clay in 1986. They arrived with a truck load of horses and a vision for a family business that would honour the traditions of the High Country horse and offer unique quality visitor experiences. That vision still drives this family business. Spring Spur is truly the home of Bogong Horseback Adventures, the Baird family sanctuary, and for the visitor, a country home away from home.
