ATLANTIS IN THE CLOUDS
Pausing at the serene summer stillness of Bogong High Plains’s pivotal pole 333 crossroads, it seems paradoxical to invoke the gales, snow and lack of visibility that, at this same location, might have forced the likes of cattlemen, skiers and hikers alike to forge a Faustian pact.
Bluesman Robert Johnson, in his iconic lament, Crossroads, sings of desolation and loneliness before (as legend has it) he sells his soul to the devil in his own Faustian pact. But on high-vaulted blue sky days, we embraced 333’s allure. Birthed fresh into the New Year there was no despair, just happy blasts of nature enlivening the senses.
Pole 333’s setting is an encapsulation of the subtle, fascinating jewel-like pleasures of the Bogong High Plains, one of Victoria’s Alpine National Park’s numerous assets.
The plains are not an in-your-face experience as blatant as a rainforest. Due to the cold and wind, trees are sparse and generally isolated to the few low geological protrusions. Faraway lines of mountains melt into the opalescent distance – but the foreground is generally flat, leaving the impression of “Where is everything?”.
However, once you focus your eyes to that flat foreground’s offerings, the scene becomes comprehensively beguiling. Flung out over the plains’ rolling undulations is a regal mosaic of massed plant life; low in height, fecund, and packed with flowers – billy buttons, buttercups, mountain hovea and leafy daisy among them – and resplendent in a diversity of colours and texture.
“The plains are not an in-your-face experience as blatant as a rainforest. Due to the cold and wind, trees are
