Alpine Mountains

The Australian Alps rise across southeastern Australia, and they are the highest mountains on the mainland. Their snowfields lie above forests and woodlands, and traces of ancient ice remain in hollows on the highest ground. The Ngarigu people used the high plains and valleys seasonally, travelling up from the lower country as the weather allowed.

In summer the bogong moth gathered in large numbers in the rock crevices and caves of the mountains, and people came up from the plains to harvest them. The rugged, snow-bound country was hard for travellers to cross, and few Europeans entered the high ranges before the 1830s.