We didn’t see any deer but locals said they are prevalent.

The drive to Mount Hotham climbs 1500 metres in elevation in 30km on a good sealed road but with huge drop-offs from the mostly uphill side.

Mount Hotham on the left hand side of the ridgeline

Forever upward

Entrance to Hotham Village under a ski run

The summit ridge from Hotham Village

An Australian raven at Hotham Village.

Looking back at Hotham Village from near the start of the Summit Track.

Looking south across the Australian Alps from the Mount Hotham Summit Track.

Masses of paper daisies added colour to the alpine herbfields. We are above the treeline at this point.

The grey colour on the ridges are trunks of burnt trees from the alpine fires of 2005. New trees are slowly growing from the lignotubers.

Unusual wildflowers, some resembling plants we saw in central Australia

Late flowering of a Brachycome daisy. Peak flowering here is in January.

Our destination in sight

The summit point (1862 metres above sea level) dwarfed by a fire tower. A ranger was on duty on watch.

Razorback Ridge and Mount Feathertop from the summit.

We didn’t see much wildlife but did see a cat crossing the road.

An Australian pipit

Mount Hotham is one of 7 Peaks climbs for extreme cycling.

We drve to Dinner Plains village on the eastern end of the plateau. An historic hut  is a shelter for bushwalkers in winter.

A raven joined us for lunch at Mount Hotham with news from Winterfell.

A forlorn dog on an unusually warm day at Mount Hotham – “Don’t worry fella, Winter is coming!”

We walked a short section of the 22km Mount Feathertop track along Razorback Ridge. Mount Feathertop in the distance (middle right). Mount Bogong (Victoria’s highest peak) is in the distance on the far right.

A flame robin on the Razorback Ridge

Mount Buffalo from the Razorback Ridge track

Bon Accord

Grasshopper on the ridge walk

Descending the mountain, the road can be seen on the ridgeline in the middle distance.

The road down the mountain. The guard rails were severely battered in places (sliding vehicles in snow and icy conditions).

Back to the autumn colours of Bright in the late afternoon.

Bird and grasshopper photos today by the youngest member of our travelling group.