Mittagundi 2022

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic we were able to travel interstate to remote Mittagundi at the foothills to the Bogong High Plains situated on the Mitta Mitta River in the Glen Valley. 

Students RAT tested the day before departure to ensure that we were not taking anyone that was positive at the time of departure and travelled direct to Bairnsdale by bus after a flight to Melbourne to reduce exposure but resulting in a very late night. Arriving at Mittagundi the next morning students were split into two smaller groups for their time there.

One group started at Mittagundi itself, and set about getting to know the lay of the land and embrace all the pioneer skills on offer for the next three days. 

The blacksmiths forge proved to be very popular, and most students were able to make fire pokers by creating points bending handles and twisting a decorative feature. 

Other pioneer skills on offer included;

- wrangling the new pigs

- hand feeding/ bottle feeding the potty calf (Sazz who was only 5 weeks old and unfortunately orphaned at birth so now believes she is a person or a dog)

- chopping and splitting wood to create beehives to dry it all 

- digging holes and placing fence and strainer posts for replacement and new fences

- working in the green houses and garden

- firing up hot water heaters with wood to have showers and heat water 

- spending time in the kitchen preparing fresh bread, sweet treats and meals 

- feeding chickens and collecting eggs, with a  number of other farm style activities along the way. 

At the end of this time the group started to prepare for two nights out in the snow.

Meanwhile the second group based at Ian's Hut (a secondary dwelling and bunk houses on the Mittagundi property where the founder Ian Stapleton lived for many years) went through a rigorous equipment check for their two nights in the snow to make sure that they were going to have all they would need for their ski trip. 

Snow conditions are variable at best in the backcountry of Victorian Alps, but students were met with enough snow to throw snowballs as soon as they got out of the vehicles at Trap Yard Gap winter road closure. 

Students shouldered their packs and took to the snow with a mixture of ski shuffling following some lessons, and snow play and walking to get to the famed McNamara's Hut as the basecamp for the two nights. 

This hut is stocked by Mittagundi during the summer and was rebuilt and maintained having almost sole use during the winter months. The cosy fire of the log cabin was indeed a popular part of the students' experience. 

On the second day of the ski trip the group was lucky enough to travel to Raspberry Flat where we spent a significant part of the day learning how to slide, stop, turn, fall with and without grace, but most of all how to enjoy the High Country and the winter environment that is so foreign to us in Alice Springs. 

During the third day the focus was getting back out to Trap Yard Gap safely as we were skiing with our full packs largely downhill but many snow antics were had along the way.

The groups both swapped places and continued much the same as above although the ski trip was unfortunately cut short due to extreme weather warnings with catastrophic winds up to 110km/hr predicted. Some skiing and snow play was had on the way down but the conditions were far harder as a result of warm temperatures and less time on the skis. That evening the heavens opened and the wind roared with heavy rain/ snow higher on the ranges and large marble sized hail as reassurance for the decision to come down from the High Plains. Due to the change of plan the group was lucky enough to do a small day trip out to Mittagundi's abseil sight above the famous Graveyard rapid on the Mitta Mitta River that was close to breaking its banks at the time.

The last day at Mittagundi all students were involved in the cleaning and pack up of equipment and areas used. The greatest excitement however was the ability to get into the merchandise shop at Mitta where most students walked away with a new Mittagundi Hoodie to be worn as a badge of honour or reminder of their shared experience.

Throughout the program students embraced many aspects of the course and their time at Mittagundi to their credit in the trying and foreign circumstances. Lydia Budrikis was lucky enough to be recognised as a person that fully embraced the ideals and spirit of Mittagundi by being invited back to the Mittagundi/ Wollangarra Alpine Walk in 2023. She joins the like of Patsy Ryan Betts and Monty Nixon as previous St Philip's College recipients of this esteemed invitation . Huge congratulations and well done to Lydia for this recognition.

A big thankyou to all of the staff who made it possible in 2022. Graham Schmidt, Erin Darrigan, Eliza Schmidt (Gold Duke of Ed student), Amy Stenniken and Trent McIntyre.