Growing up near the exquisitely beautiful Rocky Mountains in Canada made me a lifelong lover of alpine meadows. My childhood was spent hiking them with my parents and three little brothers, assorted cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends. We young ones would race across the lush expanse, leaping as high as we could off obliging logs and stumps, collect fistfuls of wildflowers, and search the undergrowth for tiny alpine strawberries.
I search out alpine meadows wherever I can find them. I’ve hiked to them in British Columbia, Italy, and Alberta, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Albania. Each one is unique yet boasts the same elements: stunning views, cool, fresh air, and wondrous beauty.
Hiking in the Bunya Mountains was my first experience of an Australian alpine meadow, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The instant recognition in my heart almost hurt with its intensity. Emotionally I was whisked back to my childhood, and wouldn’t have been surprised in the least to see Bighorn Sheep grazing in the distance or a black bear ambling along to the next berry patch.
I couldn’t stop smiling as we wandered through, watching millions of wildflowers dancing in the buffeting winds, stopping to watch a huge goanna waddle across our path and hustle into the undergrowth.
The trees, flowers, and wildlife in an Australian alpine meadow may be different to what I’m used to, but the feeling is the same: freedom, space, unfettered joy.
Sue and I walked slower through the meadow than we did on any other part of our trek through the Bunya Mountains, both of us wanting to soak up the bliss of cool winds and gorgeous vistas. We were so glad we chose the 10 km hike so we didn’t miss out on this treasure of a place.
At last we couldn’t drag our heels any longer and bid farewell to the alpine meadow.
It certainly helped that the next part of our hike was entered through this magical archway. Who could resist such loveliness?
Do you have a place from your childhood that always brings back happy memories? xo
Well, I didn’t even know Australia had Alpine meadows! 🙂 Such vastly different landscapes, there. Turkey has lots of areas that look Alpine, too – perfect for trekking. 🙂
Julia
What glorious photos! I can understand why you love it so!
I didn’t either, Julia! 🙂 What an utterly delightful surprise. I really loved your snowy mountain pics yesterday. Gorgeous!!
Thank you, Tracy. 🙂 I’m so glad you like them too.
I want to be there!
Love the open Vista and your photographs have a sense of peace about them ?
Just looking at these pictures makes me happy. Thank you Krista 😀
i didn’t spend my childhood in alpine meadows but they do give me the same feeling as you describe – utter joy. i could stay in one forever, i think.
stunning scenery which i have shared on my google plus page. hope you are keeping well.
Oh how gorgeous is this! It must have been such a serene hike!
Gorgeous photos. The Bunya Mountains are very beautiful.
You are inspiring me to do some hiking soon!! Didn’t know we had these places in Australia
I love this post. Isn’t it true how our childhood memories are so linked to how we respond emotionally to certain sights, smells and sounds.
You made me want to go hiking in an alpine meadow. 🙂
There’s nothing quite like Canada for lush and beautiful greenery. It’s one of our favorite places to go hiking and on nature walks.
Your hike was so worth it to see that beautiful place. My happy childhood memories involve beaches, islands and rainforest and boats.
Never thought about Alpine Meadows as being endearing before. Guess my favorite from my childhood would be the one that Julie Andrews ran through while singing, The Hills Are Alive in the Sound of Music!
Oh how stunning Krista, how magical seeing a field of millions of wildflowers dancing in the wind, what a beautiful scape to take in, soothing for the soul I bet. 🙂
Childhood happy memories, I don’t know the correct name of them, but we called them pepper trees, they had little red berry type bushes, and were sticky if you rubbed the leaves between your fingers, anyways, we had this EPIC tree house in a pepper tree, we had a bed, kitchen, security system to stop folk from breaking in, the works. To this day, when I see a pepper tree, I go straight to those years where we played in our tree house. So many happy memories. 🙂
What a beautiful trek. Thanks for sharing 🙂
So beautiful. I feel like I am in The Sound of Music. In a very good way.
The scenery is gorgeous and I’m so pleased you didn’t come across any bears! That final photo of the pathway through the trees is stunning xx
Who doesn’t like mountains and meadows? So refreshing. One summer when I was growing up my family visited my uncle’s place in rural Vermont with lots of acreage and hills. My sister and I delighted in searching for wild strawberries which are very small not like what you see in the supermarkets – but so sweet to eat! We would take our berries and make jams with the adults supervising. Your post helped me remember this lovely experience. I’m glad you had such a great time on holiday with your friend.
So glad you love Australia and the beautiful land! I can’t wait to visit Canada one day.
What an amazing place! The remains look well preserved.
Adding to my dream list of places to visit.