Why I love the Victorian high country

I often refer to Tasmania, particularly Hobart, as my second home. Having family there means I've spent a lot of time in one of Australia's most beautiful states, and it just feels like home. But there's another spot that comes an equal second - a special part of the country just a couple of hours from home...

To many, the Victorian high country is a place of fun, adventure, spirit. A place of peace.

To me, it's everything. Not just a place to visit, this is a part of the country that I feel.

I look around and see the beauty of it, hear the silence and the wildlife, smell the eucalypt and fresh air, feel the roughness of the bush and the wind blowing around me, and I swallow that air with every breath.

I've been coming here for as long as I can remember. Family holidays as a kid, filled with swimming and ice-creams and driving trips; visits to my aunty's farm where we'd slide down hills on a piece of cardboard.

Since I met Steve, I've come here every year to camp and waterski. Together, we have hiked part of this country and we've skied on those mountains. We sit and we talk. Here, we can just be.

And now we bring our little girl here too, and she loves the rivers, mountains and bushlands where we camp, hike and drive. She swims, she wanders, she looks at the animals and she laughs as we drive over bumpy roads that could either lead us to an amazing, hidden spot or get us stuck.

This is an area you could spend every holiday for every year of your life, and still never see it all.

Although it's fun to try.