A JAUNT in Victoria's Alpine National Park saw multitudes of milling media, but few cattle trampling or otherwise writes LESLIE WHITE

It's always comical when politicians and metropolitan media go bush.

The Weekly Times inspected the Alpine National Park with federal Environment Minister Tony Burke last week - and his office had to tell other media that heels, dresses and two-wheel drives wouldn't cut it.

Mr Burke flew into Mt Hotham airport.

It was a perfect high country day: the air was clear and crisp and dappled sunlight covered the ground under the trees.

The Weekly Times sensibly took a genuine four-wheel drive. Others - including the minister's office - hired 4WDs that do everything but iron your clothes, and yet have clearance only slightly above ankle height and no towing gear.

One passenger said he hit his head repeatedly as the undercarriage scraped rocks and logs and only just escaped being bogged.

The Weekly Times was quietly amused and did ponder at the mud created by 4WDs at the isolated wet spots on the track.

At the first site we saw cow pats and hoof prints in a pond.

En route to the second we stumbled upon media gold - cattle.

A TV crew had already spent days without seeing cattle and returned empty-handed to annoyed bosses.

Cameramen and photographers were in a frenzy, frantically chasing a cow and steer through the bush.

The cattle trotted, oblivious to the commotion while some media sparred because someone walked into someone else's "shot". All this over a couple of cows.

We interviewed Mr Burke. He knew the subject matter well and his language had stepped up from his previous words on the topic, perhaps as a precursor to trying to get the cattle - let in by Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu - removed.

At the second site, a wetland was corrugated with cattle prints.

The Weekly Times found a threatened frog - scientists have argued its habitat is damaged by the cattle - which we photographed.

The inch-long frog seemed unaware of the fuss it was causing across Victoria and in Parliament.

On the way back Mr Burke's vehicle blew a tyre. We stopped and he seemed genuinely amused by a Twitter quote on his mobile phone: "What would Tony Burke know about alpine grazing?"

We're about to find out.