Mike, its a bit vague to remember. It was some 3 or 4 years ago. And it was something that does stick in the mind. The storm from memory came from the SW, developed around Moorabbin area, and drifted E then NE into the mountain. I was travelling N on the tourist rd into Mt Dandenong to take a client home to Kalorama (on the N side of the mtn). I only remember that the storm came in pretty quickly, and it must have been a pretty low thunderhead to get onto Mt D like it did. The lightning was fairly active within the cloud, and some heavy rain periods came and went. But the lightning that struck the cab was vivid, but very quick. And one that made my eyes light up. I think I ended up sitting back further into the driver seat when it happened, and the client got a shock. Sorry I can't give you any more than this Mike, but its all I remember from the event - I do remember that some storms were occuring to the south and north of the mountain, but it is the first time I have ever seen a direct contact between the mountain and a thunderhead. Normally the anvils run a fair way above the mountain (mt D is only roughly 1400m above sea level from memory - the street directory (melways (c)) has a better reading. So normally storms rise over it.
Big Pete