Australian Alps

From Wikinfo

The Australian Alps is a general term for the highest group of mountain ranges in Australia.

Located in the south-east of the continent, the Australian Alps form part of the [Great Dividing Range]], the long series of mountains and plateaus which runs about 3000 kilometres from northern Queensland to southern Victoria. These highlands divide the rivers and streams which flow eastwards into the Pacific Ocean or south into Bass Strait from those that flow inland to the Murray-Darling Basin.

The highlands reach their greatest height in the region of far southern New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria. It is only in this region that peaks exceeding 2000 metres occur and it is only in this region that winter snow canj be relied on. The Snowy Mountains on the New South Wales-Victoria border are a part of the Australian Alps.

These highlands are important for conservation, recreation and as a water catchment. They contain large national parks and Australia's only ski resorts.

Significant areas in the Australian Alps include

• Mount Kosciuszko
• Mount Bogong
• Kosciuszko National Park
• Alpine National Park

Skiing areas include

• Perisher Blue
• Thredbo
• Charlotte Pass
• Mount Buller
• Falls Creek
• Mount Hotham

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Australian_Alps" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Alps, used under the GNU Free Documentation License