The mountains at Kosciuszko National Park provide a place to reflect and recuperate this Australia day. Picture: courtesy of Thredbo Resort.
If you’re in need of a nature getaway to beat the heat this long weekend, the mountains are calling.
“The highest temperature ever recorded on the top of Mount Kosciusko is 28 C,” laughs Susie Diver, Communications Manager for Thredbo Resort. “And the water in Thredbo River is always refreshingly cool.”
As part of an overarching push to encourage visitors to the mountains during the summer months, the resort has, for the last five years, held Australia Day events which include a group walk to Australia’s highest peak, along with Australia’s highest barbeque, and poetry at the peak.
The 6 km walk up Mount Kosciuszko is achievable for people of all ages. Mount Kosciuszko was named for the Polish patriot and democratic leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko by the explorer Paul Edmund de Strzelecki in 1840. Some Aboriginal people refer to the mountain as Targangal. Photo: Thredbo Resort.
“Doing the easy 6km walk on Australia Day is a way to get back in touch with nature – but it’s not too extreme,” says Diver. “Anyone with an average fitness level can do the walk, so whole families often do it together, kids, grandparents and all.”
The concept of climbing ‘Kozzie on Aussie Day’ has taken off and become a bit of a bucket list item, says Donna Smith, Tourism and Events Manager for the Snowy Monaro Regional Council.
“We’ve certainly seen an increase in the amount of visitors year by year,” says Smith, “and an increase in the number of people climbing Mount Kosciuszko. It’s a really positive way to start the year, by achieving something you’ve wanted to do.”
A crowd at the peak of Mount Kosciuszko listening to poetry. Photo: Thredbo Resort.
A desire to do “special things on special days” leads people up the mountain on Australia Day to listen to an orator reading The Man from Snowy River, “his booming voice echoing around the mountains,” adds Diver.
The resort offers guided walks during the summer months – not just on Australia Day – and also offers guided full-moon walks, which begin in the late afternoon and are completed using head torches or just the light of the moon.
Sunset or moon rise walks up Kosciuszko come highly recommended. Picture: Courtesy of Thredbo Resort.
“The warmest temperature ever recorded in Thredbo Village is 33 C,” says Diver, “and we’ve already reached that twice this summer – it’s been a hot one!”
But according to Diver, even on the hottest summer days, you’ll find a “fresh, clean, green and most of all – cool” place to celebrate our sun-kissed country in Kosciuszko National Park.
For more information on the activities planned for Australia Day, check the Thredbo Resort website.
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