It was winter in Australia, and we were motoring south. Our month had started in Cairns in far north Queensland, and by degrees we had made it to Sydney. Early one morning, we left Galston, a rural suburb where we had been guests in the home of Chris and Jane Forsyth.
Chris and Jane Forsyth at their home in Galston, NSW
In our hired car we drove, seemingly forever, through endless suburbs, finally reaching the expressway to Canberra. The 110 KM/hour speed limit was a refreshing change from the slow state highways and back roads we’d traveled all the way from far north Queensland. It didn’t take long to arrive in the nation’s capital, and we were impressed with how beautiful and well-planned a city it was. It was definitely winter, a cool 8 degrees C. at noon. It would have been nice to have spent some time there, but it was not to be – we drove right on through. South of the city, we entered an area of dry hills which strongly reminded us of our Arizona home.
We arrived at Cooma, a town with lots of adverts for ski areas, rentals, etc., and knew we were getting close to something. From there, another hour’s drive took us to Jindebyne. This is one of Australia’s higher towns for its size, about 1,700 inhabitants – it sits at 915 meters, or about 3,000 feet. Its name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning “valley”. It is a popular winter destination for Aussies, due to its proximity to several ski resorts in Kosciuszko National Park, among them Perisher and Threadbo. Here is a roadside sign we saw in the park.
In Kosciuszko National Park
Jindebyne was a typical tourist town, filled with skiers. We thought it’d be nice to get a hotel for the night, but the cheapest thing we could find was $90.00 AUS. Yikes, way over our budget – instead, we opted for a campsite for $15.00 per night. The campground was pretty decent. A building there had a laundry room, lounge, games room, TV room and hot showers. We set up our tent, cooked a simple meal of noodles and sauce, then relaxed in the lounge in front of the fireplace and caught up on writing our postcards. I was able to rent a pair of snowshoes and buy a map for the next day.
Holy crap, it sure got cold overnight, down to a chilly -8 degrees C. I suppose that’s all we should expect for fifteen bucks in Jindebyne. The next morning, we got up early and I got ready to climb. Susan drove us up to the Threadbo ski area and parked. There, I bought a one-day pass for the national park for $12.00A and then paid $13.00A for a round-trip on the chair lift. The Threadbo lower chairlift terminal sat at 1,365 M (4,478′). I rode on a lift called the Crackenback Express (I think this may now be called the Kosciuszko Express), about 2KM long. It lifted me up a full 560M (about 1,837′), and deposited me at 6,315 feet elevation.
I was here to climb the highest point in Australia proper – Mt. Kosciuszko. At 2,228 M, or 7,310 feet above sea level, it’s certainly no giant. Those peakbaggers seeking the elusive Seven Summits usually won’t even bother with this one, instead considering the real goal to be Carstenz Pyramid (elevation 4,884 M, or 16,024 feet), the highest point on the island of New Guinea and therefore of all of Australasia. I had no such illusions, and was only here to climb Kosciuszko because it was convenient and sounded like a bit of fun.
Once I disembarked at the top of the chairlift, I found myself on a large snow-covered area, fairly flat. It was 6 1/2 KM to the summit. Heading out on foot, I soon warmed up. There was snow everywhere, not deep, and it was quite firm and icy in most places – I didn’t even need the snowshoes.
High in the Snowy Mountains
To my surprise, I saw that an elevated metal grillwork track was heading my way, towards the summit. It was easy enough to use it – I’m guessing it was in place so summer visitors can go to the summit without trampling the fragile ecosystem. Before long, I had this view of the summit.
Mt. Kosciuszko
After 2 hours 20 minutes I was on the top – it looked like I was the first one that day. That metal track went all the way to the summit, by the way. It was 11:00 AM when I arrived. Crowning the gentle summit was a concrete pillar with a metal thing on top of it.
Metal thing on the summit pillar
From the top of the chairlift, I had traveled in a northwesterly direction to reach the peak. As I looked around, it was obvious that others had come in on foot and on skis from the east and north on previous days.
The tracks of others
It didn’t take long for others to arrive, and I had one of them take my picture on the summit.
The Desert Mountaineer on the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko
I was in no hurry, so stayed on the summit chatting with others, folks from all over. It was a clear day with a comfortable temperature. It looked to me like this high country was a group of gently rounded summits, maybe 10 miles long by 3 or 4 miles wide, which extended above tree-line and had snow. I took my sweet time on the way back, dawdling, seeing more than 50 other people by the time I reached the top of the chairlift. Once I hopped on, it was the work of few minutes to descend to Threadbo by 2:00 PM.
I felt no urge to stay in the ski village, it was so typical of such resorts anywhere in the world – filled with Yuppies in their megabuck boots and skis, wearing their glitzy après-ski togs. Before long, Susan arrived and we drove back down to Jindebyne. We decided it was time to treat ourselves, so she enjoyed a sauna and jacuzzi, while I had a much-needed shower. We did our laundry, then sat in front of the fire and wrote postcards. After that, another cold night camping in the tent ended our stay at Jindebyne. As we drove away the next day, I was glad to have had the opportunity to visit the highest point in mainland Australia.
My souvenir from Jindebyne