What is Kosciuszko National Park?
'''Kosciuszko National Park''' is a national park in the Australian state of [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]] and is the largest national park in [[New South Wales]] and the tallest in Australia, home to the highest peak of Australia; Mt. Kosciuszko as well as two famous ski resorts: [[Thredbo]] and [[Perisher]]. The park gets its name from a Polish-Lithuanian hero called General [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], which explains the etymology of a name that is rather difficult to pronounce by most Australians. ==Climate== The higher regions of the park experience an alpine climate which is quite unusual on mainland Australia. However, only the peaks of the main mountain range are subject to consistent winter snow. The climate station at [[Charlotte Pass]] recorded Australia's lowest temperature of {{Convert|-23|C}} on 28 June 1994.<ref>{{cite web |title=1301.0 – Year Book Australia, 2008 |publisher=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] |date=7 February 2008 |access-date=2008-04-30 |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/ABS@.nsf/bb8db737e2af84b8ca2571780015701e/77B606A652911396CA2573D200106C95?opendocument}}</ref> ==Altitude== The point with the highest altitude is the peak of Mt. Kosciuszko at 2228m, and the lowest point of the park is near [[Khancoban]] at 337m. The peak is also the tallest point of the mainland Australian continent. However, the tallest peak of Australia, excluding the areas as part of the [[Australian Antarctic Territory]] is actually in Mawsons Peak, some 3000km from the capital of Western Australia; Perth. ==The Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme== The Snowy River starts in the park and flows south to Victoria. Many tunnels, dams, generators and other parts of the [[Snowy Mountains Scheme]] [[hydro-electric]] system are located within Kosciuszko National Park, including the [[Tantangara Reservoir]]. The Snowy Scheme, constructed between 1949 and 1974, is a [[hydroelectricity]] and [[irrigation in Australia|irrigation]] complex consisting of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping stati