The Alps
Australia is the flattest continent on earth, because there has been so little geological mountain-building activity here for millions of years and so much weathering. But there are mountains here and in some areas they are covered in snow for large parts of the year.
This is the Great Dividing Range, Australia's only substantial highlands. It runs for 3,500km from Cape York in northern Queensland, where tropical rainforests grow, all the way down the east coast to Victoria and re-emerging in Tasmania.
These highlands are a varied mix of rounded hills and deep gorges - only in the south do they reach great heights. Because they're so close to the coast, the air that rises over them from the east carries moisture from the sea. This tends to fall as rain, or as snow on higher ground with drifts up to 30m in places.
The highest point is Mt Kosciusko in New South Wales, at 2,228m. Here, winter temperatures have been recorded to minus 22°C.
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