At the Highest Peak of Australia Quiz

Answer: New South Wales

The mountain is located in southern New South Wales in Kosciuszko National Park. It is part of the mountain range which run down the east coast of Australia, the Great Dividing Range.

Answer: 2,228 metres

To put this in perspective it is around a quarter of the size of Mt Everest which stands at 8,848 metres above sea level.

Answer: False

People can no longer drive their cars to the summit of Mt Kosciuszko, although it was possible until 1974. There are a number tracks that are followed to get to the summit, one of which is from Thredbo. To get to the summit from Thredbo people take a chairlift and then follow a path the remainder of the way.

Answer: Polish

The mountain was named by a Polish explorer, Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, in 1840, as a tribute to a Polish patriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Tadeusz Kosciuszko was a military leader that lived between 1765 and 1794 and is now considered to be a national hero in Poland.

Answer: Mt Townsend

The mountain was originally named Mt Townsend and the first Mt Kosciuszko was located nearby. Throughout the late 1890s and early 1900s a number of measurements showed that Mt Townsend was higher than Mt Kosciuszko. To ensure that Mt Kosciuszko remained the name of the tallest mountain, the New South Wales government exchanged the names of the mountains in 1910.

Answer: False

For its height, it is a relatively easy mountain to climb and the summit can be reached within a few hours. It has been climbed by people of greatly varying ages and fitness levels.

Answer: Snowy River

The river winds its way down the mountain, through Victoria and then empties into a body of water known as Bass Strait. It is a river that has been made famous by the iconic Australian poem written by Banjo Paterson titled "The Man From Snowy River".

Answer: It is the tallest mountain on the Australian continent

The seven summits are a list of the tallest mountains on each continent. Mt Kosciuszko is the shortest of all these mountains. The other mountains on the list are Mt Everest (Asia), Aconcagua (South America), Mt McKinley (North America), Mt Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mt Elbrus (Europe) and Mount Vinson (Antarctica).

There is some debate as to whether or not Mt Kosciuszko is a true member of this group of mountains as it is the tallest mountain on the Australian mainland but not the tallest in the Oceania region.

Answer: Table Top Mountain

There is debate over how the Indigenous names are pronounced, although it is generally accepted that Jagungal is pronounced as Jar-gan-gil and Tackingal is pronounced Tar-gan-gil. It is believed that Aboriginal Australians climbed to the summit prior to Australia being inhabited by Europeans; although there is no evidence of this.

Answer: True

The toilet is located about one kilometre below the summit of the mountain on a part of it known as Rawson's Pass. It was installed to reduce the problem of human waste that was previously left on the mountain.