I just finished reading the most recent issue of my favorite Australian magazine Australian Geographic which this month featured stories and pictures of the various huts located in the high country areas between Canberra and Melbourne.  Absolutely gorgeous photographs and a great write up. 

Here is a sample:

Closer to heaven

Story by KLAUS HUENEKE I’M RESTING against the stump of a charred old snow gum as I munch a sandwich. About 100 people are gathered in small groups doing likewise. The air is brisk below an icy blue sky and tufts of snowgrass are about to burst into seed. It’s 15 December 2007. We’re here to celebrate the opening of a sparkling, golden-walled mountain hut called Broken Dam, the first of seven huts in Kosciuszko National Park (KNP) to be rebuilt by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) after the 2003 bushfires. Just off the main walking and ski-touring route between the old goldmining town of Kiandra and Mt Kosciuszko, Broken Dam Hut is about 90 km south-west of Canberra and 9 km south of Kiandra. It’s probably my favourite hut; I’ve skied and walked here many times, brought my children and friends here and watched their love of the high-country blossom. In 180 years of hut history, today’s event is on a par with the second coming of Christ. Not long ago NPWS wanted to remove half the huts in KNP; now it wants to celebrate their unusual history and heritage. When Rex Cox – a passionate octogenarian ski-tourer and lover of all things Kosciuszko – stepped up to address the assembled crowd, he was clearly moved. “Please protect it,” he implored, before cutting the ribbon strung between the new verandah posts. 

The issue also has other stories about parachuting in the Outback, techno trash disposal, Aboriginals serving in the Australian Defence Force, and of course since it is a magazine about Australia, sharks, plus a whole lot more.