Closer to HEAVEN

摘要

Built by pioneering cattlemen and ski-tourers, hundreds of huts scattered across the Australian Alps are rustic living history and essential shelter for alpine adventurers. 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.