It may come as a surprise to non-Australians that the island continent renowned for its flat plains and searing deserts has snow-capped mountains at all. The peaks of the Australian Alps national parks are not tall, but they’re old. Their geological history stretches back over 600 million years when sediments were lain down on the floor of a shallow sea. At 2,228m above sea level, Mt. Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the continent and its slopes harbour rare and unusual species adapted to the harsh conditions. Biologist Linda Bloom has spent 40 years here studying the rare Mountain Pygmy Possum.