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I’m staring at the snow-capped peak of Mount Kosciuszko. In front of me the brown metal track stretches towards the horizon, keeping the hikers off the sensitive landscape below. Tufts of brown grass spout out between moss-covered stones.
But I’m not actually in Kosciuszko National Park. I’m actually staring at a computer screen. Because Google Street View now goes into many of Australia’s National Parks.
For families, this is an amazing tool. If you have little kids, you can check how steep the walk is. Can you take a stroller? Check Google Street View. It’s also fantastic for kids doing school geography projects as they can actually see what the landscape looks like.
Google Street view now has images of 44 Australian National Parks with 299 attractions more than 1300km of imagery.
So where should you start? To view any National Park on the list, just open up Google Maps. Then click on the little yellow man, hold onto him with a mouse click and drag him to anywhere you want to view on the map. Then Google will switch to a realistic view.
In Sydney, Google Street view has gone along the Coast track in the Royal National Park. Specially trained experts have gone down onto the rocks to catch a view of the Figure 8 pools.
We suggest taking the kids for a tour of The Mount Kosciuszko Summit walk. The Alpine scrub is unique to the area and you can see exactly how tough it might be to reach Australia’s tallest mountain.
Our favourite part of this trek on Google Street view has to be these two guys celebrating as they made it to the summit.
We can’t wait to see who else is out there celebrating in the wild.
The best National Parks to visit on Google Street View:
* Pretty Beach to Snake Bay walking track in Murramarang National Park
* The Lookdown lookout in Bungonia National Park
* O’Hares Creek lookout in Dharawal National Park
* Pigeon House Mountain Didhul walking track in Morton National Park
* White Sands walk and Scribbly Gum track in Jervis Bay National Park
* Robertson lookout in Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area
* The Coast track in Royal National Park
* Mount Kosciuszko Summit walk in Kosciuszko National Park
* National Pass in Blue Mountains National Park
* Bradleys Head to Chowder Bay walk in Sydney Harbour National Park
The most recently mapped parks on Google Street View:
* Sea Acres Rainforest boardwalk in Sea Acres National Park
* Crowdy Gap campground in Crowdy Bay National Park
* Perpendicular Point walking track in Kattang Nature Reserve
* Googik Heritage walking track in Lake Innes Nature Reserve
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Travel allows you to get outside your bubble. It makes you realise there are other ways to do things, and that’s OK. Plus, I am a huge fan of skiing and for the best powder – you need to head overseas.