POTD: Obligatory Uluru Photo

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock), the rock that every tourist to Australia has on their bucket list. Check.

POTD: Mount Conner

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Outback, on the highway south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, on the way to Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock). No, that's not Uluru in the background. It's Mount Conner, or as tour guides sometimes have to tell tourists, Mount "No, not Uluru". The soil here shows why pictures of Uluru often show it as bright red.

POTD: Lot for Sale

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Outback, on the highway south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, where an optimistic real estate developer looks to have marked out lots for sale. This really should have been a 360 degree photo, as the landscape is the same in all directions. If you dream of a house without having to put up with neighbors, this could be the lot for you to build on.

POTD: A Town Like Alice

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. The distance from my home to Alice Springs is 9,300 miles. It's a little farther to Jakarta, Indonesia, and farther still to Perth, Australia, but that's about it. South Africa, India, China, even Antarctica are not as far away. Besides actually being so far away, Alice Springs also seems so far away because it's so isolated even from other Australian cities. If you want to get away from it all, it would be hard to find a better place than Alice Springs.

POTD: The Great Ocean Road

From 2018 03 15 Melbourne

If you visit Australia, you have to see the four greats: the Great Barrier Reef (sadly, a victim of global warming), the Great Dividing Range (more like hills, but you can ski there in winter), the Great Australian Desert (aka the Outback), and the Great Ocean Road (one of the world's most scenic ocean highways on the south coast of Australia).

Bonus photos after the jump.

POTD: Cowes, Australia

From 2018 03 15 Melbourne

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cowes, Victoria, located on Phillip Island in southern Australia. It's a seaside town, similar to seaside towns the world over, popular as a summer getaway for residents of Melbourne, two hours away by car. The tree, which is my favorite thing in the photo, is a Golden Cypress, aka Monterey Cypress, a native of California, but introduced to Australia in the 1800s. At least I think that's what it is. I'm no botanist.

POTD: Obligatory Koala Photo

From 2018 03 15 Melbourne

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Maru Koala and Animal Park, located on the Bass Highway in southern Victoria, Australia. No trip to Australia is complete without seeing a koala, preferably in the wild, but in an animal park if necessary. We were fortunate to see both, but close-up only in nature parks.

Bonus photo after the jump.