POTD: Please Don't Climb Uluru

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock). It shows the track by which countless tourists have climbed to the top of the rock. Traditional owners have put up signs asking tourists to respect native law and culture by not climbing, but climbing is not outright prohibited...yet. The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board of Management has decided to close the climb to the top of Uluru on October 26, 2019. But don't rush to climb before that date. How about just respecting the local culture which holds Uluru sacred.

POTD: Uluru Up Close

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock). It's not the classic distance photo, which makes Uluru look like a big rock surrounded by desert. If you get up close to Uluru, the experience is different. There are stands of gum trees and glades with water holes and an altogether pleasant environment.

POTD: Field of Light Uluru

From 2018 03 21 Alice Springs

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock) at dawn. Uluru is forever. The "Field of Light" in the foreground is fleeting. It's a temporary exhibit by artist Bruce Munro. Its website says, "Overwhelming in size, covering more than seven football fields, it invites immersion in its fantasy garden of 50,000 spindles of light, the stems breathing and swaying through a sympathetic desert spectrum of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white." Its run has been extended until December 31, 2020.

Bonus photos after the jump.

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.