Have you been to Uluru (Ayres Rock) before?

Back in 2019, our family decided to go visit Uluru in the Northern Territory.

We had always wanted to climb Uluru as well as explore the significance that the area has for the generations of Aboriginals whom have called the area home. We flew in from Melbourne and arrived at the Yulara airport where we picked up our car for our time there.

I had only just gotten in photography when we visited, so I had my first DSLR (Nikon D5200 + 18-55 + 55-300) with me which is what was used for all of these images.

I really wanted to get an iconic shot of sunrise or sunset over Uluru, but we never got great conditions. My list of places to photograph is definitely growing. I would love to do a trip of Australia around the coast and inland as well.

Some of the beautiful places we visited were: Uluru, King's Canyon, Kata Tjuta. We visited in October, and had some beautiful weather (i'm sure it is always pretty nice in the desert aha) but visiting in the wet season is definitely on my list.

It was quite warm when we went to King's Canyon, which meant the rim walk wasn't open. It was still a stunning area and I wish I took some more photos on this trip!

^{Kings Canyon}

---

I can imagine with water flowing through the canyon it would be quite remarkable!

Some of the views on the drive are also amazing!

On the way back to Yulara one day, we pulled over so I could get the sunset over the Olgas.

^{Sunset over the Olgas, Nikon D5200 + 55-300}

Kata Tjuta is another stunning location. The walk in is quite nice and open, with the real beauty within the confines of the large cliffs. We spent a fair bit of time here and I only took one photo! (I don't know what I was thinking!)

Here is another image I took of the olgas from the road. It is hard to comprehend the size of these rocks until you get up close to them!

One day we nearly got caught in a dust storm, which had us stuck is Yulara for a few hours, where we visited an art and history gallery / museum which was really cool. we took a tour and learnt about how the climate and animals have changed throughout history.

^{You can normally see Uluru from these steps!}

---

Once we visited all of these areas, we went to the information centre to find out more about the Aboriginal culture and history. This was definitely worth visiting and I learnt much more about the heritage that I would never had known. We also got to see some women and children making dot-art which can be quite amazing. (Especially once you have tried it yourself and seen the amount of effort needed to complete large pieces.)

We then went back to Uluru as the conditions had improved. After lining up for a while we were able to climb! This was an amazing experience and 100% worth completing. A lot of people struggled with the first part but then they were fine. The climb took over an hour to reach the top with i'm guessing at least 200 other people.

Once we visited the top, we saw about the most aussie thing: A man took up a VB stubby and called his friend to tell him that he was finally able to climb it and have a beer up the top.

The 360 degree views from the top are quite remarkable!

Climbing and visiting Uluru was always something we wanted to, especially with the climb permanently shutting a week after we visited. I understand that some Aboriginals didn't want anyone climbing it, but I think if you have made the effort to learn about their culture, then climbing Uluru isn't such a bad thing.

Here is a sunrise timelapse I took one morning.

Thanks for reading! Even with the climb permanently shut, Uluru is 100% worth visiting!!