Mars has been in the news lately. Thanks to Elon Musk, traveling to the Red Planet could become a reality in a decade. Moreover, one day albeit many years from now the cost of a trip to our reddish neighbor will be the same as buying a house.
Wow! However, these exciting projections are still just ambitious predictions. Meanwhile, do not despair. If you ever hopelessly dreamt about visiting Mars, I have good news for you. There is a place Down Under that would bring you as close to an alien world as you can without leaving our planet.
Welcome to The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park.
Nambung features enormous white shifting sand dunes, magnificent beaches, and beautiful wildflowers. Its crown glory, however, is The Pinnacles Desert where thousands of huge limestone pillars mysteriously rise from the yellow sands. Mother Nature had a blast there over the past half million years producing a wide variety of limestone formations visible today.
It was a cloudy day when we got there. I was afraid that gray skies would ruin our excursion. Yellow sand and jagged spires against bright blue skies – that’s the dream shot of any amateur or professional photographer. Or so it seems.
Stormy weather gifted us a unique experience. It was as majestic as a “classic” blue+yellow one but on a different note.
The landscape, or shall we say the pillarscape, superimposed on a steely gray background looked as if aliens just left for lunch. The only reminder of the earthly roots were sparse cars slowly negotiating the sandy loop. Howling wind and fast-moving clouds made the scene looking stoic and hostile at the same time. As happens, this combination made The Pinnacles mischievously attractive. Honestly, I may even prefer it this way with a hint of mystery lurking behind the pillars.
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Definitely want to see this when I get to Western Australia … thanks for the idea!
You are welcome :). Totally worth visiting.
Looks different & cool place! I have never been thought such type of place. Thanks for sharing this post.
I totally agree with you on the gray skies thing. I visited a tulip festival earlier this year and lamented that I would not get the gorgeous sunny skies and mountainous backgrounds in my photos…and the overcast skies turned out to be a blessing! The pictures turned out even better, since I did not need to worry about odd lighting and shadows. And the gray skies here really gave your photos an otherworldly feel. I imagine if you went and sat alone behind one of those pillars for a while, you’d start to feel as if you were alone on another planet.
Thank you 🙂
This look like a beautiful place. Isn’t it interesting how the “sun” and weather don’t cooperate, yet we have beautiful memories and photos to share? Clouds can often give a different perspective and it’s often how visitors do see things.
Thank you, Sara 🙂
Just visited there a few months ago on a road trip with my friends and the pictures jogges a lot of great memories of my trip that seemed like long time ago ! @ knycx.journeying
Thank you 🙂
This is great. I often think of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico as being like the moon. Now I can also visit Mars without leaving our lovely planet.
Wow. I had no idea this place existed! The colors are fantastic and I love the “Pinnacles desert on a stormy day”. The clouds mixed with the desert is amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, this is quite the place! And yes, it does have that Mars feeling to it. Do you know if it’s ever been used for a movie set?
Hi Elena. We have a trip planned there for next year. Your photos are a nice preview. Thanks.
I will not be happy to live in this place alone but I’ll consider this as one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Nambung really leave me astounded. I didn’t know a place which is closer to mars other than this. Thanks for sharing.