Travelsmart
Tourists have been rushing to Uluru in Australia before climbing on the sacred rock is banned.
Huge crowds gathered at the site, formerly known as Ayers Rock, which will be permanently off limits to tourists from Saturday morning.
Uluru is sacred to its indigenous custodians, the Anangu people, who have long implored tourists not to climb.
Only 16 per cent of visitors to the site made the trek to the top in 2017 – when the ban was announced – but the climb has been busy in recent weeks as the ban approached.
On Friday, climbers faced a delayed start to the climb due to dangerously strong winds.
After parks officials deemed the climb safe to open, hundreds of people made the trek up.
Image: Lukas Coch/AAP/PA Images
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