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Something about a birthday
  • Hywel Johns
  • Hywel Johns

Something about a birthday

A 35-day adventure by Hywel Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 13, 2024
    Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    22

    Old Dubai

    January 14, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After arriving late last night, I slept until about midday to recover.

    My first stop of the holiday was the Etihad Museum, it was about how the United Arab Emirates formed through the uniting of Arab Emirates... Britain was involved obviously.
    It mainly spoke about how these awesome leaders came together and built it to be what it is today, and I think it's true to a point, but they didn't talk much about oil... I think oil helped.
    They also asked if I wanted to draw something from the museum, so I did, probably kicked the butt of all the kids who entered.
    They also had a flag outside... world's biggest obviously.

    Had chips and hot dogs for food, with a twist. It was really good, but way too many chips.

    Next stop was the historic neighbourhoods and the souqs. It was very cool, a maze of narrow alleys with endless mosques. Took a trip over the river in an 'abra' and walked around the different souqs. It was fun and the people were friendly, even if I did have to put up with their sales pitches. They couldn't comprehend why I was there if I didn't want to buy anything... I think they thought it was a tactic to get a cheaper price...
    The gold souq was very different and more upmarket, can't believe people would actually wear some of the gold outfits on display...    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    1

    Relaxing beach day

    January 15, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Had a more relaxing day today, headed to a mall (just like any other) walked through a park and then used an electric scooter to drive to the beach.

    It wasn't too hot today, so a nice day for it, and the scooter is always fun. Swam in the sea and did some relaxing. Also watched people try and get the perfect shot of themselves, some spent quite a while... I didn't even bother trying.

    After the beach I scooted over to Dubai marina, man made obviously, it looked very cool in the dark. I had some koftas and people watched for a while.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Miracle Garden

    January 16, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Visited the 'Miracle' gardens today, there were a heck of a lot of flowers and some of the shapes they made were impressive.

    It was a little bit more of a tourist trap than I was expecting, with some clear ripoffs of Disney and lots of smurfs.

    It was nice to walk around, but the thing that hit me was, no bees. No bugs even.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    1

    Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa

    January 16, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Headed over to Dubai Mall after the flowers. Went for a normal taxi, until I calculated that it would cost me £120 using his 'meter'. So I quickly jumped out again for a £15 uber. Unfortunately, the uber driver was new, he told me he was new several times, I then had to direct him after I said he was driving in the wrong direction...

    Eventually getting to Dubai Mall, it is huge. Walked passed the Aquarium, a dinosaur fossil and the ice rink. Tried to visit a couple of shops, but at one point I just got totally lost and spun around.

    I then visited Burj Khalifa and went up to the observation deck. The building is much narrower than I thought it was going to be. The views were good, but there was plenty I couldn't see, which just shows how spread out Dubai is.

    After staring at the views for ages including dusk, I headed to the Dubai Fountain which plays every 30 minutes. The show I caught had an Arabic song that I obviously didn't know... think I had just missed one with a Lionel Richie song. 🙄

    I started feeling quite rough today, so didn't do everything I wanted, think I probably picked up a cold from the flight...    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Illness days... ☹️

    January 18, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    So the cold hit and the plans had to be cancelled. I didn't do much other than stay in bed for the rest of my time in Dubai.

    I've managed to make it to Sydney after a 14 hour flight that felt longer. Highlight of the trip was probably the guy next to me managing to sleep through the Grand Turismo film he put on... twice!

    The trip also confirmed how bad I am at sleeping on a plane.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    21

    Walking Sydney

    January 19, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Started the day with a trip to get some drugs. After that, I did a walk around some of the sights I wanted to see.

    Went through a couple of parks and ended up in the Royal Botanical Gardens. The flowers and plants there were cool, but the casual Australian animals were cooler.

    After getting views of the Opera house from the gardens, I walked over to the building itself. I think it's better from a distance and probably a little smaller than I thought it was. Didn't go inside, that might be another day.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Maritime museum

    January 19, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Ended the walking at the Maritime museum. They had a destroyer called Vampire and a submarine built in Scotland along with other reproductions. It was fun exploring them, no way I could have worked in the sub with 60 people on there.

    There were volunteers giving info out which was cool, the one guy was a bit too into it and asked every child trying to exit the submarine if they had any questions. If they didn't, and most didn't, he would say "you should", then tell the parents that with the way things are going in the world their kids are likely to get drafted to work on one. So his prediction is all out war in about 10 years or so. He seemed excited by this.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Sydney harbour bridge climb

    January 20, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Still struggling with a cold, so spent the morning in bed. As a nice recovery activity for the afternoon I then did the Sydney harbour bridge climb!

    It wasn't that difficult so I was fine, the views were awesome though. I like being up high, and the water was so busy with people and their personal ships.

    The guide was great and met some Scottish people on holiday too, so the walk up was good.
    Not sure why we needed to wear the silly outfits, but hey ho.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Opera and night pictures

    January 20, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    After the bridge, I got changed into the fanciest clothes I had... and then went to the Opera house to watch an Opera. It wasn't in the main concert hall, but that had some weird Argentinian drums thing...

    It was Orpheus and Eurydice and I enjoyed it! The singing was good, but meh, luckily it had the translations being projected onto the back of the wall on the stage so at least I knew what was happening. The acrobatics, the choreography and some well done creepy moments were the highlights. I think the dancers got a bigger cheer than the main singer.

    After the show, it was dark and I walked around a bit to get some night photos, also saw some fireworks! Unfortunately Samsung have released a software update and messed up the camera, so the pictures aren't coming out great... 🙄    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Surfing

    January 21, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Had a really good day today and it started early with an 8am surfing lesson on Manly beach.

    I've never surfed before and they said the conditions were 'challenging'. All I know is that there were relentless big waves that made it hard to swim out and I hit my salt intake for the day within the first couple of minutes. It was much more tiring than I thought it would be, but I had loads of fun.

    No action shots as I was busy surfing, but I did manage to stand up and ride a few waves all the way back to the shore.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Manly to Spit walk and Kayaking

    January 21, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    After the surfing, I followed the Manly to Spit coast walk. It's a popular walk and it was really pretty.

    I saw people doing SUP yoga, there was an awesome dog beach, I saw a couple of dolphins swimming in one of the bays, there was some aboriginal 'art' (although they did draw a fish which I approve of), and there were lots of lizards. I also stopped about half way along and had a swim in the sea to cool down.

    When I finally got to the Spit, I rented a sea kayak for an hour and explored around a different bay.

    It was a really good ending to my time in Sydney, totally got sunburnt though.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Grand Canyon and Three sisters

    January 22, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I've moved inland to the Blue mountains. It's a lot cooler than Sydney was.

    My first walk was called the Grand Canyon walk. The canyon is pretty grand and the walk is at the bottom of it. It was very pretty, with waterfalls and lots of plants. It gets busy and there was a massive car park, but luckily only about 4 cars when I was walking.

    After the walk I went back for a shower before heading to Echo Point and a view of the three sisters. It's the classic view you'll see if anyone looks up the Blue Mountains.

    I then spent some time walking around the towns, but nothing exciting there. I did have food from a fish and chip shop though!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Wentworth Falls

    January 23, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This morning I visited Wentworth Falls in the Blue mountains. At the beginning it was very misty and there was overnight rain, but it cleared up while I was there.

    Couldn't see anything really, but I followed a very steep path down the cliff to the bottom of the waterfall. There was nobody else there so even got a photo of myself and time to relax.

    It was a much harder climb back up! Then followed another path back to the car.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Mossman Gorge

    January 24, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    So... complications in that a typhoon in December meant I couldn't go to the part of the rainforest I wanted to go too. There's still a lot of repairing of roads and stuff going on. I also can't go to the great barrier reef at the moment because of another incoming Typhoon. So my plans have needed adjusting.

    So I started today in Mossman gorge, it has a walk through some rainforest which was fun. It also has a cultural centre, for the natives, which I skipped and is a complicated subject I'm still learning about. The trees were really cool.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    1

    Port Douglas

    January 24, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Next I visited Port Douglas, it's a really nice town with a walk around the coast.
    Found a tree filled with bat's which was cool. They were louder and more active than I expected during the day.

    They have a really nice beach there too, but felt a little wasted as it has crocodiles, sharks and jellyfish that all want to kill you.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Daintree River Cruise

    January 24, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Finally for the day, I did a river cruise looking for crocodiles.

    Typically, the guide said it had been a tough day because it's too warm. Did see two young and one adult crocodiles though. Along with birds and a happy frog.

    The location was really pretty but you could see the damage from the floods, with trees completely gone from the riverside.

    The boat also had Doug the dog, so I made a new friend on the trip.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    212

    Granite Gorge Rock Wallabies

    January 25, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Headed to Granite Gorge today to meet the friendly Wallabies.

    They were amazing, very chilled, but when they wanted the food they were happy to get really close and eat out of your hand.

    There was a walk I had planned doing there but obviously this was closed, something about a flood and rain... didn't need it anyway, the wallabies were worth it on their own.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Waterfalls and stuff

    January 25, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    With Typhoon Kirrily arriving further south, the day had a fair amount of rain. So actually a good time to visit some waterfalls.

    I visited 4 waterfalls, a volvanic pipe, and a curtain fig tree. I also did some Platypus spotting, but didn't see one. Agent P was on a mission I guess.
    I also had a run in with leeches. Didn't notice the one sucking all the blood from my ankle, until it fell off all full while I was driving. There was a fair amount of blood and it would stop because of the anti-coagulant it releases, really clever, but annoying.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Rainforest Lodge

    January 25, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Stayed in a rainforest lodge overnight and it was awesome. They had a viewing station set-up and managed to see a striped black possum and a sugar glider.

    The rain was also crazy heavy overnight from the storm. It meant the morning walk around the rainforest was very muddy and sure enough, full of leaches. I learnt nothing. By the time I got back to the room, there were three on me and many more on my shoes.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    3
    12

    Touristy Kuranda

    January 26, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    So I had to find somewhere to hold a Koala while I'm here!

    It was really soft and very cute, also clearly very tired like they always are.

    There was a little zoo, an open aviary, and a butterfly sanctuary where they get to fly around. Surrounded by other shops it was very touristy, but I got the picture and got to see lots of animals.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Great Barrier Reef

    January 27, 2024, Great Barrier Reef ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    Spent the day at the Great Barrier Reef today. It was awesome, saw a turtle, a shark, a massive clam, loads of fish, starfish, and the coral was cool enough too.

    The weather was windy still so the water wasn't perfectly clear and it was more difficult with the waves. I have a lot of blurry pictures from being moved all the time. But it was great fun and glad I was actually able to visit it.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Torquay

    January 28, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Bit of a frustrating day today, I've flown doen to Melbourne to drive the Great Ocean Road. However the flight from Cairns got delayed by about 4 hours because the plane hit a bird on the way to land.

    Understandable to check the plane out and these things happen (I'm sure the bird would have preferred if it didn't happen) but I only managed to drive to Torquay today, which is the start of the road.

    Its a nice enough place, walked on the beach, walked in the sea and grabbed some food.
    Weather looks good and hoping for a good couple of days of driving and visiting things.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Great Ocean Road

    January 29, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Had a fun day driving the Great Ocean Road. About 2/3 of it anyway.

    In summary, it's all so pretty and driving the wiggly roads is fun. Although there are lots of people who aren't very good at driving...

    Visited a few beaches, including Bells Beach, went to Anglesea golf course to see the wild Kangaroos that live there, visited Erskine falls, Kennet River to search for wild Koalas (found two), a different kind of rainforest and finally the twelve apostles.

    It was a nice laid back kind of day, but long so tiring too.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
    1

    Finishing the Great Ocean Road

    January 30, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After spending the night in Port Campbell, which was nice enough and had lots of bunnies, I headed back to the 12 apostles for a morning picture.

    From there, it was more pretty views, lots of coves and bays to explore and it all looked very pretty. Ended up chilling out in a small bay for a while and there was nobody there except me and a friendly seagull.

    Could have spent longer chilling out, but there's more to see, so I've dropped the car off and I'm headed over to Tasmania.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Hobart

    January 31, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Arrived in Tasmania and spent a relaxing morning walking around Hobart. It isn't that big and not loads to see, but it just seemed relaxing and quiet, it was nice.

    Shout out to the cool sniffer dog at the airport looking for people bringing food into Tasmania.Read more

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