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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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  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Port Arthur

    January 31, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After picking up my car I headed to Port Arthur which is an old penal settlement. It's mostly ruins but it was interesting to get the history.

    They made it out to be a horrible place but the audio guide I was listening to, didn't sound that bad... don't get me wrong, it would have been bad, but nothing was great back then. It also sounded kinda progressive in some ways, with introducing a kids prison and solitary confinement rather than being flogged. Maybe things were bad there, but it was a prison.

    You could see the cells were small, they had an 'isle of the dead' where people were buried, the church but where they had individual pods as they were supposed to be in solitary confinement, also a creepy doll.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Other things on the Tasman peninsula

    January 31, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Ended the day by visiting Remarkable cave, probably overselling it, but it was cool. Looking at a specific angle, the entrance apparently looks like the shape of Tasmania...

    Eaglehawk neck, which was the narrow point as the only land entrance to the jail. They had a line of angry dogs to prevent anyone escaping. They even had dogs on platforms out in the sea apparently... not sure how that works.

    Then geology lessons at the teasellated pavement.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Mt Wellington/Kunanyi

    February 1, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    Drove up the long winding road to the summit of Mt Wellington/Kunanyi (everything has two names). It was pretty windy up there, but the views were great.

    There were masts and satellites there and an interesting sign about what to do if you can't get in the car. Suprised that "use the physical key" was option 3.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Wineglass Bay

    February 1, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Headed to the Freycinet National Park to do the hike to Wineglass Bay. There were a lot of steps...

    Most people were leaving so only about 5 other people on the beach by the time I arrived. Had a swim, water was freezing. Saw a wallaby/kangaroo/pademelon or something else on the beach. It was a really nice spot, chilled out for a while before doing the hike back to the car.Read more

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    Bridge, Spiky Bridge and a Blowhole

    February 1, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Other stops today included Richmond which had a bridge... built back in 1825 by convicts... I also had food here.

    A Spiky Bridge built by convicts to connect the roads to Swansea. No reason why it is spiky.

    Finally a blowhole. The waves weren't even that high today, but the amount of water being thrown up was cool. Stayed for a while and watched unsuspecting tourists get too close and then get soaked.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Cradle Mountain Hike

    February 2, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Today I drove up to Cradle Mountain to do some hiking.

    I had a hike planned, but I knew there was a yellow weather warning in place for strong winds. When I bought my entrance ticket, the lady asked about my walk to Marions Lookout, she said there was a weather warning and it would be too windy. She also said it was about -3C with the wind chill. She then said, "so it will be memorable!"

    So I went ahead with it and it was windy. The weather changed from light rain to cloudy to sunny and back around again, but it ended up being a nice day.

    Managed to complete the walk and it was made more fun/memorable with the wind... also saw some Wombats!    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Tasmanian Devils

    February 2, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Visited a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary to watch them get fed and learn more about them.

    They have the strongest bite for size of any mammal, when the mate the male blocks the exit so the woman can't mate with another male, they weren't only in Tasmania, there's a cancer (the only one passed through biting) that is killing lots of them at the moment but they hope a vaccine might be available in about 3 years so they can start releasing ones from the sanctuary.

    There were also Quolls which I had never heard about.

    Ultimately they were all really cute, until they were eating then it got a bit messy, then cute again.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Get to Melbourne

    February 3, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Today was all about getting from Cradle Mountain to Melbourne ready for another flight tomorrow.

    On the drive back to Hobart, I stopped in a place called Oatlands. It had a lake with birds and some old buildings. It was nice and quiet, although I had a chicken, bacon and mushroom crepe there and they put cheese on it. 🤷

    Hobart was really hot and they were preparing for an iron man tomorrow, so it was also busy. I just found somewhere quiet and relaxed while waiting for my flight to Melbourne. Did see a replica Antarctic hut with a sculpture honoring all huskies that served there.

    When I got to Melbourne my hotel was above a nightclub... luckily I was on the top floor so couldn't really hear it.
    Went for a stroll around town, it was pretty enough but nothing specific I wanted to see there.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Uluru

    February 4, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 42 °C

    Arrived to find that it is crazy hot today. It was like having a hairdryer in your face. It was so hot, that some of the trails are closed, or can only be done early in the morning. 🙄 Not sure who decided my birthday should be in January, but it isn't the best time of year for travelling.

    I wasn't content with not doing anything today, so I went to a cultural centre, saw some pretty cool aboriginal art and learnt about the locals. I then did a couple of shorter walks around Uluru to some waterholes and caves. It was cool, but the flies here were really annoying. They didn't bite, just annoy.

    Uluru itself looks awesome and it was quite something to drive towards and be right next to.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Uluru Sunset

    February 4, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 40 °C

    The rock itself is impressively big and is one of those things you kinda have to see to appreciate. Pictures don't do it justice. Particularly when it comes to the sunset pictures. It was amazing to see all the colours it changed to as the sun went down.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Kata Tjuta - Valley of the winds

    February 5, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Woke up super early and managed to get to the trail at around 7am, the valley of the winds is supposed to be a 3-4 hour hike and needed to be done before 11am as it was going to be closed due to the heat.

    The walk was really good, views were amazing, actually doing the hike at this time of day made the views better I think, despite me not really being a morning person.

    Saw my first snake! So that was cool, it looked at me and then slithered off. It probably could have killed me. What was more worrying, was that it slithered into some grass and then totally disappeared. I knew it was there, but couldn't see it... how many more are there...

    There were also flocks of green budgies flying around in murmurations which I could have watched for ages.

    After finishing the hike early, I also did the Walpa Gorge walk which was really pretty. There were lots of tadpoles in the small amount of water that was available at the end of the gorge.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Field of Lights

    February 5, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    In the evening, I visited the Field of Lights art installation. There are 50,000 little lights, all powered by solar. They just change colour and get moved by the wind. It was a really cool looking installation.

    The real view though, was the night sky. It was amazing. There was no moon, so it was extra dark. Probably the best view of the milky way I have seen. Kept switching between looking up and down.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Kings Canyon Rim Walk

    February 6, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Woke up super early again and drove about 3 hours along a road, made one turning and saw less than 10 cars in that time, also saw two Kangaroos, which was kinda cool.

    Ended up in King's Canyon. It wasn't as hot today, so was able to start later, but was still there at 9:30 when other people were finishing.

    It was a steep climb up at the beginning, then it wasn't too bad. The views of the canyon were good, but the views on the plateau were just as good. They called them beehive rock formations, or 'the lost city' which is more dramatic.

    Another really nice walk, saw some cool lizards and there was an area called 'the garden of eden' which always has water and there were awesome Rainow Bee-Eater birds catching food there.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    More lights...

    February 6, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    More lights, as if Uluru didn't have enough. These were by the same artist, smaller scale and there were only 5 of us viewing it at the time.

    There are 69 of them, something about the number of beats per day the earth has, and there is a specific song the plays from each of the towers too. Couldn't really hear the song because of the wind, but it was cool.

    Again, the night sky was also amazing, so I have more pictures of that too.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Travel and Emus

    February 7, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 34 °C

    After being messed about by the hire car company, today ended up as a bit of a travel day. Driving back to Uluru, then taking a bus to Alice Springs.

    Worked out OK, it was nice to not have to drive. Wasn't a normal bus, there were a couple of stops and the bus driver was also a tour guide providing info.

    Main highlight of the day was getting to feed some Emus! They looked like dinosaurs and were hilarious. Best $3 spent all holiday.

    Also saw a road train, which is just a lorry with more than the one trailer, and one of the many salt lakes in the area. The Emus were at the centre point of Australia, there is a little monument, but I got too distracted by Emus.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Alice Springs

    February 8, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 33 °C

    Spent the morning wandering around Alice Springs. Very different place, lots of aboriginal groups living a Western style of life here, which seems to be causing problems.

    Visited some gardens that were unsurprisingly not that impressive... its too hot. Did see some rock wallabies though and learnt some of the aboriginal creation stories, it involved caterpillars!
    There was also another snake, this one didn't dissappear, so I was able to get a picture and find out it was a Yellow-faced whip snake. Only mildly venomous.

    Did some gallery hopping to see some aboriginal art. Some of them were awesome.

    I then rented a bike to visit the Telegraph Station a little outside town. It talked about joining Australia with the UK and how they went about building the line. There was also some history about how back then, there were a number of mixed race children and they rounded them all up, taking them away from their mothers and teaching them the way of the white people. They thought it was the best thing for them.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Camels!

    February 8, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 32 °C

    Didn't realise there were so many camels here! Apparently more wild Arabian camels than any other country and they export them to the middle east for things like racing.

    So I went on a relaxing ride at sunset. It was very chilled, the views were good, and the camels were funny.Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Simpsons Gap

    February 9, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

    When I picked up the bike, cycling to Simpsons Gap was one of the recommendations I was given, so I did that today.

    It was a lot further than I had expected and it was quite hot today. Unsurprisingly I didn't see anyone else cycling on the cycle path the whole time.

    All together it was about 50km of cycling this morning. Sitting on a bike seat that whole time also means my butt hurts now.

    Simpsons gap was pretty though, not as much water as normal, but it was nice and I saw a few birds of prey and bunnies around.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler
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    Adelaide

    February 10, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So I should have been headed north, but there's a lot of rain and the national park I wanted to visit is mostly closed...

    So I headed south to Adelaide instead. There isn't anything specific I really wanted to see while I was here, so it was a chilled day. It is a nice place though, lots of park areas.

    Visited a few places, accidentally scooted into the middle of a protest march, and visited the art gallery that had some cool things in there.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Glenelg

    February 10, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Had a quick visit to Glenelg in the evening to have a stroll along the beach. There were some historic houses there too, but mainly wanted ice cream and to walk in the sea.

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary

    February 11, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Went kayaking today at the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary. Got paired with a south Korean girl who was traveling alone too.

    It was a beautiful day and kayaking through the mangroves and visiting some shipwrecks was cool, but everyone was a little dissapointed we hadn't seen any dolphins (we were in something called a dolphin sanctuary after all). Then when we were almost back to drop our Kayaks off, we saw four dolphins! One came right next to us and probably swam under the kayak. It was very cool and really glad we managed to see them!Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Perth

    February 12, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    I've headed West to Perth as my last place in Australia to visit.

    There wasn't anything specific I wanted to see in the city, but I spent some time wandering around. Visited another art gallery that had some cool bits. Including an indigenous artist who did some pieces about the nuclear testing Australia and the UK did on their land.

    Visited Kings park which was less open space as I was expecting and was more wilderness like, which was cool for the middle of the city.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Fremantle

    February 12, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    Took the train to Fremantle today. I'm sure I recognise the name fremantle, I just wasn't sure where from. Possibly sport, history, or x-factor...

    Either way, they have a famous prison there that was built by convicts obv... So it was old, the rooms were tiny and no running water in the rooms, they had buckets. Amazingly it only closed in 1991, only because it wasn't secure enough anymore.

    Learnt about Moondyne Joe (Joseph Johns... probably no relation...) he kept escaping all the time.

    Also visited a shipwreck museum which was cool and the even older mini prison/guard house/time keeping roundhouse building.    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Gravity!

    February 13, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Drove to the Gravity Discovery Centre this morning, which is a very cool museum. It had a really good timeline of literally everything. It's amazing how long things have taken and all that has happened to get to where we are today.

    They also had cool experiments I could do, including dropping water balloons from a tall tower to see if mass affects the speed things fall at. It did not. It also explained how time was going quicker for me at the top of the tower compared to someone at the bottom. 🤯    Read more

  • Hywel JohnsSomething about a birthdayTraveler

    Sand Boarding

    February 13, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    So I planned on trying sand boarding while in Dubai, but being a bit ill stopped that.

    Luckily, I was able to do it in Australia. Stopped at a place called Lancelin that has a lot of dunes and you can just turn up, rent a sand board, then off you go.

    Started off on some dunes that weren't too steep, the board doesn't go that quick, so did that fine.

    Then because I obviously wanted to push it, I tried a much steeper dune. I totally fell off the first few times. There was sand everywhere and I'm sure I'll still be finding sand for a few more weeks yet. I did manage to ride it to the bottom eventually though, so I was happy.    Read more

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