A very Unique Animal in its natural Habitat: Phillip Island

All of us are, to various extents, curious to see animals in their natural habitats.

There is something special to see a tiger in the Ranthambore national park, a lion at Gir or a Rhino at Kaziranga, rather than seeing these animals in the confines of a zoo.My personal favourite wild animals which I have seen in their habitats in India are elephants and tigers. I still wish to go to Kaziranga some day.

Outside India, a swamp tour in the US was also amazing (another blog) where we could see many different animals. 

Of course the one continent you would associate with immaculate preservation of their animals is Australia. Nowhere in the world could you come up close to animals like the kangaroo, wallabies and Kualas. Australians take great pride in preserving the wildlife of their country and its something really commendable.

I will say something about today's blog. You guessed it. The location was Australia. I had some expectations from this trip, but the reality surpassed all my expectations.

It was in Melbourne in one Australian Summer. There are great things to do in Melbourne itself, and there are two specific favourite day trips from Melbourne; one drive along the Great Ocean Drive, and the other is visit to the Phillip Island.

My blog is about the latter.

How did I book?

Same ole' website (see my other blogs!). I booked a guided day trip from Melbourne and back online.The trip costed around INR 9000. 

Where did it start?

We started around 2 pm at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne. This trip is something to be done in the afternoon. Don't try doing it in the morning as you will miss out on the fun.

The trip before we reached the place in contention.

We first stopped at the Kuala conservation centre on the Phillip Island. It was one amazing experience to see the Kualas all sleeping hugging the trees. (the Kualas are hardly awake). People also maintained great discipline in maintaining silence there, which made the experience more amazing, as the sounds you could hear were mainly sounds of nature. 

 We then went to the place simply called "the Nobbies", where we expect to see Australia fur seals. I didn't manage to see any. But the views from there were breathtaking. Im not sure what you call the ocean there, but I am pretty sure its the closest I have got to the Antarctic Ocean. It was very windy there and I was forced to buy a jacket, the famous Philip Island jacket of Santosh, which you will see in many of my photos!! (Let me clear here: I wear my jacket only for a grand four or five days in a year: there is no scope of wearing one in Hyderabad!)

We then left for the place in contention...and here it comes: the place was called the Penguin parade. We reached there at 820 pm. I was pretty excited as I thought I could see some penguins and take some photos. We were informed that taking photos were not permitted. Well then, some things are for your eyes only, I guess.

We walked around 500 meters from the gate to to the beach, and we hadn't seen any penguins yet. Was this going to be a damp squib? At the beach, there was a constructed pavilion, where at least two hundred people were already seated by the time we got there. I got a comfortable seat. An announcer came and told  us some housekeeping instructions and told to just look at awe at what would happen when the Sun set. He said the penguins would return to land from the day out at sea as soon as the Sun set.

Okay...hmmm... lets see...

The sun set. Out came the first penguin. All of us were excited and muttered to each other. Then came the second, third and fourth in quick succession. They were small penguins, not the ones you would see on TV; the ones in Antarctica. I guess their height may not have been more than one and a half feet. 

Photos are not allowed by tourists at the Penguin Parade. This photo is courtesy Nadim from the royalty free image website Pexels.

Then... the numbers grew, I expected to see at least twenty or thirty of them; I was grossly mistaken. They kept coming out in huge numbers. They walked from the beach towards the pavilion and quietly made their way towards the park, some passing quite close to us. I think we would have seen .. guess.. at least eight hundred such penguins. It was like an ocean of these small creatures all around. 

Photos are not allowed by tourists at the Penguin Parade. This photo has been taken from the website Viator. com, my favourite travel agents.

We then made our way back to the gate, but this time we were walking along with our little friends, as they used a small dug out pathway to return to their individual burrows where they would rest for the night. There were so many of them!!. I remember, a few of them had to cross the road, and the attender stopped us humans so that the royals could pass!

We reached Melbourne at 1030 pm. 

But what a day it was! I can't imagine how else it would be possible for common tourists like us to see penguins in their natural habitat, until and unless Antarctica becomes more accessible. A wonderful place, and I would surely go there again.

Guaranteed. 

STONEHENGE. An Awesome experience

 Hello

This blog is about a tour I have done twice in my life.

Once when I went for a Sports Viewers vacation in 2015 with my friend (this is a matter for a separate blog: Sport Viewers vacation!) and once when I went with my wife in 2019 for a combined tourism, friends visit and ...you guessed it right.. for a Sports Viewers vacation!

Lets go to well before those times though

I read about the Stonehenge in school and wondered how difficult it must have been for ancient Romans in 2000 BC to transport stones that big at that age. I later learnt the stones didn't even come from the surrounding areas, they came from very long distances, something that could have been possible only by cargo ships...we are talking about 2000 BC here ... 2000 BC!

Later on as my interest in astronomy grew (yes, this is probably still my third area of interest after medicine and rock/Pop music , fourth are books), I read about the unique phenomenon that occurs here on the Summer and the winter solstices. Summer solstice is the longest day of the summer and winter solstice is the smallest day in winter. On these days, the Sun rises perfectly over the Heal Stone between two of the Stones arranged in a circle, year after year after year. I was astonished as to how astronomers and architects of the yesteryear could actually manage to do something that is Scientifically astounding even now. I decided to visit it some day in my life.

How did I book?

In each instance I booked using my favourite website Viator (no I have no conflict of interest or financial gain here!). It is a day trip that costs around INR 8000 per head from London and back.

How did the trip start?

I went in the winter both times, so the trip started at 8am. In summers I guess it starts just a little earlier. The bus started from the Victoria Bus Station. It is advisable to pick up some refreshments and use the washroom when you are there. Needless to say, English winters are not kind. It was dark and cold when we started. 

What does the trip include besides the Stonehenge?

I did two slightly different trips in the 2 times I went. in 2015, we went first to the Windsor Castle, then to the Stonehenge and then finished by going to the Roman City of Bath. In 2019, my wife and I went to the trip that included Windsor castle, Stonehenge and Oxford. For better emphasis on Stonehenge, I will describe the other 3 places mentioned quickly here.

Windsor castle is an alternate home for the British Royal Family and it is huge. The heritage, the architecture and the gardens were maintained beautifully. Contrary to the Buckingham palace where you can go only upto the gate, here you can roam around in many parts of the real estate. The change of guard, which is supposed a be a famous spectacle at the Buckingham place is much better viewed here at close quarters. It was an awesome experience here.(In London it was overhyped and very very crowded). The real museum and rooms are also well worth visiting.

Bath was a city that also struck me with awe. I have said many a time before that I enjoy the seeing the relics of the lifestyle of normal people who lived in the past. The Roman baths at the city of Bath was excellent. Unfortunately my camera lens had fogged up and I don't have good photos of the same, but needless to say, this place will remain etched in memory forever.

Oxford in 2019 was a different expereicnce. We reached age at 5 pm, and it was dark already. We took a quick walking tour and saw some universities (yes, contrary to what people think, Oxford itself is not an university! It contains numerous universities). We stopped at the statue of Bloody Mary as well (now, now, Bloody Mary was a person, not just the name of a drink!) We were lucky to be there at a day of the famous street market as well and enjoyed our time enjoying the street food.

Back to the place in contention..

Stonehenge

Both trips, we reached Stonehenge at 2 pm. Even in November/December you expect this place to be warm as it is in the open right? Maybe you require your sunglasses as well I suppose?

Absolutely not. If you ever wanted to experience the 'coldest you could feel when the sun is shining', you have come the correct place. It is damn cold, and be well covered, ears included. If you have long hair, better tie it up tightly as it will be a mess soon. Kilometers of no civilisation around makes this UNESCO protected site a very windy and cold place. (even in Summer)

The tickets can be purchased at the entry site to the site. The bus that drops you can go only upto this point. The office, washrooms, souvenir shop and cafe can be found here, and not later. So if u want to refresh, this is the place. After which you may be given some plastic raincoats as .. well, you know.. you are in England (no more explanation).

There will be common buses departing fro the office to the main site of the Stonehenge, which I guess must be 2 km from there. at the office you will be provided audio devices, which can be very helpful to understand the significance of each place that you visit. To be very frank, not many people actually listen to the audio, as the visuals in front of you make you feel so good, that you don't want to be disturbed otherwise. For Instagram users it is paradise. They will seen posing every 30 seconds to capture different scenes.

The Stones themselves are arranged in two main rings. Each ring contains vertical stones approximately 4x2 metres and there are stone on top that bridge the gap, which themselves weight tons in weight. God knows how the ancient man managed to get them up there. People say it was an ancient burial site, but it looked more like a calendar to me, which would have served the ancient man as a unit of time. 

(Practical tip: get someone else to take your photos. Selfies don't come out well here)

The area around the Stone henge are quite picturesque as well. If you have time, walk around in the farms,  with no sound of machines and automobiles heard whatsoever.

Almost surely, you will be drinking warm coffee or hot chocolate at the conveniently positioned cafe after u get back to the office

When did we get back to base?

Both times, we got back at 7pm at the Gloucester tube station. The first time, I was staying right there. The second time, it was a convenient tube station to get to the place where were put up. 

A day well spent, no doubt. 

Time as the fourth dimension?

In the book, 'Been there Before', Randhir Singh explains how time is the fourth dimension of space, and how his studies on wormholes can actually help explain this. Dr Sudeep, a renowned neurologist, had read about the 'Time is the Fourth Dimension' concept when he studied the Subconscious Brain in the past. But he wondered how all this could actually be possible at all!

The location of anything we see can be explained easily by knowing three dimensions....its position relative to the x, y and z axes.... that is length, breadth and depth.... why should there be a concept of the fourth dimension at all?

The photo above is of a galaxy and gases surrounding a black hole 10 billion light years away....

Therein lies the answer.... We know in which direction the galaxy is..... it can be easily seen is it not?

Wrong! We don't know in which direction it is, but we know which direction it was 10 billion years back..... Light has taken much time to reach here.... We don't know where the galaxy is now... we can only say it was in this position along the x, y and z axes at a particular time 't'.

Although many scientists now believe otherwise, we now realize what a genius Einstein must had been to think out of the box... his concept of space-time as such a simple logic, founded the base of astrophysics.... it also stresses how less we know about our surroundings...

It also makes us realise that he small we all actually are.

Precognitive Dreaming: Dreams that predict the Future

Dreams

Dreams are often random collation of events pictured by the mind when asleep. Often dreams have a certain background where a person has lived through before. Often a person dreams more than four to five dreams each night

Precognitive dreaming: Does it really exist? Has it happened to you?

Precognitive dreams are dreams that supposedly predict events that happen in the future. The Great American writer Mark Twain clearly remembers dreaming his brother's death in the exact sequence in which it happened. The late American President, Abhraham Lincoln, had gone on record to speak about a dream, just a fortnight before he actually died. In the dream he had pictured a group of people proceeding towards his coffin.

There were multiple people who swore that they had dreamed the Titanic sink before it actually did. Given the fact that billions of people dream each night, it is quite possible that it was by chance that some people dreamed such a famous ship would sink; especially because it was called the "the Unsinkable"

I remember dreaming about a prehistoric temple when I was twelve or so. The next day, a close friend and I decided to explore the locality that I had dreamed about. The search for the locality took us deep into the woods (yes, there were 'woods' within the city of Pune in 1991, something unimaginable in the present day and age!). This was a place I had never been to...never...

And behold... there stood a ruin of an age old building, with similar dimensions of the temple that I had dreamt about! And guess what... right at the area where the deity was supposed to be residing in the dream, we found a miniature temple that still existed in the present day!

The entire woods have now been cut down and a sprawling housing complex now rests there. But as in Hindu tradition, the temples are not touched and the miniature version of the temple still exists! Mr Rajesh Bharatan, if you are ever going to read this.... please look out of your balcony and you would see the temple I am talking about.

This particular sequence and scores of other similar sequences have been made into fiction and presented  in my upcoming book...provisionally called as the Subconscious. Do read it when it gets released guys!

Now, I want anyone to come forward with any of the precognitive dreams that he or she has dreamt about. It will be great to hear about it as I really  research the subject.

Cya Guys, take care!

Live in Pompeii

POMPEII

Well, well.

I read about the Mount Vesuvius eruption in School and how it completely destroyed the city of Pompeii in a matter of hours. I thought about how disastrous it could have been for all the residents to perish at the same time. I heard that the ruins of Pompeii were discovered. That’s it. I didn’t give it much thought thereafter.

In the year 1999, I remember bunking college on a Saturday. The reason was Channel V, the English music TV channel at that time, was going to show only Pink Floyd Videos that whole weekend. Pink Floyd was and still is my all time favourite rock band and I was not going to miss that at any cost. 

The first show that played was a recording of the 1973 concert of Pink Floyd, which was a concert played in front of an empty stadium (for added effects) at.. you guessed it right…Pompeii. The concert Live at Pompeii had two profound effects on humankind. 

First. It rocketed the ratings of the progressive rock Pink Floyd (hitherto they were doing psychedelic rock) to very high levels; this was soon to be followed by the Album “The Dark Side of the Moon” which is the highest selling album of all time. 

Second. It intrigued many a person including me about the mysterious city of Pompeii. It created a strong urge that I should visit this place sometime. I saw this video first in 1999 remember; I saw it many a time later and wished I could go there someday. 

I did. It was in July of 2019.

How did I plan?

Rome was my base. I had given one a half days for Rome and Vatican City; one day was for Florence and Pisa and the final day was for the trip down south.

I booked Viator tours and travels. The day trip included a trip to the Amalfi coast, lunch at a picturesque place called Positano and a trip to Pompeii. I booked ilthe trip online at it costed me approximately INR 14000. The confirmation was sent on email.

The day.

I had to get up at 0530 am that day, as the hotel I stayed was a distance away, and you could get stuck in early morning Rome traffic. Remember this point. I barely reached in time as there was an accident on the way which caused an even longer delay. The trip started from near the Rome railway station, at the Piazza Republica, a very convenient location. The trip guide was very friendly and gave us information all throughout the bus trip. Amalfi coast and Positano were awesome. The natural beauty of these places could make the subject for another blog. But let’s  jump to the place in contention now: we reached Pompeii at 1430. 

We were now accompanied by another guide. 

The first thing that strikes you is the surreal experience of someplace that belonged to the yesteryear. The dust and ash that buried Pompeii perfectly preserved its ruins. It was like we were walking in the first century AD. (Year is 0079!)

We went first to the Teatro Piccolo, or the small theatre. You could almost imagine yourself sitting among the crowd at sunset, while an artist sang in the theatre designed to have the best acoustic experience. As we came out of the theatre, we passed a narrow cobbled street. I was surprised when the guide pointed out to the drainage system running on the sides of the streets! (No comments on the present day municipalities here) . There were small counters on either sides of the streets, which were probably selling food , relished by the theatre goers. That street was a market place as the houses on either sides were surely shops, one such bakers shop was beautifully preserved, oven and all.

We were then taken to a well preserved house. Architecturally, it was a small masterpiece. The rooms and the gardens were similar to a dainty house. But the thing I liked the most was the open air hall, at the centre of which lay a pool. This pool would collect fresh water for each house when it rained. Remember there was no plumbing back then! 

Next were the Stabian baths. I will not go into details, but the pool, the separate male and female baths, changing room, warm bath areas, cold baths and the gymnasium was worth a gasp. Wow!

We next saw the Temple. Well preserved indeed!

The guide let us free to take photos at the Forum, the large town square and we didn’t move much from the square! The reason was the numerous photo opportunities you got at the square itself, which was lined by architectural masterpieces. The Mount Vesuvius was there standing at the background, the eruption of which buried the town. 

We saw numerous negative impressions of people buried in the ash and it was tear jerking just to see the impressions. This was the only sad part of the day.

Back to the bus stand , with a lot of memories, our group left back to Rome in silence. Everyone was awestruck and lost in introspection.

I personally am not a fan of visiting historic sites where Kings and Queens lived. Pompeii was a exactly the opposite. Common people lived there. Just like you and I.