En route to the Gold Coast

On Monday evening 15th January 2018 we boarded our Emirates flight to Singapore via Dubai. Seventeen hours later we arrived a little tired but otherwise fine. Adding in an 8 hour time zone shift we actually arrived just in time for bed on Tuesday evening. A quick beer then off to bed !

With jet lag, we didn't know if we were waking up for breakfast or dinner. Anyway, after breakfast, we headed over to the Singapore flyer to get a good perspective on Singapore. The flyer is on the harbour waterfront and mirors the London Eye. The huge slowly rotating wheel offers a great view of the whole City (country). Apart from its views it also helped us orient ourselves in Singapore.

From tthe wheel we then strolled around the harbour, past the Merlion and the Raffles hotel (closed for renovations) and on to a delicious lunch at the Colony. As tempretures dipped to aroudn 32 degrees we headed off to visit the Gardens on the Bay. This amazing eco project has similarities to Kew gardens. However it has to cope with a much less hospitable climate. As you can see in the photos there are lots of huge towers in the garden upon which hundreds of species of plants are growing. Suspended from the towers are walkways giving you an amazing view of the gardens. Inside the park there are also two huge biodomes which house two thematic displays : country gardens from all over the world and a cloud forest. The most surprising discovery for us was that the towers are actually huge vents from the underground cooling systems used within the biodomes.

After a tiring first day we finished off the day with the tremendous sound and light show presented through the garden towers.

Back to bed then up just in time for a swanky lunch at the Rhubard.  A Michelin star restaurant run by a chef from Bermondsey! A lovely guy who took the time to chat with us about his business and life in Singapore where he's been for the last 9 years. After lunch, it was time to get in some culture with a trip to the history museum. This place did a great job of taking us through the history of Singapore from its founding by Raffles, through the invasion by the Japanese in WWII to modern day multicultural Singapore under the management of Lee Kwan Yew.




Our final day was low key. After a lazy morning we headed off to the airport to fly down to Brisbane. With another 7 hour flight and an extra couple of hours time change, we were in bed in Brisbane at 2am! Alas, no time for a lie in as we were off at 10.45am to Tangalooma island for a couple of days.