1/9/26 Singapore city lights & light shows

 

    After catching some sleep we had breakfast , then a swim , before heading back into Clarke Quay in the afternoon . The supermarket where we shopped & ate over 3 months ago was the place to go for tea - it was reliable , delicious and air-conditioned . You can even get a beer or wine or whatever you want to drink - no harm in trying the Green Monster Beer - it was okay . Our tea was delicious , then we headed back to the MRT and down to the harbour for the evening light show .

We ducked into Marina Bay shopping to enjoy some aircon again before sitting out on the harbour esplanade .

Palm trees lined one section of the esplanade , was lit nicely , so photo's happened .

The Apple Store made for an interesting view with the skyscrapers of the business district lighting up . Yes it's floating in the harbour .

The Merlion is on the other side of the bay and also lit up , plenty of people over there as well .

This is where the light & water show is held nightly , we opted to stay on this side to avoid any overspray from the fountains .

Singapore looks better by night .

Spotlights lit up before the show started 

 After a few minutes the show started , music , water jets & coloured lighting made for an impressive show , photo's don't do it justice .

As expected , there was quite a crowd here .

Singaporland tower had an interesting head piece on it .

The show finished and we waited for the crowd to clear a little before going into Marina Bay Sands for another bit of aircon , and to have a look . There was a magnificent floral display , featuring some beautiful orchids - we were amazed .

Making our way up to the walkway that takes you to the Giant Trees , we walked through Marina Bay Sands again and stopped just outside at the start of the bridge over the roadway , and watched from there . Not the same as being below the trees , but still good .

We watched as the colours and lights changed , also good to see from a different angle . The show finished, and we headed back to the MRT and back to the hotel .

      Next morning , we emerged about 8:45am for breakfast , cruised round aimlessly , went for a swim and decided to go to Satay by the Bay , at Gardens by the Bay , for dinner . Half of it was shut down , we are presuming for redevelopment , but we had a nice meal and cold drink . Daytime in the heat isn't pleasant , so we decided to carry on the theme of going out later when the heat has eased a little . We checked a small part of the gardens before we went back to the hotel and found there were some Sealions in the pond - we suspect they were fed , as they were chewing on some nice fresh fish - there were about 12 sealions there , swimming, eating and barking at each other as they ate . We'd seen signs saying not to get close to them , and after seeing them eat a raw fish I can understand why . Their teeth are about 15-20mm long , and they rip a fish apart quite rapidly - a finger wouldn't last long !!

   After watching them for a while , we headed back to the hotel and prepared for our early start . We have a 7:15am flight back to Perth in the morning , so had to be up at 3:45am to get a taxi out to the airport . After a rotten night not really sleeping , the alarm went off and away we went . Got to the airport and checked in without trouble , wandered around and got something to tide us over till we got a meal on the plane . Boarded on time and sat in the wrong row , after we were settled , the hostess asked where we were sitting , then we realised we were another couple of rows back - bugger , grab everything and move . Everything went well from there on , arriving in Perth at 1:15pm , then back to Emms at about 3pm , trip over . Not sure we wanted it to be over , but that's reality kicking in , we had great trip . 

 Not a sunset this time , rather a sunrise as we climbed away from Singapore . Thanks for following our travels , Cheers

                                       

31/8/26 Singapore

 

  We made it to Singapore after about twelve and a half hours . Arrived at 7:15am in the middle of a thunderstorm , it was chucking it down , but we made it into the terminal without getting wet - only just , the weather sealing around the airbridge and the aircraft was tested and only just passed . Due to lightning , the workers unloading the baggage etc , were stood down until the storm had passed , so that held all the baggage up . We were kept well informed with announcements , emails & messages , but it didn't concern us as we had plenty of time to spare - check in time at the hotel was 2pm . Town minutes after the email , luggage started coming out of the carousel , so we waited , grabbed ours and headed to the MRT , and got on a train . 25mins later we were out of the train and into 30 degrees of Singapore warmth . We walked around to the hotel arriving at 10:15 am , they checked and said our room was ready and gave us complimentary access to it - winning ! Unpacked and into the swimmers , it was up to the pool to wallow around for a while to help keep us awake . We headed out for some lunch , before having a little wander around the local area .

There's plenty of murals in this neighbourhood .

There's even some on the ceilings of the walkways .

Went back up to the pool area to check out the night views , not too terrible !

We crashed at about 9:15pm , not bad , getting up at 8:30am - got to be happy with that . 

25/8/26 Corfe Castle

 

    Well after a good nights sleep , ( about the only redeeming feature of this property ) we packed & loaded the car and headed off to Corfe Castle . We thought we'd have a look at the castle before heading back to Woking . It's a National Trust Property , so that was an added bonus for us . We arrived to the carpark and got ready for our wander around the castle . These are some of the views of the castle as we walked the 750m around to the entrance .

 

Perched up on top of a hill , the ruins are an impressive sight . 

A small creek was on the other side of the path , with a great old stone bridge .

Sections of the castle have fallen down the hill , done when the castle was made unusable by those in power at the time , such shame as it would have been a magnificent structure .

We reached the entrance and flashed our National Trust card , and walked straight in across the bridge over what would have been a moat .

There were activities for kids to keep them amused , the view was enough to keep us amazed .

The town is also called Corfe Castle and looks great .

Here's higher view of it .

This is massive and would have been quite the spectacle when it was all in one piece , rather than scattered over the hillside .

They have spent 2million pounds restoring the castle , most of that was making it safe and repointing some of the original stonework with traditional mortar .

    Love the old style thatched roof . It isn't a lost art though , we have seen several places having the thatching replaced during our week around Cornwall .

Doesn't seem to matter where you walk , the views are quite amazing .

                                   

     A steam train runs regularly bringing visitors to the town and castle , another old diesel loco brought another train load in later .

     It must have been a huge job demolishing the castle to the state it's now in .

After wandering around for several hours , we headed back to the car . We decided to do the loop back to the car and found this small man made waterfall tucked away amongst the foliage .

What a way to finish off our week , such a great day , we headed off back to Woking , returned the hire car and settled in for the remaining few days with the family . Isla enjoyed it very much , as did we . 

   Sunday came too quickly , and we were driven to Heathrow and checked in before the hugs and tears flowed . It was an effort to tear ourselves away from them , I don't think anyone wanted us to leave , specially us !! 

  Anyway that's how it transpired , we are still amazed how quickly our time in UK & Europe has gone . We have seen & done some amazing things in wonderful places , and enjoyed it all . The weather has been more like Australia than UK , and we did enjoy that . Singapore tomorrow , another chapter in the journey. Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Ffz9pCNS33TzhrIriDYKSjte0525hsw&usp=sharing

24/8/26 Portland Bill & Weymouth

 

   Today we head to Portland for a look around , not worried about town so much , as we had a great day yesterday exploring Polruan . The road took us through a lot of rolling hills and brought us over a hill to this view of the coast . A long lagoon appeared that disappeared into the distance , with what looked like a sand bar between the lagoon and the ocean . 

Down the other end of that lagoon is Portland , and right on the point Portland Bill Lighthouse . When we got down to the carpark , the wind was near gale force , the ocean was covered in wind swell and waves - did I mention it was cool , no?? it wasn't cool it was bloody cold with a real chill about it .

There's an interesting stone fence near the roundabout .

The wind was blowing hard enough for a flock of starlings to take shelter on the back side of the roof of the lighthouse keeper .

Back in toward Weymouth and just above Castletown is a great lookout , it even has a hotel to go with it . We went to the lookout & Olympic Rings . This is where they held the sailing events when the UK had the olympics in 2012 .

Here's a closer look at the beach and lagoon which is called East Fleet and West Fleet . The beach isn't sand but is actually all pebbles - that's a lot of pebbles !!

Castletown down below is an older town and a wonderful range of colours in the houses .

The weather wasn't being user friendly , so we headed off up the road a bit further before finding somewhere to stop the night .The road took us through Puddletown , so we found a rugby complex where we could park and have our lunch . We found a place that sounded okay near the town of Lychett Matravers . It was Dolmans Hill Manor - sounds good ??? we got an email shortly after our purchase , stating that they are aware that the bathroom is in need of a renovation - it was scheduled for next month - alarm bells should have rang , but it was too late , they had our money . We got some food in at Lychett Matravers and headed out . The manor was a farmhouse in the country , so it was going to be quiet . We were in a section on the side . It had a kitchenette , lounge room and a large bedroom with dining table & 2 chairs - yes the dining table was in the bedroom . The bathroom was indeed in need of a renovation , I will leave it at that , but I won't recommend this place to anyone - AVOID it !! There was also a strange smell - like sprayed insecticide or oil and it was right through all the accomodation . It wasn't the ideal end to our little jaunt around Cornwall , but it's not over yet . Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1qB78lcEhwSdBwGDLe4S1r1U7ftIM5hE&usp=sharing