Merlion on Sentosa Island
Waiting for my Singapore Sling at the Long Bar Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel
Raffles Hotel foyer
Home again
Monday 21 February 2011
Photos
The Olgas at Uluru
Ayres Rock
Sounds of Silence dinner at Ayres Rock
The Apostles
London Bridge on Great Ocean Road
Koala Bear
Yellow Robin in rain forest Goldcoast
Quoll seen on Goldcoast
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Pete & Liz on Bridge Climb
Almost completed
Blue Mountains Sydney
Victoria Shopping Centre Sydney
Singapore
Chinatown Singapore 
Tamil Temple Singapore
Chinese New Year .The year of the Rabbit
Sunday 13 February 2011
14th February 2011
This morni g we took a taxi to China Town, what a lot of things to see! Of course all the streets were beautifully decorated, once again with plenty of "rabbits", it was all very colourful. Lovely things to buy all you needed was plenty of money, but I'm afraid ours is fast running out!!!
From there we came back to our hotel and put on our "best bib and tucker" and got another taxi to go to Raffles for lunch in the Long Bar washed down with a Singapore Sling, this is where you eat peanuts and throw all the shells on the floor, quite amusing!
We spent all the afternoon there having a good look around!
This is all for now folks as tonight we have to do our packing ready to leave here tomorrow morning. We should be back home on Wednesday night tired out!!!
One thing is for sure we shall miss this beautiful hot weather another 33 degrees again today!
From there we came back to our hotel and put on our "best bib and tucker" and got another taxi to go to Raffles for lunch in the Long Bar washed down with a Singapore Sling, this is where you eat peanuts and throw all the shells on the floor, quite amusing!
We spent all the afternoon there having a good look around!
This is all for now folks as tonight we have to do our packing ready to leave here tomorrow morning. We should be back home on Wednesday night tired out!!!
One thing is for sure we shall miss this beautiful hot weather another 33 degrees again today!
13th February 2011
Left the hotel early this morning and have had a wo derful day out going to Senotasa Island. We went on the Jewel Cable Car ride which was quite an exciting way to get there! It took us 60 metres above the harbour, the views were stunning on another clear and beautiful day, it is still very very hot!
There were lots of things to do, first we took a tram ride to the several beaches, but it was so hot we couldn't even put our feet on the sand! So we went to the Butterfly Park where there were over 1,500 butterflies, got some good pictures of lots of them, all such lovely colours.
We also went up on the Tiger Sky Tower which is apparently the tallest viewing platform at 110 metres tall and 131 metres above sea level. It was so clear you could see all the way to Indonesia and Malaysia!
Yet again everywhere was decorated for the Chinese New Year, so plenty of "rabbits" around all made out of beautiful flowers, there were lots of waterfalls which we were glad to stand near for a cool down!
Wherever we went it was just a mass of colour.
Will try to put an update tomorrow before we leave here for home on Tuesday!
There were lots of things to do, first we took a tram ride to the several beaches, but it was so hot we couldn't even put our feet on the sand! So we went to the Butterfly Park where there were over 1,500 butterflies, got some good pictures of lots of them, all such lovely colours.
We also went up on the Tiger Sky Tower which is apparently the tallest viewing platform at 110 metres tall and 131 metres above sea level. It was so clear you could see all the way to Indonesia and Malaysia!
Yet again everywhere was decorated for the Chinese New Year, so plenty of "rabbits" around all made out of beautiful flowers, there were lots of waterfalls which we were glad to stand near for a cool down!
Wherever we went it was just a mass of colour.
Will try to put an update tomorrow before we leave here for home on Tuesday!
Saturday 12 February 2011
12th February 2011
Today we were picked up by a mini bus and taken on a lovely tour of Si.gapore. Bei g the Chinese New Year of the rabbit everywhere was decorated accordiingly, lots of local people were dressed for the occassion.
Our first stop was the Singapore Flyer where the tallest "big wheel" in the world is found, 30 metres higher than the London Eye. From there we went to Merlion Park where there is a statue with a beautiful water fountain. Then on to the Financial district and to China town where we went in a very old Temple with lots of gold plate and beautiful carvings of dragons. Our next stop was the Botanical Gardens, we've never seen so many different coloured orchids or such big ones. The whole garden was a blaze with colour and amazing palms. The last stop to walk around was Little India, this was a small street full of open air markets, mostly fruit, veg and clothes, everything here cheaper than Oz, where it was very expensive!
As our hotel is situated on the waterfront we walked for quite a few miles in the afternoon crossing lots of bridges and enjoying the lovely scenery and of course the beautiful weather, another day in the 30s! WE Should be getting used to it by now, we won't like the cold and wet when we get home!
After our evening meal we went on a Night Safari, where we took a tram ride through 99 a res of dense tropical forest. The safari is lit tto resemble the moonlight and is inhabited by more than 900 animals.
We also did some walks, the first being the fishing cat trail, that led on to the leopards trail and then they had a part to walk through to have bats flying around you (flying foxes), we didn't go in there as we didn't fancy an encounter with lots of BATS!!!
Our first stop was the Singapore Flyer where the tallest "big wheel" in the world is found, 30 metres higher than the London Eye. From there we went to Merlion Park where there is a statue with a beautiful water fountain. Then on to the Financial district and to China town where we went in a very old Temple with lots of gold plate and beautiful carvings of dragons. Our next stop was the Botanical Gardens, we've never seen so many different coloured orchids or such big ones. The whole garden was a blaze with colour and amazing palms. The last stop to walk around was Little India, this was a small street full of open air markets, mostly fruit, veg and clothes, everything here cheaper than Oz, where it was very expensive!
As our hotel is situated on the waterfront we walked for quite a few miles in the afternoon crossing lots of bridges and enjoying the lovely scenery and of course the beautiful weather, another day in the 30s! WE Should be getting used to it by now, we won't like the cold and wet when we get home!
After our evening meal we went on a Night Safari, where we took a tram ride through 99 a res of dense tropical forest. The safari is lit tto resemble the moonlight and is inhabited by more than 900 animals.
We also did some walks, the first being the fishing cat trail, that led on to the leopards trail and then they had a part to walk through to have bats flying around you (flying foxes), we didn't go in there as we didn't fancy an encounter with lots of BATS!!!
11th February 2011
This morning we went to the Sky Tower to the observation deck to take photos as when we climbed it we were not allowed to take a camera. We then went to the Queen Victoria Building for lunch and then to the Strand Building, both have lovely shops and architecture. We then relaxed in the sunshine eating ice cream and watching the street entertainers on the harbour front.
We left Sydney late afternoon for the airport. The coach driver taking us jumped a red traffic light!! Oh dear, we were chased along by the police, siren going, until the driver stopped, held us up for about half an hour while he was breathalised etc!! We still got there in time for our plane.
Another incident happened on the plane! The steward was serving our evening meal and he upset "boiling" gravy on Peter's arm and all down his trousers and tee shirt! Caused a commotion for a while with them running around to get ice cubes to put on his arm! It was VERY RED and nasty so they gave him 50dollars compensation.....big deal!!!
Got tto our hotel THe Grand Copthorne Waterfront at midnight (local time) very tired!
We left Sydney late afternoon for the airport. The coach driver taking us jumped a red traffic light!! Oh dear, we were chased along by the police, siren going, until the driver stopped, held us up for about half an hour while he was breathalised etc!! We still got there in time for our plane.
Another incident happened on the plane! The steward was serving our evening meal and he upset "boiling" gravy on Peter's arm and all down his trousers and tee shirt! Caused a commotion for a while with them running around to get ice cubes to put on his arm! It was VERY RED and nasty so they gave him 50dollars compensation.....big deal!!!
Got tto our hotel THe Grand Copthorne Waterfront at midnight (local time) very tired!
Thursday 10 February 2011
10th February 2011
The highlight of today was taking a Ferry to Rose Bay and going up in a seaplane for half an hour and having a conducted tour of Sydney's coastline, another beautiful day with fantastic views. After, we went to Chinatown then spent sometime around the Harbour. We are so lucky as our hotel is situated right on the Harbour front so has lovely views all around.
In the evening we were treated toa wonderful three course dinner at the Waterfont Restaurant by Scenic Tours.We had an excellent time with plenty of first class food and drinks and really good company.
Now to bed ready for packing tomorrow!
We would LOVE to stay longer BUT would Australia want us to stay?Wherever we've been we seemed to have left destruction behind us!!! We've had the heatwave in Cairnes and left before a cyclone hit! Left Melbourne in a heatwave and they then had floods! After we left Perth they had bush fires! Just hope Sydney will be safe once we've gone!!!
Looking forward to Singapore!
In the evening we were treated toa wonderful three course dinner at the Waterfont Restaurant by Scenic Tours.We had an excellent time with plenty of first class food and drinks and really good company.
Now to bed ready for packing tomorrow!
We would LOVE to stay longer BUT would Australia want us to stay?Wherever we've been we seemed to have left destruction behind us!!! We've had the heatwave in Cairnes and left before a cyclone hit! Left Melbourne in a heatwave and they then had floods! After we left Perth they had bush fires! Just hope Sydney will be safe once we've gone!!!
Looking forward to Singapore!
Wednesday 9 February 2011
9th February 2011
It's now countdown for us as we leave here on Friday evening! We are cramming in as much as we can!
We left on the Ferry this morning for Taronga Zoo, this took just fifteen minutes. From the Ferry we then went by cable car to the top which leads to the entrance of the zoo. Here we saw lots of Australian wildlife, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, duck billed platapuss and lots of free flying exotic birds.AS well as fantastic views of the skyscrapers over Sydney.
From the zoo we took another Ferry to Manly, which has ba k to back beaches linked by the Corso, a lovely promenade full of restaurants and tables for picnickers with lovely fountains all the way up the street.
The beaches were full of surfers so was interesting to watch, we walked for miles from one beach to another. The locals say they perfer these beaches to Bondi!
Sorry to rub it in, but another hot day!!!
We left on the Ferry this morning for Taronga Zoo, this took just fifteen minutes. From the Ferry we then went by cable car to the top which leads to the entrance of the zoo. Here we saw lots of Australian wildlife, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, duck billed platapuss and lots of free flying exotic birds.AS well as fantastic views of the skyscrapers over Sydney.
From the zoo we took another Ferry to Manly, which has ba k to back beaches linked by the Corso, a lovely promenade full of restaurants and tables for picnickers with lovely fountains all the way up the street.
The beaches were full of surfers so was interesting to watch, we walked for miles from one beach to another. The locals say they perfer these beaches to Bondi!
Sorry to rub it in, but another hot day!!!
8th February, 2011
We started today by going to the Sydney Sky Tower, this is quite amazing being 260meters above the city streets. The views are breathtaking taking in 360 degree views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and way beyond! You wear a boiler suit and a harness as well as a safety chain attached to a rail. At certain points you walk out onto glass floor overhangs viewing the city below, a really good experience and we had perfect weather to do it.
To see more go to www.sydneytower.com.au
This also took in the Oz Trek which is a 180 degree cinema with motion seats and special effects taking you on a travel across Australia's history.
We also went to The Rocks which used to be Sydney's most squalid and dangerous area, but is now a beautiful centre of street markets and restaurants. Here we visited Cadman's Cottage which is Sydney's oldest serviving house, built in 1816.
In the evening we had a sunset cruise around the harbour whilst eating a lovely three course meal! Putting on too much weight with so much good food!! But we are enjoying every minute!
To see more go to www.sydneytower.com.au
This also took in the Oz Trek which is a 180 degree cinema with motion seats and special effects taking you on a travel across Australia's history.
We also went to The Rocks which used to be Sydney's most squalid and dangerous area, but is now a beautiful centre of street markets and restaurants. Here we visited Cadman's Cottage which is Sydney's oldest serviving house, built in 1816.
In the evening we had a sunset cruise around the harbour whilst eating a lovely three course meal! Putting on too much weight with so much good food!! But we are enjoying every minute!
Monday 7 February 2011
7th February 2011
Certainly the heatwave has gone for now, no rain, but temperatures more like a Cornish summer, suits us fine, 70 degrees, not bad for February! At least we haven't got to drink three litres of water a day now!!
Our first trip this morning was to the Queen Victoria Building, built in 1898 it has around 200 boutiques, cafes, restaurants etc., beautiful stained glass windows and is said to be the most beautiful shopping centre in the world!
From there we walked to the Pylon Lookout which is part of Sydney Bridge. Another 200/300 steps to climb to the top where there wee really good views of the Harbour and the Opera House. Mind you, we've got an excellent view of the Opera House from our hotel bedroom!
We then had lunch at the Opera House before going on a conducted tour. This unique building is covered in a million tiles and has six theatres. We were able to go into each theatre as well as the backlot where all the scenery is stored. We were even able to sit in the "best" seats which can cost anything between 250/300 dollars, needless to say we won't be going to a performance! Carmen is on at the moment and it's a sell out!
Just to make the most of our day we caught a double decker open top bus and did a city tour which lasted two hours.
Another excellent day!
Our first trip this morning was to the Queen Victoria Building, built in 1898 it has around 200 boutiques, cafes, restaurants etc., beautiful stained glass windows and is said to be the most beautiful shopping centre in the world!
From there we walked to the Pylon Lookout which is part of Sydney Bridge. Another 200/300 steps to climb to the top where there wee really good views of the Harbour and the Opera House. Mind you, we've got an excellent view of the Opera House from our hotel bedroom!
We then had lunch at the Opera House before going on a conducted tour. This unique building is covered in a million tiles and has six theatres. We were able to go into each theatre as well as the backlot where all the scenery is stored. We were even able to sit in the "best" seats which can cost anything between 250/300 dollars, needless to say we won't be going to a performance! Carmen is on at the moment and it's a sell out!
Just to make the most of our day we caught a double decker open top bus and did a city tour which lasted two hours.
Another excellent day!
Sunday 6 February 2011
6th February 2011
Left hotel early this morning for a day trip to the Blue Mountains.
Would you believe whilst on the coach we had a heavy shower of rain, first we've seen since we left the UK. Today has been much cooler and the rain soon cleared, a relief not to have it so hot after being is such high temperatures.
The mountains are so named because of the blue haze produced by the eucalyptus oil evaporating from the trees. One of the highlights was a trio of pinnacles known as the "three sisters".
We took the scenic railway to the bottom of the gorge, which is the world's steepest railway, we did a nice walk at the bottom before taking the scenic skyway (cable car) back.
Then had a lovely three course lunch which was all included in our trip.
On our way back we stopped at The Edge Theatre which had a large IMAX screen where we saw the history of the Blue Mountains area.
More soon!
Would you believe whilst on the coach we had a heavy shower of rain, first we've seen since we left the UK. Today has been much cooler and the rain soon cleared, a relief not to have it so hot after being is such high temperatures.
The mountains are so named because of the blue haze produced by the eucalyptus oil evaporating from the trees. One of the highlights was a trio of pinnacles known as the "three sisters".
We took the scenic railway to the bottom of the gorge, which is the world's steepest railway, we did a nice walk at the bottom before taking the scenic skyway (cable car) back.
Then had a lovely three course lunch which was all included in our trip.
On our way back we stopped at The Edge Theatre which had a large IMAX screen where we saw the history of the Blue Mountains area.
More soon!
5th February 2011
We decided after breakfast to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge!!!
After having lots of instructions and getting all dressed up in a boiler suit and all the attachments clipped on, hat, radio, earphones and safety harness etc etc! We set off in a group of ten of us, all much younger than us! Lots of very energetic climbing including about 1440 steps. It was such a beautiful clear day the scenery was amazing you could see for miles around as well as a lovely view of the Opera House. We had several stops for photos as we were not allowed to take our own camera.
I think we must be pretty fit to do it in this heat as today turned out to be a record heatwave in Sydney of 42 degrees, even some beaches were deserted because of the heat!
This bridge is where the firework display is held on New Years Eve.
It's a fantastic single span arch carrying six lanes of traffic, two rail tracks and pedestrian walkways.
After relaxing for a bit from the bridge climb we caught a ferry to Darling Harbour for a BBQ on a converted vintage ferry where you could eat and drink as much as you liked.......a great day!
After having lots of instructions and getting all dressed up in a boiler suit and all the attachments clipped on, hat, radio, earphones and safety harness etc etc! We set off in a group of ten of us, all much younger than us! Lots of very energetic climbing including about 1440 steps. It was such a beautiful clear day the scenery was amazing you could see for miles around as well as a lovely view of the Opera House. We had several stops for photos as we were not allowed to take our own camera.
I think we must be pretty fit to do it in this heat as today turned out to be a record heatwave in Sydney of 42 degrees, even some beaches were deserted because of the heat!
This bridge is where the firework display is held on New Years Eve.
It's a fantastic single span arch carrying six lanes of traffic, two rail tracks and pedestrian walkways.
After relaxing for a bit from the bridge climb we caught a ferry to Darling Harbour for a BBQ on a converted vintage ferry where you could eat and drink as much as you liked.......a great day!
4th February 2011
Walked a very long way along the Golden Coast beach watching surfers and swimmers etc. before flying out of Brisbane for Sydney to stay at the Marriott Hotel.
Thursday 3 February 2011
3rd February 2011
After seeing on TV all the devastation caused by the cyclone how thankful we are to have moved out! Even the Hilton Hotel where we would have stayed in Cairns had part of it's roof blown off as well as all it's canopies - scary or what!!!
We had to leave so quickly it was quite frightening, especially whilst waiting at the airport we saw hundreds of firefighters being brought in ready for rescue work and for clearing up when it was over, it's still raging winds and rain there today.
Mothers with young children were at the airport offering to buy your airline ticket from you for 1,000 dollars! Ours was 800 dollars each to get out, our cost is being met by our tour company!
Thala Beach Resort which was to be our next stop has been completely flattened, so unfortunately we will be unable to return as it is going to take weeks and even months to rebuild. Disappointing, but better to be safe!
Our tour company have made last minute arrangements for us and today we have had a wonderful day out to O'Reilly's Tree Top Walk in the rain forest (no rain!) where we saw lots of beautiful wild birds, a water dragon, white faced wallabies, a massive python lying in the road stopped us getting through for awhile, so got some good pictures.
This was followed by a trip in an off road vehicle (very bumpy ride!) to see water falls and a massive rocking stone!
They gave us a nice lunch before putting on a Bird of Prey Experience, it was good.
Another lovely day, weather still hot around 30 degrees. Now going out for our evening meal.
We are leaving here tomorrow afternoon for Sydney, we've decided to have extra time there rather than other options we were offered.
See you in Sydney!
We had to leave so quickly it was quite frightening, especially whilst waiting at the airport we saw hundreds of firefighters being brought in ready for rescue work and for clearing up when it was over, it's still raging winds and rain there today.
Mothers with young children were at the airport offering to buy your airline ticket from you for 1,000 dollars! Ours was 800 dollars each to get out, our cost is being met by our tour company!
Thala Beach Resort which was to be our next stop has been completely flattened, so unfortunately we will be unable to return as it is going to take weeks and even months to rebuild. Disappointing, but better to be safe!
Our tour company have made last minute arrangements for us and today we have had a wonderful day out to O'Reilly's Tree Top Walk in the rain forest (no rain!) where we saw lots of beautiful wild birds, a water dragon, white faced wallabies, a massive python lying in the road stopped us getting through for awhile, so got some good pictures.
This was followed by a trip in an off road vehicle (very bumpy ride!) to see water falls and a massive rocking stone!
They gave us a nice lunch before putting on a Bird of Prey Experience, it was good.
Another lovely day, weather still hot around 30 degrees. Now going out for our evening meal.
We are leaving here tomorrow afternoon for Sydney, we've decided to have extra time there rather than other options we were offered.
See you in Sydney!
Tuesday 1 February 2011
1st February, 2011
G'day! And what a day we have had!!!
We were up early to fly to Cairns as we were told it was safe to go as the cyclone had changed course south. But on our arrival it had changed course again and was heading straight for Cairns. Everything was closed, even our hotel! Sandbags being put out as well as doors, windows etc. being boarded up. Everyone, even locals were being evacuated it was very scary as well as interesting to see it all "happening", not a soul around!!!
We were very quickly booked on a flight out, ours being the last to leave for Brisbane before the airport closed.
This cyclone is forecast as the worse one ever, it's graded force 5 max. with wind speeds of 290kph and measures 500kms. We experienced some of the strong winds whilst there, so as you can imagine we were very pleased to get away. But a mixture of feelings, as we were obviously so disappointed not to be able to go to the Great Barrier Reef and also on the Karunda Railway that we had pre booked.
Nevermind we are thankful to have a safe arrival in Brisbane!
After a good nights sleep (we were dog tired, up at 5am and arrived here at the hotel at midnight)
We are enjoying a relaxing day on the Gold Coast. It's still very hot!
You might see all about cyclone on the TV news!
Let you know more soon!
We were up early to fly to Cairns as we were told it was safe to go as the cyclone had changed course south. But on our arrival it had changed course again and was heading straight for Cairns. Everything was closed, even our hotel! Sandbags being put out as well as doors, windows etc. being boarded up. Everyone, even locals were being evacuated it was very scary as well as interesting to see it all "happening", not a soul around!!!
We were very quickly booked on a flight out, ours being the last to leave for Brisbane before the airport closed.
This cyclone is forecast as the worse one ever, it's graded force 5 max. with wind speeds of 290kph and measures 500kms. We experienced some of the strong winds whilst there, so as you can imagine we were very pleased to get away. But a mixture of feelings, as we were obviously so disappointed not to be able to go to the Great Barrier Reef and also on the Karunda Railway that we had pre booked.
Nevermind we are thankful to have a safe arrival in Brisbane!
After a good nights sleep (we were dog tired, up at 5am and arrived here at the hotel at midnight)
We are enjoying a relaxing day on the Gold Coast. It's still very hot!
You might see all about cyclone on the TV news!
Let you know more soon!
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