Singapore - visa stop

Singapore - our last chance to get 60 day visas for Indonesia. Lilian (the Singaporean lady we met in Oz) told us there will be no problem getting visas in Singapore. We arrive on Saturday so will have to wait until Monday to put in our visa applications.

Singapore is a nice play to visit. This is the area around Orchard Road the main shopping area.



Near Orchard Street

Singapore is 85 miles (137 km) north of the equator and believe it or not an island made up of 63 islands.



Local transport

Singapore became fully independent in 1965 and is one of the four Asian Tigers and the world's fourth leading financial centre.

Money abounds

Singapore is a shoppers paradise, there a shopping centres everywhere...

modern

and traditional.

Little India

In April 2010, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel opened. It comprises of three 55 storey towers connected by a roof sky park and costs a minimum of £375 per night.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Whilst waiting for our visas, which  we were told will take 48 hours, we decided to visit some of the visitor attractions Singapore has to offer. We bought a 3 parks ticket which allows entry to Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.

To get to Jurong Bird Park, we took the MRT (underground) to Boon Lay (no snickering) and the 194 bus to the park entrance. The park is home to around 380 species of which 29 are endangered.

Here are a few of the birds we saw.

A strange collection of birds, you may agree.

Next stop Singapore Zoo. Singapore Zoo displays animals in naturalistic, open exhibits with hidden barriers, moats and glass between you, the visitor, and the animals. There are about 315 species of animal in the zoo, many which are considered threatened.

Here are some of the animals we saw.

An old froend from Costa Rica

A motley crew.

Next was the Night Safari, sorry no piccies as it was too dark. An interesting experience being in a zoo at night but well worth a visit.

We hope you enjoyed our visit to Singapore and you will be pleased to know we did get our visas within 48 hours, so next stop Indonesia.

Australia - Cairns - The last stop before Singapore

Well as you know we made it back to Cairns from Cooktown. The country is really beautiful if harsh up there and is well worth a visit. If you hire an offroad vehicle you can travel the many dirt highways that are inaccessible for the omnipresent campers.

Back here we had a few things to do, like get last minute things for the jungle, waterproof bags, soap, shampoo, clothes and of course anti-malarials.

For tbe later we booked a consultat a local medical centre, and picked up some doxycycline. Not our favoured anti- malarial but definitely the cheapest.

So shopping done we booked on a last dive trip to the Outer Barrier Reef (Saxon and Norman reefs to be precise). This was the cheapest and probably the most crowded boat we had been on (60 + people); but despite tha,t the crew of mainly brits and one german were excellent at giving instruction in  the use of equipment and what to look out for.

So after our Bacon and Egg roll and our suit, fins, mask and snorkel fitting, we were ready to hit the water snorkelling and diving, and to take some piccies...

Some of these pictures are very clear and some are a little "misty" due to sediment stirring, but have a look through, spot the fish where you can; and if you know the  names of the corals and or the fish then post a commnet to let us know too...

Have a look at this nesxx set of photos, and bear in mind that we are 90 minutes off the mainland of Australia...

this looks like a beach where the tide had just gone out doesn't it, you can see a few rocks in the distance...

...In fact this is Norman reef being exposed due to a falling tide, see the pale pink colour of the coral in the mid ground....

...and here it is at low water....


We got back to Cairns exhausted after two dives interspersed with as much snorkelling as time would allow. We had a fantastic day at the Saxon and Norman reefs.

We didn't realise that the "tide" went out at this great distance from shore either!

We landed back at JJ's for a well earned last sleep in Jucy Lucy who goes back to her spiritual owner tomorrow. A real tear jerker thats going to be after travelling so far and so long with her :0((

Next, on the 18th June, we are off to Singapore, to get our visas for Indonesia and adventure in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.