Singapore 14-18th January 2015

We arrived in Singapore late in the evening and headed to the Big Hotel, which was quite central being only a couple of streets back from Orchard Road.  Most of the clientele were young, or are we getting old! 

Checking in at reception Mike was convinced that he was being checked out by one of the local talent for some action, not that Sheila noticed!  We proceeded to our room to be surprised by its size, clearly not in keeping with the hotel name. We negotiated a change to the largest of the rooms available and whilst this was still smaller than anything that we experienced in 10 weeks of travelling it was smart, clean, and quiet at 16 floors up, and had a very comfortable bed. 

Mike had been to Singapore twice before on business but to give Sheila an idea of the layout of the city we decided to take rides in the circular City Sightseeing buses.  Well this turned out to be more difficult than we could have imagined. Mike obtained a list of bus stop locations off the website and we took advice from some of the locals as to where these busses stopped. We were fully expecting to see signs on the bus stops with their adverts or logos, as experienced in other major cities, but not at all. We kept on spotting the buses but then they disappeared around corners. Eventually working backwards we discovered the starting point at the Suntec Centre.  

Once we obtained the bus pamphlet then everything droped into place since all bus stops are numbered on their posts and the specific bus stops are listed in the pamphlet with the exact route marked out. The City Sightseeing Tour busses in Singapore cover three different circular routes and whilst it is probably possible to cover all three in a day one would probably have little chance to explore. We purchased a ticket to cover two days.

The city has had considerable expansion since Mike was last in Singapore with a larger business district, more high-rise buildings and some new exotic looking buildings including the Marine Bay Sands complex with a boat like structure on top of three high-rise towers, a saucer shaped topped structure, which is the Supreme Court Building designed by Sir Norman Foster, and the Art Science Museum.

Marine Bay Sands 

Supreme Court

Art Science Museum

The first day we peeled off to take a look at the Gardens by the Bay, which included the artificial Supertree Grove and Skyway, a 22m high walk way between the super trees, and two domes one housing exotic flowers and trees and the other the Cloud Forest.

Supertree Grove

On the second day we took a different bus tour and headed off to the Botanic Gardens, which includes special sections covering orchid, healing and ginger plants, each being quite extensive. 

National Flower of Singapore

In the evening we headed off to the Night Safari, which being a Friday was exceedingly busy but none the less well worth the visit. Travelling around in open-sided and low-level trams one is stunned by how close one comes to wild animals, a matter of a couple of metres or less with, in some places, no physical barriers.

The following day we decided to make our way out the Changi prision museum using the public transport system.  This demanded a ride on the MRT train system and a transfer for the last part of the journey to the buses. We purchased a one-day travel card, which took the best part 40 min, partly due to the queue and partly due to the slowness of the computer system. Then we had a 30 minute MRT ride, followed by another 30 minutes on a bus. It didn’t help that we found ourselves heading in the wrong direction on the bus and travelled two stops before Google Maps came to the rescue! The whole trip would probably have taken no more than 40 minutes by taxi and not been too expensive, probably $20 or around £10.  

The museum is towards the Changi Airport and very close to the current prison. The current prison still retains a part of the old wall. In the museum, which is quite small we joined a guided tour. The guide was exceedingly informative. He initially described the rationale for the Japanese joining the war and how they attacked both Singapore and Pearl Harbour within an hour of each other.  The plan was to gain access to the oil fields in Sumatra thereby furthering their expansion into East Asia without being open to possible threats by the Allies in Singapore or the Americans in the Hawaiian Islands. The museum consists of letters, drawings, photographs and personal artefacts chronicling the stories of the POWs and civilian internees. The museum undertakes research for people who had relatives in the prison.

The original plan was to head onto Palau Ubin, an island just off the coast, that is far less developed than Singapore and hire some bikes. However, the time was getting on so we headed back into the city to do a little more sightseeing. We headed for the river, bought some late lunch (4pm), and then strolled along the river to see the Supreme Court, Parliament Building and the famous Merlion.

North Fremantle, WA.  14th to 12th January 2015

14th January 2014

Our ten weeks of exploring Australia was finally over and sadly we had to pack our bags and say our farewells. Nevertheless we decided to do a last bit of shopping in Fremantle, not that we found what we wanted but it is a quaint town to explore.

We drove around  to Phil's, had a quick drink and then headed off to the airport for a flight to Singapore where we would stay for a few days. A country that Sheila had not previously visited.

13th January 2015

We thought that it was time that we took a look at the region from the Swan River so took a Capt. Cook Cruise from Fremantle to Perth. We drove to within 300m of the North Fremantle station and took a train to Fremantle and headed down to Shed B on the docks. Shortly afterwards the boat came in and we boarded.  The cruise was to take about 1hr 30min and offered a wine tasting session on board.

Sheila about to board

Not long after departing we sailed under the two bridges linking Fremantle with North Fremantle and passed both the Left Bank Restaurant on the south bank of the Swan River and our Pier 21 apartment on the north bank. 

Pier 21

Mike had cycled along part of the north bank a couple of weeks back so knew some of the terrain. We were soon spotting the multi-million dollar accommodation that adorns the river bank, mainly on the north side.  There were also fishermen who had waded out into the river a 50m or more to secure a greater advantage.  

Swan River fishing 

At a couple of points on the south of the river there were a couple of sand spits that jutted out a few hundred yards into the river, one at Point Walter near to where we had played golf. 

Swan River spit

As we approached Pelican Point, where Mike, Phil and Becks had been windsurfing, we saw a "smack" of jelly fish both brown and translucent, not dangerous but quite disconcerting if one swims or windsurfs in the area. Mike had spotted none of these previously and later on learnt from Phil that they are a regular occurrence as the summer develops.

Brown Jellyfish

Moon Jellyfish

Further down the river, on the south bank, we spotted two guys surfing with motorised surf boards. These apparently cost $17,000 each and earlier versions took hours to charge and lasted only about 30min.

As we approached Perth City the famous bell tower came into view. Currently the adjacent land is being developed into a new riverside complex so the surrounding area is not particularly attractive. We took a look inside the Bell Tower but didn’t stay long. 

Perth Bell Tower

Our next port of call was the Perth Museum where there was a special exhibition on historic treasures from Afghanistan. This exhibition has been touring the world, including London, and was next off to Moscow. We were keen to take a look at this unique collection, which was thought to have been destroyed during the last 30 years of conflict within Afghanistan but had been found cased up in the Royal Palace.

We left the museum and strolled around the shopping centre eventually catching the train back to North Fremantle, a very fast, efficient and cheap transport system.

In the evening we went out with Phil and Becks to the Matilda Bay Restaurant, on the north shore of the Swan River.  This would be the last meal together before we departed the following day to Singapore. The restaurant had been a recommendation by a friend of ours and the meal and wine proved to be excellent. 

12th January 2015

Now that were fully settled in our new accommodation in North Fremantle, at Pier 21 on the banks of the River Swan, we decided to take a closer look at Fremantle and in particular the Fremantle Prison.

Pier 21 Apartment View

This prison was built by and housed many British convicts that were transported from the UK to Australia from the 1850s. 

Fremantle Prison

We took “the Doing Time Tour”, which took one from the life of the prisoners from the point when they are led into the prison and strip searched through their day-to-day existence, including whipping punishment, solitary cell confinement and for some the gallows. 

Prison corridor & cells

The prison was finally decommissioned in 1991 and even in this period the cells and conditions were far from the “luxurious” conditions that today’s prisoner’s experience. 

Prison "bird"

After the tour we did a short search for an ATM in Fremantle and then headed back to Pier 21, where we had a snack and then a swim.

In the evening we walked across the Stirling Bridge onto the southern bank of the Swan River to the Left Bank Restaurant for dinner where we watched the sun set across the Fremantle docks. 

Left Bank Restaurant

Anglers were visible around the two bridges, some on the base of the bridge structures and others had waded into the river.  

Sunset Dedication!

Lancelin 8-11th January 2015

11th January 2015

After a quick breakfast, finishing off what we had left and vacating the accommodation, we headed back to the beach.

Lancelin Beach

We went for a walk along the beach to the Lancelin Jetty to find a few fishermen and one boat in particular unloading its catch, which initially looked like a load of crabs but on closer inspection were probably large orange fish heads. They also had crates of gutted fish. 

Lancelin Jetty

Looking back at the beach from the jetty one could see rows of 4WD cars and a couple of tractors, all with boat trailers lined up at the top of the beach.  

4WD & trailers

We walked back along the beach past the place where we had parked the car and to the closest point that we could observe Phil and Becks trying their luck at paddling the SUPs onto the reef to catch a few waves.  They had seen dolphins under their boards at certain points.

Heading home

We all headed back to the trees and grass near the cars and took some lunch. By this time most of Phil and Becks’ friends had turned up from Perth with their young children. The wind got up a bit and most got onto the water with their windsurfers. The wind was relatively light so not overly spectacular although a few kite surfers were enjoying the lighter winds. 

Some of the guys went off to take their 4WD cars onto the inland sand dunes. We were loaded up with our luggage and the windsurfing gear so declined the offer to join them.

Eventually we had to make our way back to North Fremantle to check into some new accommodation so left around 5:30pm, Phil and Becks joined everyone else at the Tavern for a meal. The route back along the Indian Ocean Drive was rerouted due to the fire so we had to head to the coast road, a slower route 71 (Marmion Drive). 

After checking in, unpacking and taking a shower, we headed out across the Swan River bridge to a restaurant on the opposite bank. Unfortunately road works seriously limited our access so we drove into Cottesloe only to find all the restaurants just having finished cooking meals. The last restaurant took pity on us and offered two apples, two oranges and two eggs all for free. So the plan was to head back and have a cooked egg. However on our way back Sterling Highway we spotted  a Red Rooster, a take-away restaurant so we purchased a couple of meals and headed back to the apartment saving the eggs for breakfast. 


10th January 2015: Lancelin

Phil and Becks left soon after breakfast (a late one at that) and headed off to the beach. Mike tried to sort out his access to Telstra data on his mobile. After a frustrating session with Telstra we headed north in the direction of Cervantes and in particular the Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre.

The terrain going north consists of gorse like structures but also bonsai looking trees from a couple of feet to no more than five. Probably a result of the strong winds experienced in this area.

Bonsai tree?

The Pinnacles Desert is a region similar to the Petrified Forest, which we had seen near Port Fairy but not a region immediately on the coast but a few kilometres in land. 

Pathfinder

However, in this case the limestone spires were not as cylindrical as near Port Fairy yet there were thousands of them extending over a large area. We took a 4 km drive around part of the site.

Pinnacle Desert

From the Pinnacles Desert we drove a little further north to Cervantes for some light refreshment, and a quick drive onto the beach to see the coastline, and then headed back out of the town a couple of kilometres to Lake Thetis. This is an exceedingly salty lake due to the rapid evaporation of water and only one of five sites in Western Australia that feature stromatolites.  These are the oldest and simplest living organism on Earth and date back 3.5 billion years. Stromatolites are rock like structures built by microbes (single-celled cyanobacteria, also known as blue-algae).  The very salty conditions inhibit the existence of predators allowing the microbes to flourish but they grow at a very slow rate of a fraction of a millimetre per year.

Stromatolites

We drove back to Lancelin getting back around 5:30 to find Phil and Becks out on the paddle boards paddling in the vicinity of dolphins (two adults and one young) and a couple sting rays.

In the evening we headed back to the Endeavour Tavern for dinner and met up with a couple of friends of Phil and Becks, who had come up for the weekend. A fire had sprung up north east of Perth and we could see the smoke on the horizon even though we were probably 80km or more further north. The smoke killed the sunset. 


9th January 2015

The day started with a cooked breakfast, by far not the first but it promised to be an active day so a little more energy would be useful.

We headed off to the beach but the wind hadn’t quite got up. Becks started the day off with a paddle down the coast, followed by a couple of dolphins. 

Becks goes early morning SUP

Dolphins follow Becks

Becks got into teaching mode and took Sheila out for a spin. She was doing fine until a gust of wind blew her off the board, well that was her excuse.

Sheila's training session

The rest of the day turned into a blasting session out to the reefs, although at one point Mike managed to put his harness hook through Beck’s sail, not the best of moments.

Phil performimg a one-handed lay-down gybe!

A varied choice of food in the Endeavour Tavern with a selection of drinks, a great live group and a magnificent sunset finished the day off in style.

Lancelin Sunset

8th January 2015: Margaret River to Lancelin

We took breakfast early and packed, loaded up the car with bags, windsurfer, sails, masts and Margaret River wine and headed north.

Margaret River to Lancelin

The plan was to visit Yallingup and Dunsborough on the way north to Cottesloe (Perth) and then drive onto Lancelin. 

In Yallingup there were quite a few surfers out catching the waves and we sat and had a coffee from a mobile café while watching the action. 

Surf action at Yallingup

In Dunsborough we realised that the engine was over heating and let it cool down while tracking down some coolant from a local garage. The radiator needed 3 litres adding to fill it up to the 11 litre capacity. This solved the problem for the rest of the journey but clearly needs monitoring in case there is a leak. After sorting out the car we took a look at the beach in Dunsborough, which extends for miles and has some expensive looking properties along the shore.  This is reported to be the Cottesloe of the south attracting a fair amount of money as a holiday resort.

Arriving in North Fremantle we stopped off to see Nick, whose house we had borrowed in North Fremantle.  We dropped off the house key and then drove onto see Phil who was working at home in the afternoon. We had a relatively quick cup of tea and then headed north to Lancelin to search out our accommodation for the weekend some 1 ½ hrs away. Phil and Becks would join us later.

The accommodation in Lancelin, a two bedroomed bungalow, is about three streets back from the coast. We dumped our gear, took a shower and headed off to the Endeavour Tavern for what was the best fish and chips we have so far had in Australia. However, we missed the sunset by about ½ hour so will have to go back tomorrow.

Next week the Lancelin Ocean Classic 2015 takes place, a top international windsurfing event, and we heard that some of the top guys were already in town practising their techniques. If they hadn’t delayed the event by a week then we would have been around for the action but will be in Singapore by then. Phil is planning in taking part.  

Lancelin Ocean Classic

The event is reported to be Australia’s longest running windsurfing & kitesurfing event and now in its thirteenth year. It features the 25km Ledge Point to Lancelin Windsurfing Marathon.

Margaret River 1st – 7th January 2015

7th January 2015

We started the day undertaking a few chores and then headed off down south to Augusta so that Mike could go windsurfing in the Blackwood River estuary. This was right at the mouth of the river and separated from the sea by an isolated stretch of sand dune.

Almost as soon as we arrived we spotted a couple of dolphins in the water with swimmers, canoeists and SUPs. The water looked really shallow and they got a lot of attention.

Out towards the sea there were plenty of kite surfers but initially not any windsurfers.

Eventually one emerged from the south. As soon as Mike got his gear rigged and entered the water it was clear why there were more kite surfers than windsurfers. The sand dune over which the wind was blowing into the estuary was causing major low level gusts, which disturbed the airflow to make it difficult to windsurf.  The kites, however, were flying well above the dunes so had better laminar air flow. Mike switched down from a 5.7m to 4.7m sail but still found the windsurfing arm wrenching.

Mike & kites in Augusta

Beach kit in Augusta

In the evening we took dinner at the Settlers Tavern, by far the liveliest place in Margaret River in an evening.  Getting a meal is quite a procedure but the staff are always friendly and the food is good. Most evenings they have live music and this evening was no exception since it was “open mic” night. The music was quite reasonable, although somewhat spoilt, by many people talking quite loudly over the music. 

6th January 2015

Margaret River Golf Club

We spent the day honing our golf skills at the Margaret River Golf Club about 7km outside Margaret River and towards the coast.

The locals stand in awe!

We had booked the day before and told that we could start before 10:30am due to the fact that a competition would be taking place. Well I am not sure how many were playing but it couldn’t have been more than a handful.  Nevertheless, the club pro was exceedingly friendly and keen to please. 

At one point during the game a bull ant about 25mm long walked over Mike's ball as he was about to hit it. Mike waited and the ant retreated but then got back on at which point Mike decided to wait no longer and sent the ball and ant on a joint flight!

Bunker steward!

The course was well manicured and not busy at all so we had no one immediately following us nor in front apart of the kangaroos, who largely kept on munching the grass.  However, I noted from the local rules that one can take relief from kangaroo scrapings!

5th January 2015

The temperature was predicted to be high today in Margaret River, around 36C, and we knew this in advance so a couple of days ago we booked an all-day wine tasting session with Bushtuckers Tours knowing that we would be mostly inside. Furthermore, the tour promised to be different to the normal highbrow experience that one typically gets so we were keen to give it a try.

We travelled slightly north of Margaret River to start the tour passing some of the famous vineyards such as Vasse Felix and Cullens.  

Seductive painting in Laurance's toilet 

In the morning we sampled a range of different wines visiting the Laurence and the Knotting Hill Vineyard taking lunch at the latter, which included both kangaroo and crocodile. 

Laurance Vineyard

Knotting Hill Vineyard

After lunch we visited additional vineyards including the Killerby and Winemaker’s cooperative. We also visited the Liqueur Factory, on the site of The Grove Vineyard, where we were served a range of ports and cocktails by an entertaining non-PC Australian barman. This was followed by visits to the Cheese and Chocolate Factories. Inside the Chocolate Factory the temperature was so high it was difficult to separate the chocolate drops from the sampling spoon.  

Chocolate Factory

Finally we ended up at the Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery where they brew beers and ciders. We sampled a pallet of 5 “micro-beers” and two ciders.

Cheeky Monkey beer & cider pallet

All-in-all an entertaining day but not sure we are any closer to choosing the ultimate wine!

On the route back Mike spotted a herd of deer in a couple of fields, the first we had seen in the whole of Australia.

4^th January 2015

We started the day after breakfast with a walk along the Margaret River but this time going west towards the coast. Most of the walk was within woods although they aren’t so thick that light doesn’t enter. On the route we found a relatively large unidentified lizard on a path.

Unknown lizard

In the afternoon we headed south down to Hamelin Bay. I thought I spotted the fin of a dophin or shark close into the beach but on closer inspection I realised that it was a couple of black sting rays. Soon everyone was checking them out. One of the fishes was at least 1m in width.  These are incredible creatures sensing the electrical signals from their prey’s muscles and nerves.

Black Sting Ray

From Hamelin Bay we stopped off at Contos rocks, accessed over the last 5km by an unmade road, and Redgate Beach all south of Prevelly.

Sheila at Contos rocks

On the road back we saw quite a few kangaroos in the fields.

3rd January 2015

After breakfast Mike spotted a largish skink, around 9" long, in the grounds where we are staying, apparently there is a family of 5 – not noted as part of the advertising campaign! 

After breakfast we headed down south towards Augusta to see the Leeuwin light house and the point where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean and the most SW point of the continent. 

Leeuwin Lighthouse

Great Oceans meet

Just along the coast from the light house were possible spots for windsurfing that Mike was keen to check out. Along this coastline in 1986 114 “False Killer” whales were stranded and it took a lot of hard work by the locals to save 96 of the 114.

Augusta architecture

Surfing playground! 

Late afternoon found us heading along Jindong Treeton Road, which runs parallel with the Busselton to Margaret River Road, to meet up with Keren and Bruce, who for many years had run a beef farm rearing red Angus. 

Mike & Sheila meet up with Keren & Bruce

Red Angus

They are friends of Liz and David and had suggested that we call in to see them. The grass around house was bustling with crickets and for once they were relatively easy to spot. Keren & Bruce were extremely welcoming and Bruce took us on a tour of the farm using his John Dere Gator vehicle and we spotted our first  WA kangaroo. 

John Dere Gator ride

On the way back from the farm we spotted a field with around 50 kangaroos, more that we had ever seen so far in a single location.

Kangaroos along Rosa Brook Road

2nd January 2015 

To start the day we took a long walk along Margaret River, inland from the town, mostly through a region where the river was lined with trees. 

Margaret River (near weir)

Lots of orange and black butterflies were present as well as small honeyeater birds . The butterflies were almost impossible to photograph and as soon as they sensed ones presence their wings closed up and they looked just like a dried leaf.  

Common Brown Butterfly

There were also the odd noises in the dead leaves by the side of the path that we decided not to investigate further!

Honeyeater? (Any one have any ideas?)

Suspended in animation!

In the afternoon we headed out to Prevelly on the coast to check out the windsurf spots. This has beautiful sets of waves thrown up by off shore reefs but the wind was relatively light, around 15 knots, and the only action was from kite surfers, although eventually a lone windsurfer ventured out.

In the evening we ate at the Settlers Tavern, which was offering live music.  The food was great, although it took a certain knowledge of the procedure to get a table and food. However, the Dave Mann Collective Band took the best part of 40 minutes to tune their gear, adding to the evening's entertainment, but not particularly tunefully! 

1st January 2015

After cleaning up the house where we had been staying in North Fremantle we headed south towards Margaret River, the centre of Western Australia wine.  

We stopped off in Busselton for a quick break and happened upon the longest pier we have ever seen at 1.9km, the Busselton Jetty. This was built to enable large ships to offload their produce, which was delivered along the jetty via horse drawn wagons.

Busselton Jetty

Arriving in Margaret River it looked as if the town was buzzing with the presence of the rest of Western Australia and the local garage had a continuous stream of cars purchasing petrol.