Sing Song Singapore

We arrived in Singapore after many flights through Australia. Firstly we flew from Sydney to Cairns, where we had originally planned to stay a couple of days although we got our flight dates wrong so ended up only having a couple of hours instead in the airport! From Cairns we flew to Darwin, and there we had 5 hours until our flight to Singapore, so decided to venture out of the airport...it was very hot and humid in Darwin and for them few hours it was almost felt like we was back in Kenya!

Singapore skyline by dusk

We was nearly prohibited from boarding our flight to Singapore as we was told we had to have proof of our onward journey to Malaysia from Singapore which we hadn’t got round to booking yet. Luckily after much worry, and only half an hour to get through security we was allowed to check in as the staff figured our flight back to London Heathrow from Bangkok in Thailand would prove that we wouldn’t be sticking around in Singapore forever!

A Singapore special- Fish head anyone?

Whilst in Singapore we stayed in a querky little hostel in the little india town, surrounded by great hawker markets, Indian cafes and cool little shops selling everything from Indian fabrics and jewerelly to tacky souvenirs and fake watches!

 

A very colourful building in little India

Sampling some spicy Indian cuisine!

We decided to spend a sunny afternoon at Singapores very own botanical garden! It was very big, and had lots of different areas to visit within such as a rainforest and a healing garden. It was nice, and extremely green with lots of different types of plants and trees from around the world and it didn’t feel like you was actually in the middle of a big, bustling city! A nice place to escape from the crowds and relax with a icecream sandwich!

Ice cream sanie!

The botanical gardens of Singapore!

The healing garden...a garden to be healed within!

We came across the fountain of wealth one evening, and it was like a disco surrounding a spraying fountain. Lots of loud  chart music, flashing a strobe lighting, but without the people dancing. We then thought we may aswell go and get a close up look, seems as we was in Singapore and it was in the Guinness world book of records! So the rules were that you had to walk around 3 times with your right hand in the fountain, and make a wish and it should come true...hmmm, we shall see about that one!

A group of people touching the lucky fountain of wealth

We also investigated one of Singapores suburbs, Queenstown. Here we discovered they had an the Singaporean equivalent of NTU (Nottingham trent university), except not sure what their NTU stood for...

Rows and rows and flats in Queenstown

China town was fun and very busy! I guess it almost felt as though you was in China? It was nice to visit, with some beautiful Chinese inspired buildings and temples. The main part of it was mostly full of stalls and souvenir shops, but there was some great spring rolls to be had and it was here that we purchased our first of many chopsticks!

Chinatown!

Singapore certainly had it’s fare share of random cuisine! You was never bored for choice, which is probably due to the diversity of the inhabitants in Singapore! It was common to see pig trotters or pig organ soup on the menu, alongside some crispy chicken feet fried rice or some warm frog porridge...I certainly did not try the latter (or any of the others for that fact)! Although we, well more so Max, thought it would be fun to try the Pig organ soup. It smelt like pig organs. It tasted like pig organs. Never again...BLEEUURGH!

Pig organ dishes...oh the choices

Braised pig trotters!

And then there was the odd building which looked like it had a big boat! We later found this was Marina bay sands resort, which is a hotel and casino (The world 2nd most expensive casino!) with a huge pool on the top (150 metres!).

The funny building- Marina bay sands resort

What happens if you cross a mermaid with a lion? Well, you get a Merlion, just like the merlion by the esplanade which attracts lots of tourists visiting Singapore! It’s quite random really...

The famous Singapore Merlion!

One of the coolest things about Singapore was probably the public trains! We have never seen public transport, and stations, so shiny and clean and modern lookin! The stations just seemed very modern in comparison to what you would see in Europe! Most of the train stations were also built underneath shopping centres, which is a plus...if you like to shop!

Squeeky clean train station platform...

Our last night in Singapore we visited the Arab town, which didn’t feel to Arabic apart from a few overpriced Turkish and arab  cafes and restaurants. So we opted for a Malaysian cafe, where we tried the Nasi Goreng and some deadly (but yum!) spicy dish....In preparation for Malaysia :-)

A swift stopyby in Sydney!

Just 20 days ago we arrived in Sunny Sydney after spending the night sleeping on the uncomfy metal seats at Melbourne airport!

A cosy night in Melbourne airport, awaiting our flight to Sydney!

Kings cross...also know as the red light district of Sydney!

After the 90 minute flight to Sydney from Melbourne we soon arrived at Kings Cross, an area which is renowned for being unsafe and abit sleazy (although we didn't find this out until we had actually left!) to check into a cool little hostel called chilli blue backpackers! We originally booked a 10 bed dorm (as this was the cheapest option for a backpacker on a budget!) but were pleasantly surprised to see we had been moved to a 4 bed dorm with a big private balcony, the only balcony at the hostel which was pretty cool and had a view of the harbour bridge in the far, far distance! We later found out there wasn’t even a 10 bed dorm at the hostel, but we still got a pretty good deal anyway! The area of Kings Cross is the most densely populated part of Sydney, which is said to be where the rich people lived together with the poor.

The Sunday we arrived in Sydney we wandered around (without a lonely planet to guide us- shock horror!) and discovered the paddy’s market, which was mostly just souvenirs, clothes and some fruit stalls...though not as cheap or as much variety as what the Vic market in Melbourne had.

Sydney's Paddy's Market!

The hostels Pug's awaiting their city walk...

On our second day in Sydney we signed up to a free walking tour of the city, which we thought would be a couple of hours so we took the dogs with us that belonged to the hostel (two chubby little pugs...), the first ever dogs to join the city tour apparently! The tour ended up being nearer 5 hours, but was worth the leg ache because it was really interesting and so we got to see and learn alot! the dog’s seemed to appreciate the exercise too and the attention they got from the tour guide, and slept for a full day or two following their big adventure in the city!

In front of the Harbour bridge at the end of a long tour around the city!

A visit to Sydney is not complete without having a stroll over the harbour bridge, admiring the opera house, taking the famous ferry to Manly beach and visiting the well know Bondi beach! Luckily in the 4 days we had in Sydney we managed to squeeze all of this in!

Manly wharf

A stroll along Manly beach

The Sydney harbour bridge, known to the sydneysiders (locals) as the “coathanger”, which was opened 80 years ago was really cool to see and walk across...it was huge and had some fantastic views from the top. There was the choice to do the Harbour Bridge climb for $100 and upwards, which involved walking and climbing along the outer arch of the bridge with a guide, but we opted to walk along it on the footpath as it was slightly less daunting and cheaper too!

About to step onto the harbour bridge footpath...

The bridge by night

Another famous icon of Sydney is obviously is the opera house!  We didn’t go inside, but admired it from the outside of course! It is rather oddly shaped, but very unique at the same time! It definitely makes a good picture with the Harbour bridge dazzling away in the background!  We learnt that it was designed by a Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, and that the roof is made up of 1,056,006 Swedish ceramic tiles!- power to the Scandinavians! 

View of the opera house from the Harbour bridge

The opera house!

Finally, on our last day in Sydney before we were to spend yet another night sleeping in the airport (or not sleeping in this case, as the domestic airport didn't open until 5am, so instead we drank lots of coffee and used the free wifi in the nearby McDonalds for several hours!) we decided to squeeze in a day at Bondi beach! Unfortunaely we didn't bump into the Bondie Vet, but the beach was nice, abit smaller than we had expected, but the big waves and the scenic coastal walk around the beach made up for that :-)

The well known Bondi beach of Sydney!

Bondi beach- the closest beach to the CBD.

So this was our last stop in the amazing Australia! (though we did have a couple of hours in Cairnes airport and 5 hours in Darwin on route to Singapore). Good times were had, and even greater memories were made...we will especially miss the Kangaroos (not the sausages!), kookaburras, Cockatoos, HelpX experiences, amazing coffee, barbies, funny words such as "ripper" (cool!), "chuck a U-ey" (perform a U turn), "Doona" (A blanket) and mostly the chirpy Australian people!

Victoria- The place to be!

We have spent the last 3 weeks in Victoria, and now it is time to say goodbye! Melbourne has been a very charming, charismatic and cool city to explore and be in. It has a real character and history to it, which made us warm to the place alot quicker than we did to Perth.

A view of Melbourne CBD from the shrine of rememberence

Shrine of rememberence built as a memorial to Australians &new zealanders who served in the war.

 Arriving in Melbourne we spent the first week being tourists and exploring what the city had to offer. After our first week, we felt we had a good feel for the place and had managed to see

alot, but not enough! Which is why we decided to cut our 2^nd HelpX stay a few days short so we could spend our last few days in the city before flying to Sydney.

Melbournes answer to the Eiffel tower at the Arts Centre

There has been lots to do and see, even when the unpredictable weather wasn’t in our favour! So what did we get upto in Melbourne? Visited museums... Spotted cute little penguins on the St Kilda pier... Discovered the pretty botanical gardens, but on a very rainy day... Ate Anzac cookies on Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) day at the Victoria shrine of remembrance... Shared one too many boxes of goon... Viewed a numerous amount of art in the numerous art galleries... Participated in a backpackers $5 pub crawl and got 4 free drinks... Ate a burrito which was actually just a fajita at a dingy little cafe in Fitzroy... Visited Drank litres and litres of coffee in the many coffee shops throughout the city... Consumed lots and lots of Asian food...it’s hard to resist the $2 sushi rolls! Went to a wildlife sanctuary... Searched for wombats... Watched an aboriginal throw and catch a boomerang 3 times in a row...

Flinders street station, built in 1854

Our first HelpX stay was with a really nice Australian family, high up in the hills near to the Yarra valley (famous for its wineries!) in a little town called Heallesville. They lived 6km from the nearest town up a long and windy mountain in a quirky house surrounded by forest and lot’s of Australian wildlife! Here we spent a work doing general farmwork alongside Mike, the host, and another helper from Germany. Together we did lots of painting, tidying, tractor driving, wood collecting and cutting, coffee and beer drinking, wine sampling, cooking, as well as lots of trampolining with their daughter...which was all really fun, so much fun that the week flashed by in an instance and we wished we could of stayed longer if it wasn’t for the next host we had committed to in another town about 30km south in Cockatoo (Home to a famous little steam train called the puffing Billy!).

Up on the roof, fitting a chimney!

After a busy morning of chopping and moving lots of wood

 The second HelpX stay was at a smallholding, home to chickens, dogs, horses, ponies, reptile, resident kookaburras and an interesting Dutch family. Here the weather wasn’t really in our favour and there was a lot of heavy downpours and storms, but we still managed to do lots of painting of a shed frame which had been built, digging and levelling of ground in preparation of horse stables, gardening, fencing and enriching the lives of the chickens, or chooks, by giving their enclosure an autumn clean and makeover! Whilst here we learnt some random dutch ways of life, such as their term “wax nose”, aniseed powder on toast for breakfast, card games, and some dutch words like Hallo (hello), hoi (hi), wat is dat (what is that?) and proost (cheers)!

 

Kevin the Kookaburra

So the last leg of our Australian adventure will be in Sydney, starting this weekend after a night of sleeping in Melbourne airport in a bid to save a few dollars! We will also be spending a precious hour in Cairns (more than likely the airport lounge...) due to a flight mix up which means the 3 days that we thought we would spend in  Cairns has been reduced to a measly hour...oops! It’s a shame as a lot of people we have met on our travels have recommended Cairns, but I don’t think 60 minutes will be quiet  enough to get a real feel for the place..

and in less than a week’s time we shall be landing in Singapore to start our Asian adventure alongside some more voluntary work we have signed up for and just waiting for the go ahead!

A view of Melbourne CBD from St. Kilda pier

“On the move”, “the place to be” or  “Garden”are slogans seen on the car registrations in Victoria.

Waving goodbye to WA

Monday 2nd April 2012 (We are always one day ahead of the blog post date). Today is the day we leave Perth, Western Australia after 6 weeks of being here and  venture over towards Melbourne in Victoria. We have enjoyed what we have experienced of Perth, there have been a couple of ups and downs along the way, but it has most definitely been a positive experience!  

The City skyline from Swan River

 Within the 43 days that we have been staying in the Perth area we have managed to see Perth zoo, explore the central business district (aswell as it's shops and various sushi stalls!), drinks in the backpacker area of Northbridge, explore Fremantle (famous for its coffee, markets and little creatures brewery!), be by the seaside at Rockingham, beachdays at Cottesloe (the beach where Heath Ledgers funeral was held...), breakfast in fancy West Leederville, walks and picnics at Kings park, a day trip to see the Pinnacles in Nambung national park and we even fitted in an outing to IKEA complete with meatballs and hotdogs!

The must see Fremantle market which was established in 1897!

 

The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park~ limestone formations

The Cottesloe beach and Pavillion

 

 

Subiaco, Warnbro and Mt Helena have been the areas in Perth we have been staying, and all three are very different to one another too!- there’s a part of Perth to suit everyone! 

A stroll towards perth...

Subiaco is an inner western suburb of Perth, in a trendy, hip area which is host to lots of cute little cafes and modern bars. Here we stayed just outside Subiaco in a small suburb Called Jolimont with Max’s relatives and a friendly little Basenji dog called Kito!

Kito the Yodelling Basenji dog of African origin!

Warnbro is an outer suburb of Perths which is in a nice location by the coastal line in a city called Rockingham which is a very seaside resort. It is very much like Skegness, Scarborough or Great Yarmouth with lots of English people (Poms- I can say this as I am one too!) with fish ‘n’ chips, pubs, sweet shops and other home comforts...except it is in Western Australia and with guaranteed good weather! We spent multiple days in this area staying with my relatives from home, and it was here where we experienced our first Australian Barbie and saw Dolphins in the sea!

Walk abouts around the Warnbro coast

Mt Helena was definitely the most different location to stay in compared to the rest. Mt Helena is a very rural area in the outskirts of Perth, up in the hills surrounded by bushland and forest. It was here where did our first HelpX work at a Australian Warmblood stud. The stud was home to lots of mares and their foals, a Shetland pony, two Irish wolfhounds, cats, a wild Bandicoot and Skink aswell as the hosts who we worked for...

With one of the many horses we looked after in Mt Helena

So I would say we have experienced alot of Perth whilst we have been here, and seen alot too by staying in these contrasting areas.   
Ta' ta/ Goodbye/ Hej då/ Adios/ Auf wiedersehn/ Au reviour  Perth!

Next stop...Melbourne! - Lets just hope the sunny weather follows us...

All packed up and ready to go...

111 days since we left, 111 days to go...

We have now been in Australia for 1 month now, and Abi has only been called a pommie once! Also Sunday 18^th March pinpointed the midway point of our trip. We can’t believe that we are already halfway through our travels!

Warnbro Beach, North of Perth

The Black Swan of Swan River, Perth

10 days into our stay in Perth we left the city and relocated to a more rural setting, up in the hills of Mt Helena. Here we are not surrounded by high rise buildings and shops, but lots of bushland, big trees, local grocery stalls and tavernas...it was like stepping back in time, and the area has a real charm to it. It is like what we imagined outback Australia to be; it’s not often you spot kangaroos, an emu and bandicoots on the way to the corner shop!

Late afternoon in one of the paddocks

Mundaring reservior which supplies the water to Kalgoorlie

In Mt Helena we have been helping out at a Australian warmblood stud which is owned by A Danish lady. We found this place through a site called HelpX, where basically you sign up to do voluntary work and homestays with a family or business in return for food and board. It is a really good idea, and a great way to experience a different side to the country you are visiting as well as meeting new people and gain new skills (HelpX is worldwide so you can apply for work in almost any country!).

Having an afternoon rest 'n' roll

Two of the resident Alpacas at the stud!

Middays can get very hot and dry up here in the hills, as well as very dusty too! So we are up at 6.30am each day in order to get most of the horse related work done before it gets too hot- lots of poo picking, feeding, grooming, handling, exercising and training! There are 20 horses here at present, which is made up of a mixture of yearlings, foals and brood mares...so as you can imagine there is alot of horses to feed and subsequently alot of poo to collect (luckily we have a trailer pulled by a quad bike to help with that!).

Some 6:30AM poop picking in the paddocks!

Max and the poop collecting quad!

During our stay here at the stud we have fallen in love with a thoroughbred horse called Beauty, she is about 4 years old and is an ex racehorse from Perth. Together we have been working on re-schooling her, which has involved taking her back to basics and lots of lunging, free schooling and riding in the round yard. Her previous racing trainers decided she wouldn’t make a desirable race horse as she wasn’t up to speed! She is a great horse though, with a lovely temperament, so we are working on making her a suitable riding horse for a prospective buyer...fingers crossed! 

Lunging Beauty the thoroughbred horse at the stud

Also whilst at they stud we have had the opportunity to visit other breeders of Australian warmbloods, aswell as attend a lecture on Veterinary dentistry where we discovered the ins and outs of horses teeth which was really interesting as it was something we didn’t go into detail with whilst studying at uni.

So we leave Perth the first Monday of April to head down to Victoria where we will be staying in Melbourne! We’ve been told that it might not be as hot as sunny in comparison to Perth though, so maybe a coat may need to be purchased?! We also need advice on places to go and visit whilst in Melbourne, as we will have a week being a tourist before embarking on our some more HelpX homestays, including a Dutch family and lots of animals :-)

Watch out! Roo crossing!