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Jayne Eckersall
Jayne Eckersall

Jayne Eckersall

traveled in 14 countries Read more
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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
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    Wanaka Wandering

    February 7, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Woke up this morning to a slightly cloudy but warm day. After a lazy hotel breakfast, we took the 20-minute walk into the town of Wanaka. A small town with 12,400 residents wrapped around the edge of Roy's Bay on Lake Wanaka. There is evidence of early Maori settlements here well before the invasion of Europeans who claimed the land for farming. Speaking of Europeans, Jayne and I aren't the first tourists here as early tourism can be traced as far back as 1881, when a paddle steamer started trips to the head of the lake Wanaka is now a destination hot-spot for year-round recreational activities, on land, on water, and / or in the air summer or winter.
    We walked 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ along the dirt track foot path alongside the lake, doing our best to avoid the mountain biker's 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️, whilst gazing across the lake at the snow-capped mountains 🏔. We took a photo stop at the Wanaka tree, which is the nickname of a willow tree located at the southern end of Lake Wānaka. The tree grows alone in the water and is a popular destination for tourists, especially those from the far east; whose mantra seems to be why take one photo when you can take a dozen!!!! Anyway, I managed to get a couple of quiet times and a nice couple even took our photograph 📸. As we carried on into town, the sun 🌞 came out, and we came across a pathway documenting the history of New Zealand and major world events up until 2000. Unfortunately, there isn't really a lot to see, unless you want to hire mountain bikes 🚲 or buy expensive clothes 👚💰, so after a coffee, we ambled back to the hotel. But not before having another quiet moment beside the Wanaka Tree for a photo 📷. We also saw a proposal beside the Wanaka Tree. After he had finished and hugged her, we all applauded and assumed she said YES. After some light refreshments on the patio bar at the Edgewater hotel, including a coffee for Jayne in a disposable cup (you ate it when you had finished your coffee ☕️). We walked back into Wannaka for a meal of pumpkin salad 🥗 for Jayne and grilled Mediterranean Blue Cod 🐟 for me before walking back to Edgewater, some 20,585 steps later. 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️    Read more

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    Wana go to Wanaka...

    February 6, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After checking out shortly before 10:00 am we found ourselves in a short queue of Bank Holiday (today is Waitangi Day and recognised as the most important day in the New Zealand's history) traffic, which fortunately soon turned off and left us with a clear road ahead. We have left an overcast and cloudy ☁️ Queenstown and are now travelling 72 miles to the lakeside town of Wanaka. We were recommended to take in Arrowtown (Māori: Kā-muriwai); a historic gold mining town located on the banks of the Arrow River (Māori: Haehaenui), on our way out of Queenstown We spent a good hour looking around, drinking coffee ☕️ in the sunshine 🌞 before returning to our car via a stream where tourists were panning for gold!! Back on the road and deciding not to take the same route we had taken into Queenstown we headed for the Crown Range, a hilly, windy with incredible views not only looking back on Queenstown but the surrounding countryside. Around 2:00 p.m., we arrived at the Edgewater Hotel 🏨; nestled in the Southern Alps, with its lawns stretching down to the edge of Lake Wanaka. Whilst checking in, we were asked who's birthday it was as we had been upgraded to a lake🏞 View. We were also provided with chocolates 🍫 and a couple of free drinks 🥂🍷 in the bar to celebrate.Read more

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    Today's Up in the Air ....... not!

    February 5, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Up bright and early, showered, shaved, and breakfasted, eagerly awaiting 08:45 to phone and check the weather conditions on this beautiful Wednesday morning in Queenstown. Only to be told it's not a beautiful morning in Milford, there is low cloud, and the trip is off 😭. My early morning start turned out to be a relaxing day. After going into town to claim my deposit refund for my excursion and saying no countless times to other options off Milford Sound Fly Over, a Glacier trip and no I don't want to go this afternoon thank you ........ give me a refund 🤑. So what to do? we went back up to the Skyline where the gondola is and went next door to the Kiwi Park. Along with 4 Kiwi's, we also saw a number of other NZ native birds; Kaka, Buff Weka, Red Crowned Kakariki and a Kereru or Wood Pigeon and a Tuatara; a lizard like reptile. On the way back to our accommodation after enjoying another tapas at Soda our favourite lakeside bar where we can relax, eat, drink and people watch, we passed the queue that no matter when you pass is always there with people waiting to buy food from Ferg's. Queenstown is the only place in the world you can buy Ferg's Food despite offers from major worldwide distributors. What's so special, I couldn't say but I was told that you get a menu from Fergs Bakery, then queue to go into the Fergs Butchers to order your food, then wait in Fergs Bar until your order is ready.Read more

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    In a Gondola, and Just NO Cornetto....🍦

    February 4, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After the LOTR Safari we made our way back to our accomodation for a bite to eat before venturing into downtown (literally - the hills are that steep) Queenstown making our way to the Gondola🚠 ride, which takes you 480m up over Lake Wakatipu to the top of Bob’s Peak. Up there you enjoy spectacular views of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Walter and Cecil Peak, and, of course, Queenstown ⛰️ and also the daring hang-gliders🪂 jumping off the mountain. After coming down, we headed into Anita's Gelato for well deserved ice-creams. Walking further down the hill, we came across the usual tourist places offering excursions where I booked a fly 🚁- cruise🚢 - fly🚁 trip by helicopter for a cruise on Milford Sound. By coach, this is an all-day (10 hours) excursion, but Jayne didn't fancy it, so flying it was only 4 hours. Wandering through this relatively small lakeside town we came across street sellers selling fresh oysters, and fruit etc.After a lovely meal in an Italian restaurant we made our way UP-hill🧗🧗‍♀️ as the sun-set back to our hotel as it's another early start for me in the morning.Read more

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    Journey to Middle Earth

    February 4, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Woke up early this morning as we were meeting our Nomad Safari guide for a trip into Middle Earth; as Hollywood would have us believe: some of the film 📽 🎬 locations around Queenstown used in Lord of the Rings. It was a lovely tour; even though we had never really watched any of the trilogy or the Hobbit, as the scenery was fabulous. Our tour guide, Phoebe, was brilliant, stopping quite often to allow photos 📷 and to explain what scenes had been shot and the imagery used to actually change what we were seeing. At the refreshment stop, she gave out cloaks, swords, and daggers so we could reenact the scenes that Jayne and I didn't know while she made teas and coffees ☕️🍰 for everyone.Read more

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    Done in Dunedin......

    February 3, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Leaving Dunedin around 10:00 am this morning we took a leisurely drive out on State Highway 1, driving parallel with the ocean but couldn't see it until we arrived at Milton then taking the SH-8 towards Central Otago and Queenstown. We crossed the Taieri Plains and travelled on a "Pleasure Beach Big Dipper" style of road to the Clutha Valley and Lake Waihola where we stopped for a photograph. After driving for just over an hour we stopped off in an old gold mining town called Lawrence for a coffee and a scone. Carrying on we drove through Roxburgh, a chief town of Central Otago and the centre of an irrigated orchard area, yes we have finally hit fruit and more importantly wine country. We also stopped for more photographs at the large and impressive Hydroelectric Power Dam. Continuing our drive through large and modern towns called Alexandra and Cromwell we then followed the river; Kawarau River; which has a famous 10-storey bridge built in the 1880's; the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, and is the birthplace of Bungy Jumping, into Queenstown on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and our accommodation at the Garden Court Suites and Apartments; where we had been given an upgrade overlooking the lake for Jayne's birthday. We had travelled 280 miles in a leisurely 5 hours including stops. After checking in and unpacking clothes for 3 days we walked down the hill into Queenstown itself where it was Happy Hour in the bar by the lake so helping the local economy we had a couple of cold beers and some tapas in the sunshine.Read more

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    Dunedin's Heritage

    February 2, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After yesterday's tour, today was a more sedate walking 🚶‍♂️ tour of Dunedin's buildings and architecture. The 1st building of note and perhaps the most famous; well the most photographed is Dunedin railway station 🚆; built in 1906, in fact it is the second most photographed building in the southern hemisphere, after the Sydney Opera House. Across the road is the no longer used Dunedin Gaol, built 1896 & operating as a working prison for men & women until 2007. It is now used for adventure games where people pay to go in and are actively encouraged to escape by solving puzzles. Another well-known building in Dunedin is the Speights Brewery established in 1876 and is brewed for longer, thus reducing the amount of carbohydrates by 75% of other leading beers brewed in New Zealand. - I wish I had had a pint now instead of a half if it's healthy!! 🍺Read more

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    The Tour Guide....

    February 1, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today was the day of our own personal tour guide in the form of a friend from over 40 years ago; Alison. She picked us up from our hotel at 09:00 and drove straight over to the Otago Peninsula to see the Sea Lions 🦭 on the beach and we arrived just in time to see one young seal chase a couple of surfers🏄‍♂️🏄 away from the water 😆. We then carried onto Harrington Point for another photo 📸 opportunity of the magnificent landscape before arriving at the top; Taiaroa Head and the Albatross Sanctuary, where i felt small when compared to the wingspan of this mega sea bird . Unfortunately, we didn't see any Albatross, but there were endangered red beaked seagulls nesting there. I did think 🤔 about asking if they needed a Seagull supplier, but the cost in fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 to feed them wouldn't be acceptable!! 😅 Heading back to Dunedin, we stopped off to look at the gardens of Larnach Castle 🏰 built in 1871.
    Alison then drove us around the outskirts of Dunedin, showing us various sites of interest that Dunedin holds a claim to fame for being pioneers for in New Zealand before stopping at Baldwin Street which is the World’s Steepest Street, before dropping Jayne and I back at our hotel. Before we said our goodbyes, Alison recommended a South American restaurant for our dinner that night and what a lovely restaurant it was with fabulous food and wine to be had. We shared the Focaccia Bread, then Jayne had the Cannelones, which was Uruguayan style pasta with spinach, mushrooms, walnuts, and mozzarella wrapped in savoury crepes with a creamy sauce. I, of course, went for the Argentinian style Beef Fillet with potatoes gratin, green beans, sautéed in garlic, chimichurri butter, fresh chilli and reduced beef jus. We finished this off with Tahitian Vanilla Ice-Cream. Before watching the Chinese New Year Firework display from our hotel bedroom window.    Read more

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    On the road again.....

    January 31, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    I'm not saying that driving on New Zealand's South Island is easy but it is very pleasant especially when you come to a signpost that says Dunedin (our next destination) 110 km and the car sat-nav saying turn left in 107 km!!

    After just over half an hour, we saw a signpost for the Moeraki Boulders that are found on Koekohe Beach and definitely worth making that early left turn. The boulders appear to be perfectly formed spherical shapes, and measure up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter, and are estimated to have taken 4 to 5.5 million years to grow. Before we went down to the beach, we had a breakfast snack of Croissants filled with ham, cheese, and tomato accompanied by large coffee whilst we watched the wave of the South Pacific Ocean roll onto the beach.
    After going down to the beach and marvelling at these phenomenon, we headed the car back onto the State Highway 1 (SH 1) which is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand road network, running the length of both the South and North Islands. Before leaving the Moeraki Gift Shop, we were told to venture off the SH1 and take the scenic road into Dunedin, and my was this good advice! We stopped off at Shag Point on the Matakaea Reserve and saw Sea Lions basking and playing in the sunshine. After stopping off for a comfort break and visiting a garden centre on route in Waitati, we arrive in a busy and bustling downtown Dunedin around 4:00pm. After checking into our room, we were greeted with a welcome to Dunedin note from our Travel Counsellor, Rebecca, Birthday card and a platter of cheese and biscuits from the hotel.    Read more

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    Findpenguin - update

    January 30, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Penguin Found ................here in Oamaru; the home to a colony of the tiny Blue Penguins; the world's smallest penguin 🐧. Whilst they nest and breed along the coastline all around New Zealand and Southern Australia, they leave in the early morning and swim 30 miles off the coast to feed returning as the sun-sets every night.Read more

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    O my in Oamaru......

    January 30, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Free day in Oamaru until our excursion at 21:00 tonight. So it's a bit of a lazy day again after driving quite a while yesterday and seeing what Oamaru has to offer.
    Oamaru, the largest town of the Waitaki District, has a rich history and proud heritage, enriched by the passionate and perhaps 14,000 quirky locals. The town boasts a Victorian Precinct, where there are shops, galleries, and traditional crafts within some of the Southern Hemispheres' most complete Victorian streetscapes and 19th century architecture, it really is like stepping back in time.
    After lunch, we went to check on where our evening excursion was taking plaand we were so glad we did as you can sea lion below 🦭.... 😅    Read more

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    We'll be coming down the mountain ..

    January 29, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Waking up on our transit day from Mount Cook to Oamaru, we didn't realise you had to pay a supplement for the view ........... as ours had been removed!!! With the car packed, we drove back up to the Hermitage Hotel for breakfast and hopefully let the weather improve. Which it did, and we were soon heading back down the mountain along Lake Pukaki towards Twizel and the nearest petrol station. (thankfully as it was downhill, if we ran out of fuel, I could free wheel there!!). On our way to Oamaru, we drove past numerous hydroelectricity dams, and what reminded me of old western towns I saw in cowboy films, with everything on one street as you pass through We stopped at one such town: Kurow, and it really was like stepping back into the old days. Another stop before arriving in Oamaru was at the impressive Elephant Rocks on the Island Cliff-Duntroon Road. About 23-25 million years in the making the large hummocky rock formations that look a lot like Elephants were created after fossil-rich limestone deposited millions of years ago eroded, leaving behind an incredible boulder-field which towers above your head. We finally arrived at our hotel at the Mews Motel at about 3:00 some 3 & 1/2 hours and 240 kilometres later.Read more

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    Even mountaineers need a day to rest 🧗

    January 28, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    We awoke to a beautiful morning in the mountains. Nothing planned for today apart from an evening trip to the Mount John Observatory, but as this excursion which begins at 22:00 (obviously when it's dark for stargazing) we cancelled as it needed a 3 hour drive round trip back down the valley and up the other side, in the pitch dark ........ "No thank you, we thought!"
    So we settled for a lazy day starting with Brunch rather than breakfast over at the Hermitage Hotel. This appears to be the spot where everyone on the mountain congregates as the queues for the cafe were non-stop and this is after the hotel has served breakfast. The hotel also houses a tribute museum to Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008); a New Zealander, who used this area to practice for expeditions to Mount Everest and the Antarctic. As Jayne and I had none of these activities planned we felt no need to practice and just spent the day relaxing and admiring the views.
    As I mentioned earlier, we cancelled our night excursion and as luck would have it as the night set in the winds grew stronger and pretty much kept us awake howling all during the night. Even in a hire car I would not have liked to have made that drive!!    Read more

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    Let the fun begin........

    January 27, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today's the day our travels and fun really begins when we pick up our 1st Hire Car!!.🚘 Checking in for the car, Jayne unwittingly played a blinder and bagged us a free upgrade. As the guy was doing the paperwork Jayne asked if the car had a sat-nav, unfortunately he said only the bigger cars are fitted with them, but if we wanted sat-nav we would have to have one of them. "Well, I suppose we could manage," we said, so we are now driving around in a Toyota RAV4 SUV and not a Hyundai Kona. With sat-nav working perfectly and our destination in Mount Cook locked in, we soon found ourselves driving out of the Christchurch City limits and onto long glorious pot-hole free straight roads. As the scenery changed from houses and industry to fields and farms of the Canterbury Plains, the roads became quieter and so easy to negotiate. We crossed many bridges that stood over dry gravel river beds, a different story in the depths of winter, I imagine. We drove on through an area called Ashburton; centre of sheep and wheat farming, and onto the Mackenzie Basin. We stopped for a coffee ☕️ on the banks of Lake Tekapo 🏞; where a small church of the Good Shepherd perches on the lakeside. This all seemed very much like the Lake District but it quickly changed into a sea of purple as we drove past a Lavender farm and then into a far more dramatic landscape with snow capped mountains as we drove along the Tasman River and then up into the Tasman Valley and realised this area really does put the Lake District into the shade!!
    After driving 330 miles in over 5 hours plus various stops for photographs 📷, we finally arrived at our accommodation for the 2 nights we are at Mount Cook in the Aoraki Court Motel. It was a pleasant place, but very limited in terms of food, etc, but blessed with spectacular scenery.    Read more

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    The final walk around.....

    January 26, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Arriving back in the city centre, the World Buskers Festival was well underway with buskers appearing all over the town. Down by the river, ducks, seagulls, black swans and eels were all competing for the scraps of food thrown into the river. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the new and temporary cathedral affectionately known as the Cardboard Cathedral.Read more

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    Lazy Sunday Morning

    January 26, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After breakfast in the hotel we went in search of the Botanical Gardens, walking past fountains by the river Avon and a statue of James Cook; the famous navy captain who found Australia and New Zealand amongst others. In the gardens there is an extensive collection of endangered plants and trees, lovely gardens of roses and much more. There was also punting going on down the river that flows through the parkRead more

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    Christchurch - read the safety notice

    January 25, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After arriving in the early hours of this morning; (02:30 local time or 23:30 on Friday evening after being up since 08:00 Wednesday morning), we dove straight into bed for a few hours. 😴 After which, we decided to have a slow start and walk 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️into Churchtown centre to get our bearings, find out the meeting point for our excursion tonight, and find something to eat as well. We were a bit surprised to realise just how small and compact the city centre was. After finding something to eat at the Riverside Market; which is a haven for foodies, we made our way to Cathedral Junction where we needed to be by 19:30 that evening. As the name suggests this tram-stop is very near the Christchurch Cathedral (built between 1863 and 1904) and virtually destroyed during the 2011 Earthquakes along with many other buildings, in fact our driver told us that the city centre was closed to the public for more than 2 years. One thing that did fascinate me was; once again, all the street art that we saw dotted around the city on our way back to the hotel for a rest.
    In the evening, we were booked on the Tramway Restaurant, which served us a lovely 3-course meal plus appertizers. Oh, did I mention the wine pairing with every course. Jayne went for the Tai Tapu Venison whilst I had the Charred Octopus 🐙 and Squid for Entrees with Muddy Water Deliverance Pinot Noir 🍷. Main Course we went for Canterbury Lamb 🐑 Rump and for Jayne the Baked Akaroa King Salmon 🐟 this time accompanied by Te Mata Estate Merlot Cabernet from Hawke's Bay. For dessert, I went for the New Zealand Cheese Plate with Torlesse Reserve Tawny Port from Waipara. Jayne finished off with the Manuka Honeycomb & Spice accompanied by a glass of Forrest Botrytised Riesling from Marlborough. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the tram 🚊 ride experience as we travelled in around the city centre for around 2 hours.    Read more

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    Plane Crazy......

    January 24, 2025 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    After arriving in Brisbane we made our way slowly to the transit immigration area, having our bags not only scanned but sniffed 🐕 Fortunately, this area had a couple of coffee bars where we headed first, shops including souvenir shops selling all sorts of items from typical Australian items, cuddly Koala Bears and Didgeridoos, but no postcards. Checking out the Brisbane fridge magnets showing places of interest, we hadn't missed anything not taking the skytrain into downtown Brisbane.
    We found the Executive Lounge, and using my last free pass, we settled ourselves down; at least in some comfort and away from the hordes for our 8 hour wait. Only to be told a couple of hours later, the lounge was now closing and would be closed until after our Christchurch flight had left. So we headed to the bar and found a table overlooking the apron and runway and had a long and 'romantic' meal!!! After touring the tourist shops again, we headed to our boarding gate. Only to find the same group who had been in front of us and messed about with the reclining seat no end!! So that's when more fun began as apparently they had changed flights, but their luggage hadn't. Once on the aircraft, the "comedy" show continued. A Chinese couple sat at the over the wing Emergency Exit but were asked to move due to their lack of understanding English. They were replaced by a Geordie couple who were overjoyed at the extra legroom at no charge, until he realised he had left his coat in the departure area and then his wife "kicked" off🫠 as the Chinese lady had mistakenly taken her bag 🎒 from the overhead locker and brought it back. After being accused of potential air piracy, the flight attendant managed to calm the situation down by telling Geordie Lass 🤐 it's a mistake, and she herself was to blame and to the Chinese lady to stop apologizing 🤫. We finally took off about 1 1/2 hours late and into an electrical storm ⛈️⚡️⚡️!!!
    Some 3 1/2 hours later, we finally arrived at our 2nd scheduled destination; Christchurch in New Zealand 🇳🇿. Our taxi driver was patiently waiting to take us to our Rydges Latimer hotel 🏨.    Read more

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    Crossing The Line.......🌏

    January 24, 2025, Natuna Sea ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Just 90 minutes after boarding our Airbus 🛩A330-300 in Singapore destined for Brisbane 🇳🇿 we crossed the line .... or to be more correct, We Crossed the Equator 🗺 and flew into the Southern Hemisphere 🌏 for the first time in our lives.
    Our flight went smoothly enough, or although getting any sleep was sadly impossible, anyway, it's only a seven hour flight until we arrive in Brisbane tomorrow morning.    Read more

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    Time to move on......

    January 23, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Last day in Singapore

    Things to do in Singapore when the weather isn't great as in overcast, hot and humid whilst looking like rain and the weather forecast is thunder storms.....buy a suitcase 🤫

    So after the usual and repetitive breakfast, we went back to our room to pack for the next part of our adventure. And what a start to this new adventure we couldn't fasten our 2nd case so how would we do it in Australia when all the granddaughters have request Koala bears??? .... we go out and buy a new bigger suitcase. The good news is there is 10% off the sale price, AND I can claim back the Singapore tax paid on the suitcase .... all £6.
    But wait, what's that a message from Qantas. Our flight to Brisbane has been delayed (only) by 3 hours, meaning we will arrive in Brisbane just a couple of hours after our flight to Christchurch has departed. But not to worry as we have been booked on the next available flight AND we can claim compensation for this delay. 🤑 We were soon brought down to earth though ad our compensation claim was applicable only for food and drink at the airport!!. Anyway back to reality or rather Shangi Airport. After checking our bags in ( through to Christchurch), we went to find the delights of this ultra modern and spacious airport. It didn't take long. Just a short walk across the road from the departures building is the Jewel and what a diamond it was 💎.
    Due to the flight delay, we were both given SG$20 each to buy food and drink. After deciding what we wanted, we ordered only to be told the voucher was only valid for the Street Food Counter, so we both settled on Amy Yip Pau or egg and meat in a dumpling.
    Anyway, let's just get this flight and get across the LINE.    Read more

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    Raffles

    January 22, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Back at the hotel for a quick shower, change of clothes and an aperitif in the bar we booked a taxi to take us to Raffles Hotel for our dinner reservation in the Courtyard restaurant and secretly praying it wouldn't rain. We had a two course meal with lovely starters of Wasabi Tiger Prawns and Vegetable Spring Rolls, followed by Rigatoni Carbonara for Jayne and a Paccheri Pasta for me. All washed down with a glass of Louis Latour Bourgogne Rouge and also a Carrot Walnut Cake for Jayne. Total cost SG$ 199.03 or £119.15 in real money. We then went upstairs and joined the small queue to go into the Raffles Long Bar and partake in a world-famous Singapore Gin Sling. widely regarded as the national drink, was first mixed in 1915. Today, the rich, earthy decor of the two-storey bar is inspired by Malayan life in the 1920s, and the famous counter gleams amid decorative motifs that transport us to a tropical plantation. As a non Gin drinker, I must say, was delicious. The surprise of the holiday for Jayne came when I started eating Monkey nuts and as tradition states in keeping with the relaxed atmosphere, guests are invited to brush peanut shells off the bar and onto the floor – quite possibly the only place in Singapore where littering is encouraged.Read more

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    An afternoon stroll 🚶‍♂️

    January 22, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Heading in the opposite direction today towards Fort Canning Park. It appears to be a country park with huge heritage and majestic trees. It is also home to a hotel, military barracks, spice garden, and what I have come to see the Colonial Monuments. Walking through the park you come to the first of 2 Fort Gates, carry on up the hill you come to the last remnants of the colonial hilltop fort; complete with WWII Bunker, former Christian cemetery and British army barracks.
    The WWII bunker, known as the Battle Box, is strategically placed and well hidden in the grassy hill and foliage off the park. Starting in 1936, it took 3 years to build and was the stronghold that the Allied Forces monitored and tried to stem the advancing Japanese army in the final days of the Malayan campaign. It was also here that the decision was taken to surrender to Japan, becoming the greatest military defeat of the British army and the beginning 3 1/2 years of Japanese occupation in Singapore.
    Continuing on from Fort Canning Park, I walked in the direction of the Raffles Hotel to ask if the Courtyard was covered as it was raining. There is some covering, and yes, you may get a little wet if it is raining and windy. I left deciding discretion is the better form of valour and decided not to tell Jayne!!!
    From Raffles Hotel it wasn't far to the river and an opportunity to hopefully get better photographs of the Merlion; a mythical creature with a lion's head and the body of a fish that is widely used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore.
    As time was now getting on and we were going out for dinner tonight, I decided to head back to the hotel and Jayne. Searching for the nearest RMT stop, I was surprised to see recognizable street sounds and realised I was just minutes from the hotel.    Read more

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    Another Temple.....

    January 22, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Walking on from this magnificent temple, I came to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (BTRTM), and much to my dismay, you do not see this ancient Buddhas tooth!!!
    At 4 storeys high and then a pagoda on the roof, there is quite a bit to see, including
    The pagoda is located directly at the center of the roof, where gilt statues of approximately 11,111 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are enshrined and venerated. A Buddhas of the world museum. Whilst on the ground floor as you walk in, is the main hall and has a height of 27-feet to accommodate a 15-feet statue of the Buddha Maitreya enshrined within, which is flanked by two bodhisattvas on each side.
    Walking back to the hotel, I came across more street art, street artists    Read more

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    Street food, art, and religion

    January 22, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    It's another lazy morning before setting off to check out the local street art in Chinatown 🇨🇳
    First, though, I decided to walk through through the local street food emporium to see what delicious 😋 delicacies there were on offer. Finding the street art, I once again found myself in Little India at the Hindu Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple; built in 1881, where I had to remove my shoes and socks to go in.Read more

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    Back in time for tea 🥢🥢

    January 21, 2025 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Over 3 hours later, we headed for the SMRT (Singapore Mass Rapid Transport) system; the underground metro 🚇 train. Jumping off at Clarke Quay, we went in search of refreshments before going back to the hotel.
    Note to self: you can not use the same card to pay for 2 people on the same journey.    Read more

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