Spotted on Straddie

Seas teeming with fish and turtles, dolphin pods and whales coming up for air. They were more difficult to capture on camera other than as blips in the ocean but your eyes, thankfully, are never confined to one species or one area. So white bellied sea eagles floated by, as did some surfers on a deep green sea.

Pelicans shared fish with the sea gulls and a whole valley sang with the melodies of fig birds and wag tails. The cormorants and the curlews chose their shore lines and rocks to sunbathe and the silver gulls with their intense red legs and beaks bounded across the beach while the kookaburras were having a disagreement on the line. 

The surprise, because there always is one, is seeing a young woman collect beach worms of over a metre in length from the shore line. A question of what lurks beneath which thankfully we don't often have to see, an art in itself, for which apparently she can charge $5 a worm.

Entrepreneurship al fresco on a glorious winter's day. 

Straddie Island's lines.

Off to the beautiful Stradbroke Island just a short distance from the mainland by ferry. Pristine beaches and bushland. Today I am taken by the lines I see on my lens. Grassy outcrop on a undulating ocean. The line of rock, grass, sea in full vision where every wave which towered up was full - and I mean full of mullet. Momentary sighting until the wave crested. A bounty for the keen fishermen. 

Just a little further inland on the rocks, another line, this time an inland teeming reef, hidden away, so I bend to see a small pool of water brimming with tiny fish, seaweed and little blue algae bubbles.  

On this beach, the lines contrasting sand, sea and sky disturbed only by a pelican floating in the shallows.

Lines vertical or horizontal that catch the eye.Barnacled poles reaching out of the ocean to touch the rust-sky.

Night Life

Photos from web to help you visualise. 

The winter day melds into the twilight. In that window of half light the bats are silhouetted against the sky, angular wide wings, searching and circling for their dinner. Most evenings one settles in the palm tree and noisily eats the fruit. Then with a whoosh and more rustling it pops over to peel mandarins off my mandarin tree. Darkness descends, the air is cool and I go back inside, shutting the door. Night life begins in earnest. I fall asleep in front of the television alongside the snakes and geckos and lizards who all feel sluggish in the cool temperatures. Time for the rats and mice to have a field day. Dougall, my neighbour's boxer has come outside to warn everyone he is in control and barks a hearty good night. As I snuggle down into bed bush stone curlews set off their whistling wail which culminates in a crescendo. I lie awake listening to them. They quieten as the gentle patter of possums is heard making their way over my tin roof. This is the the time they will scurry around, sometimes have races or fights just outside my bedroom window and in the hours of darkness feed on avocados and roses, everything the garden menu may have on offer. I fall into a fitful sleep only to be woken by a cacophony of kookaburras having a bawl in the poinsiania tree in the garden. I head out to the deck and find my butcher bird waiting for its breakfast.  

Jurong Bird Park

This is my last post from my short trip to Singapore though there is a lot more ground to cover. Some will have to wait for another trip. A memorable visit was to the Jurong Bird Park and even though we are not happy to see birds in captivity this is an aviary which is immensely rich and varied and we really enjoyed seeing the Asian birds but also the macaws from South America, the parrots and the hornbills, not to mention the shade of the flamingoes which ranged from this intense pink orange to the softer pink ones who pranced across the stage in the show. There are clearly marked paths and even a little tram to transport you around if you dont want to walk. For more information and to see what is on at the park go to https://www.wrs.com.sg/en/jurong-bird-park/

Loved the iridescent colours of this rather ordinary pigeon - how can it be ordinary you rightly say with colours like that and a home in the Nicobar islands?

And it gets even more elaborate, and we are still talking pigeons here, look at the Western Crowned Pigeon. Just the most delicate dentele on its head. The biggest pigeon in the world and a vulnerable species found in New Guinea.

This one here is the Victoria Crowned Pigeon, looking a little regal like Queen Victoria perhaps, with her sombre blues, a feathered crown with white ends - like a tiara no less. 

And these Lears Macaws named after Edward Lear went to the brink of extinction, but have been brought back by a rigorous programme for their protection by the Brazilian Government.

 The appropriately named Superb Starling.

 An inquisitive grey parrot looking at us as we strolled past it.

There was a show in the afternoon called High Flyers. The birds swooped down on us from every direction,  the hornbills played a loving couple (they mate for life), the parrots played competative games, one amazing bird called Amigo mimicked speech and sung songs in three different languages. You have to hear him. 

The grand finale of the show involved an influx of all types of feathered friends which made for a wonderfully joyous slightly mad scene. There was a pelican who was especially naughty and wanting to be centre stage. Here he is with that very cheeky smile.  

Seniors in Singa

If you are wondering what is on offer for Seniors in Singa, look no further. All in one month, "Seniors health", "live well and leave well" and finally "My funeral my money ! 

Are you prepared ?!" Enough said. They certainly look joyful enough. 

Gardens by the Bay

The amazing thing about this place is that it is only 6 years old. This architectural marvel has been built on reclaimed land. The concept was seeded in 2005 based on Singapore's reputation as a Garden City. The brief from the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was to create a  "nation as a city within a garden." Over 162,000 plants are planted here in the Gardens and on the Supertrees. It was a tough brief - the architects and the designers has to create a garden that used less energy then a typical Singapore office building.

There are 18 Supertrees which are vertical gardens full of the most beautiful, mosses, grasses, ferns, epiphytes, bromeliads and orchids. The trees produce shade during the day and have solar panels to generate electricity which is then used for lighting and cooling.They are fitted with environmental technologies that mimic the ecological function of trees, so they store energy from sunlight and water from rainfall. There are two additional large structures, aside from the gardens which are extensive,  the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest facing Marina Bay. They cost about a billion to build.

You have to admire all that and this is even before I have taken you in ...

The Skyway which is a path at about 22 metres is a good way to appreciate the Supertrees but also the Gardens. If you can stick around for the light shows, do so, they are on at 7.45 and 8.45 pm.

The Flower Dome is popular and you can see why. The flowers - so very many varieties of orchids and others are all in bloom. They seem to manage them so wonderfully there are displays all year round and events to match, Tulipmania or Dahlia Dreams just two examples of the many on offer.

 A favourite place for couples wanting to take their marriage photos in amongst the flowers. You can accessorise here to your hearts content.

As you enter the Cloud Dome you see a huge waterfall and then you can snake your way right up to the top admiring the epiphytes, ferns and bromeliads, as well as the many other flowering plants embedded in the structure. 

There are educational films, stalactites and stalagmites, environmental messages, and information about rare and endangered plants even Lego displays of some note. I leave you with a pitcher plant made entirely of Lego.  Somehow it sits well amongst the real ones does it not ?

Surprise !

It's finding things like this which really give me a kick. In the old Parliament here in Singapore, now a beautiful Arts Centre a vending machine -

No, not soft drinks, not condoms, not crips or chocolates -can you guess ???

It's a BOOK - a mystery book. You pay a small amount and you can choose which mystery book you want to receive.I tried to find out who installed this but there was no information available. Wouldn't you like to be the mystery man or woman behind the choices ? Now that is what I call a great vending machine!