Singapore is awesome. The picture you can see to the left is just a teaser for this and the next post. I thought I could make it all in one post but after culling the originals I still have almost 150 pictures here and who knows how many for the next. This is out of over 2000 (yes two thousand) pictures we took on the one outing. We flattened two camera batteries, three phone batteries and filled an entire SD card and we still had more to photograph. It was a cracker of day!
The first album here is on the Gardens by the Bay next to the Marina Bay Sands. I have not strictly stuck the pictures in here in chronological order but I’ll try to explain all that is in the gardens outside of the ‘domes’ and the tree walk.
Once off the MRT we traversed a subway tunnel to come out across the road from the 3 towers of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. After buying our tickets we traveled (by shuttle bus) towards the two large domes visible from almost everywhere in the park. Once at the domes there are eateries, souvenir shops and other useful utilities.I will digress here from our actual route and instead tell you of the gardens in their entirety before I tell of our exploits inside the domes.
From the base of the domes we continued around the park where there are myriads of interesting points. The gardens are dotted with art installations in the form of wood and stone carvings. We found a lake with a lazy water dragon sunning itself on a rock, a sign warning us about otters, aquariums, fountains, a Chinese ‘tower’ erected for Chinese New Year, strange rock forms, a huge undercover succulent display garden, topiary and multitudes of gorgeous plants. All along the paths there are glimpses of the domes and of course the massive “mega trees” which I have to leave till the next posting.
After that look through the Gardens we come to the next two attractions. This one here is called the Flower Dome and it is fantastic. As you can see in the first picture there no set way to wander the paths as they intertwine all over the dome.
“The Flower Dome is 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). It replicates a mild, dry climate and features plants found in the Mediterranean and other semi-arid tropical regions (e.g. parts of Australia, South America, South Africa). The Flower Dome is 38 metres (125 ft) high and maintains a temperature between 23 °C and 25 °C, slightly lower at night. The Flower Dome features seven different “gardens” as well as an olive grove with a bistro and a central changing display field has also been incorporated to enable flower shows and displays to be held within the conservatory. (data from wikipedia)”
We were blown away by this marvellous garden. Like the gardens outside it is interspersed by art installations and the plants are varied and symbolic of their respective native lands. One point that shocked us is that the olive trees were reputedly over 400 years old. Not just is the mechanical structure of the dome an engineering feat but horticulturally the care and skill required to transplant and maintain these living plants is mind blowing.
From the flower dome we had a feed then progressed into the sublime world of the Cloud Forest. Now this is just about indescribable. I won’t go into the intimate details (though there is a link below in the last paragraph if you want to know more) but suffice to say if we thought the Flower Dome was great than this is just incredible.
“The Cloud Forest is higher than the Flower Dome but slightly smaller at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres). It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level, found in South-East Asia, Middle- and South America. It features a 42-metre (138 ft) “Cloud Mountain”, accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall provides visitors with refreshing cool air. The “Cloud mountain” itself is an intricate structure completely clad in epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, peacock ferns, spike- and clubmosses, bromeliads and anthuriums. It consists of a number of levels, each with a different theme.” (Wikipedia again).
Put simply it is an artificial mountain, covered in innumerable flora, high waterfalls and suspended steel walkways to thrill you. Several times a day they ‘mist’ the mountain giving the entire dome a surreal, haunted feeling that will send chills down your spine. The plant specimens are luxurious in their growth and consists of rare and unusual species. Naturally Shane and I photographed hundreds of orchids of all shapes and sizes (I’ve inserted a few shown through magnifying glasses) along with Tassle ferns, a Thunbergia familiar to us (we had this species when at Ocean Shores but have never seen it again till now), Fushia and lots more.
After entering this dome you walk around the base to the rear of the mountain where you get a lift to the top. From there you alight the lift and start to wind your way down through the galleries and across the suspended walkways. Shane again out did herself suppressing her fear of heights to go the entire route to the bottom.
While this is amazing the whole thing is astounding. If you’d like to know more of this marvel try clicking on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_by_the_Bay.
Now you may have noticed there is barely a picture here of any flowers let alone the orchids we love. That is because there were just too many to post here. If however you’d like to see these I will be posting pictures of the flowers as soon as I can in the thread labelled “Flowers, Fins, Feathers, Furs plus more”. I promise you that these orchids and flowers are worth seeing. Many of the orchids you will never have seen before and in fact you will not recognise some as being orchids they are so strange.
So how do we top this post? You’ll see in the next post when the “Mega Trees” of Singapore come alight at night.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane