Changi Airport has as butterfly garden tucked away in one of it's terminals. I wasn't smart enough to take a photo of the garden itself, but I can say that it has 2 levels & loads of room. There are loads of plants & now shortage of butterflies. When you have 6 hours to kill (thanks to being cautious about transferring from Tiger to Singapore Airlines) spending a half hour or so in the butterfly house is a good way to kill some time. I'm not totally up on my butterfly species, but the Internet gave me some guidance with a few.
The Blue Clipper was the most common (that day)
These Common Rose butterflies were the most interesting with their bright red bodies. They were pretty active as well.
I'm not 100% on this one, but I think it's called a Marbled White.
I have no idea about the last 2, but the dark one looks like a leaf.
These Common Rose butterflies were the most interesting with their bright red bodies. They were pretty active as well.I'm not 100% on this one, but I think it's called a Marbled White.I have no idea about the last 2, but the dark one looks like a leaf.
Eventually we were on a plane back to Perth. It was again one of their new A330's and before we knew it, we were touching down. Those entertainment systems on those plane are awesome for chewing up flight time. By the time we went though customs & caught a cab home it was about 2am. It didn't matter to our little grey fuzz balls. They were still happy to see us.
The last full day on Phi Phi was a tough one for me. I should have booked myself on another dive, but thought better of it at the time (should have trusted my instinct). I'm not very good at relaxing on holidays. Living in Perth, I get every weekend to relax by the pool or beach It just looses it's appeal on holidays. Kerri's more than happy to sit by the pool & read a book. I can't do it.
I found a few things to keep me busy. I splashed around in a pool a bit doing my best impression of Shamu the Killer Whale. 
The camera was also my friend. Being that it was a nice bright day I set about taking photos of the scenery around the limited area of the resort. 
The local wildlife were camera targets as well. The dove below made showed itself early before I even got out of bed.
An interesting comment about the part of Thailand is that the usual scavanger birds that you see around the world such as ravens (Crows) & seagulls (we even saw them at 4500m above sea level in the Bolivian desert) were nowhere to be seen. It was very odd & I can't explain it. These Asian starlings (below) were the only annoying scavengers around. And they were very cheeky!
I was intrigued by the huge, mainly black bees that were buzzing around the gardens.
Late in the afternoon, while I was lazing by the pool, this olive tree skink started rustling around in the bushes. 
The first dive was the shallow atoll just off Bamboo Island. We Suited up & hit the water. I must say it was a nice change to be able to dive without a restrictive wet suit. It was very shallow & the sand very white & powdery (and easily stirred up). I wasn't getting good vibes early on but it got better. We had been promised a leopard shark so everyone was on the look out. We weren't disappointed.
We saw 3 different types of clown fish including the one above (Ocellaris Clown Fish) made popular by the Finding Nemo movie. There were also a number of families of a bright orange species I've never hear of called the Fire Clown fish. It's the orange one in foreground below. The other one is Kerri.
We also saw three lion fish (below). I've logged heaps of dives on the Great Barrier reef & have never actually seen one. I was very excited.
The list continues including a moral eel and countless other fish species. The Harlequin fish below (related to clown fish) are very territorial and this one I thought was just curious until it gave me a nip on the knuckle.
The next day was fairly uneventful. We were back in a van early to take us to the ferry terminal on the other side of Phuket Island. After about an hour we reached Phi Phi Lay, the more southern and smaller of the two islands. The ferry does a lap around Phi Phi Lay on the way out to give tourists & hotel guest a look at this beautiful Island.
The ferry's first stop was Long Beach (below) on Koh Phi Phi. It's the main hub on the island. There are a myriad of speed boats, long tail boats & seemingly endless dive boats.
The Ferry left long beach, made a brief stop at a cluster of hotels half way along the island before pulling up in front of our hotel (and 2 others) to empty the remainder of the passengers onto long tail boats.
Inside one of them was a strange looking stone structure (below). A baby elephant if you can't see it.
Beautiful place. It was such a shame when we had to leave.
Instead of bringing us back to the boat, our chauffeurs took us along beside the outer shore of the island. The strange overhangs were a good way of keeping out of the sun & heat of the day.
The overhanging greenery also harboured the Brown Winged Kingfisher below. He was patiently on the lookout for lunch but our presence wasn't helping.
The Fruit bats were a noisy clan. They supposedly sleep during the day but they're like a bunch of kids on camp at night, chattering & squabbling. I can't see how they sleep at all.
