Koh Hong

The locals call Koh Hong "Little James Bond Island". Not too many kilometres north of here is the island where the James bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun, was shot. The formation above is like a mini version of that island, hence the name.

Either way the scenery is awesome and the water had this incredible turquoise colour to it.

Inside the island were are series of small jungle surrounded hongs.

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.

Koh Panak - Part 2

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.

After a short paddle we entered another cave & were soon in another hong.

This one wasn't as big but just as nice. It had some interesting rock formations, Monkeys & even Flying Foxes (or Fruit Bats).

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.

We left Koh Panak and headed for Koh Hong.

Phang Nga Bay - Koh Panak - Part 1

We were up bright and early the next morning only to be bundled into a van to head north (back toward the airport). We hadn't even seen the beach yet....

Our target for the day was a boat/canoeing tour around Phang Nga Bay & its strange limestone atolls. We set off in the boat and headed out into the bay. There were maybe 12 people on the boat (mainly Aussies, but who would have guessed?...).

First stop was Koh Panak (Koh = Island) but we weren't alone. There were already 3 similar boats moored at the island.

Our guides set the blow up canoes in the water for us to climb aboard. We weren't given paddles but were instead chauffeured about the islands. Our chauffeurs paddled us into a cave in at the bottom of the cliff. You'll be able to see the cave entrance between the left & middle boats in the photo above. Below you can see that the cave is much larger than it looks in the wider shot.

Inside the cave was a bit like one of those rides at the amusement parks, but without the tacky decorations. This cave was decorated with stalagmites & bats.

As we went deeper into the cave, the roof started to get lower. Right at the end it closed right up & we had to lie back in the canoe. We could see the light coming from the outside.

We popped out into the light & into this strange lagoon in the middle of the island. The photo below is only a small part of the picture.

Inside the hong (island lagoon) the local inhabitants were there to welcome us. These Long-Tailed Macaques were going about their noisy business around the water's edge picking off mollusks.As nice as it was we had to leave this little haven. So it was back to the slot where we'd come out of. We did the canoe limbo again & we were back in the cave with the bats.

Singapore River Cruise

After a good night's sleep after the long day of travel, we had a bit of a lay in & a decent breakfast.
Right outside the hotel was a river boat cruise operator and a cruise along the Singapore river sounded like a good way to fill in the morning.


They took us up stream to start with past all the hotels (above) & some big apartment blocks. Nothing especially interesting, but there was lots of greenery for such a heavily populated place. There was one interesting bridge along the way (below). Strange design & even stranger paint job.
We passed Clarke Quay on the way back down stream. At Clarke Quay, both sides of the river are lined with restaurants and bars. Some aren't even on land, but are converted fishing boats.
Just down stream of Clarke Quay is the Old Boat Quay. It was the original trade port of Singapore. Now the docks have been converted to restaurants and bars but have kept the original facades. Behind them are the modern sky scrapers of the city. Quite an odd contrast.
Down stream is more about the government & business part of Singapore. Just looks like any other city doesn't it? Well it pretty much is.


There's also a cultural side to Singapore. I can't recall exactly what some of the buildings are below, but there is a cluster of museums, art galleries, a riverside stadium & cultural centres at the mouth of the river. Some of the buildings are straight out odd. I'll let you be the judge.

What typical city in the world these days is complete with out a big Ferris wheel? This one (below) is called the Singapore Flyer. I have to apologise at this point for the quality of the photos. The problem is that Singapore is almost on the Equator & is shrouded in clouds much of the time.
The star attraction for the tourist is the Merlion. This is probably the most recognisable land mark in Singapore.

We fast ran out of ideas of things to do & the climate wasn't exactly helping motivation. In hind sight we should have gone to the multi theme park, Sentosa for the day. Singapore isn't really a tourist destination. We wandered through China town then had lunch at Clarke Quay.

We headed to the "Budget" airport early (mainly to hide in the air con.). We were booked on a Tiger flight to Phuket. Tiger & the other budget airlines leave from a different no frills terminal (which is more like a huge shed). There isn't much to do there but there which is stark contrast to the shopping malls in the main Changi terminal. Tiger may be no frills, but you do get what you pay for. With no expectations of entertainment & food, I was actually quite impressed. The planes are fitted out with new interiors & there was even plenty of leg room. No complaints from me.

I think it took us the best part of 2 hrs to get from the airport tarmac to the hotel including a 45 min taxi ride. I was very glad to be closing my eyes later that night.

Singapore Airlines

With a sense of trepidation (thanks to job security issues) I booked a trip to Singapore & Thailand for Kerri's xxth birthday. My plan was to let her know we were going somewhere, but for her not to know where. Nice idea, but just after I'd locked in all the flights & accommodation, she tricked me into giving up my secret. Never mind. It was doing her head in anyway.

I'd booked us on Singapore Airlines for the Perth Singapore part of the trip (being longish haul) & it turned out to be a good decision. I don't mind flying discount on short flights, but once it head up near the 5 hr mark, I like the entertainment, food & leg room you get on the better airline. Singapore are pretty much at the top of the tree & fairly competitive for cost. Their new A330s (pictured) are awesome! The screens in the back of the seats are massive & more movies on offer than you could imagine. Before we knew it we were descending into Singapore.

For such a big airport, Changi was incredibly quiet. We grabbed out bags off the carousel, slipped out of the airport without fuss (only to be smacked in the face by the humidity. The taxi took us to the Novatel in Clarke Quay (the restaurant district next to the downtown area). The foyer of the hotel was chockers full of Emirates hostesses in full work clobber.

That evening we wandered around the Quay area admiring the pretty lights & hating the sweltering heat & humidity. I couldn't even take photos because the camera lens fogged up.

Twin Falls Loop Trail

The main part of the Springbrook Park centres around the Twin Falls loop.

The wet season is probably the better time to be there because the many waterfalls around this escarpment weren't running.

The trail descends through the dry eucalyptus forest and through the two crevices above. Once we exited from the second crevice we were suddenly in the cool rain forest and looking up at the waterfalls & escarpments we had just been walking along.

We reached the pool at the bottom of twin falls, but the Twin Falls was missing a leg. This seemed to be a theme for a few of the other cascades & waterfalls in the area.

The last waterfall we came to is called Blackfeller Falls. I'm not sure that you can call things that anymore because of the whole political correctness thing, but that's what they're called.

Time for a couple of arty shots now.

Eventually we climbed the switchbacks to the top of the plateau. We stopped at the top of Blackfeller falls (below) to look out over the Gold Coast. The haze had the better of us, but we we still able to make out most of it.

We jumped back in the car & headed back to Brisbane. That night we took mum & dad out for dinner at a flash restaurant to thank them for looking after us & lending us mums car that week.
The next day we were on a flight back to Perth.
Next trip, Thailand!