We’ve secured our campervan, grabbed some supplies, and made it to our first campsite in Blue Mountains National Park near Sydney.
It’s best to grab a site with power the first night to fully charge up the house battery, and we opted for one with a private bathroom/shower. We’re here for 2 nights.
We explored Sydney today—day 80 of our trip. These last 3 weeks seem like its own little vacation. Tomorrow we pick up our campervan to explore a bit more of the country, heading towards Melbourne for 11 days. And then it’s on to French Polynesia for a week. Somehow, we still have 7 flights left!
Despite the terrible weather we had the entire time we were in Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands, we did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef for a snorkel. (So yes, Scott finally used his snorkeling mask he has hauled all over the world!) Although the weather made for cloudy and dark water, we still saw many amazing fish and different corals. Looking forward to coming back to the Whitsundays to see the beautiful beaches and seeing more amazing marine life.
We had a long layover in Brisbane, so we booked a tour that included a river cruise from the central city to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary—apparently, the first (since 1927!) and still leading sanctuary for these endangered animals. The cruise featured prerecorded interpretative commentary, which was more interesting than we had expected. While you’re not passing important attractions on the ride, you do learn about the river and city. Most of the scenery, at least after you get out of the central city, are the backyard docks of residences—some historic, some elegant, but most nice but ordinary.
The third and final UNESCO Heritage site we visited on our day trip to North-Central Sri Lanka was to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, the second kingdom in, and capital of, Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. Trade and agriculture were key here, leading to the building of an intricate irrigation system that still used today to supply the water necessary for the paddy cultivation in the eastern part of the country.
A few shots from Gardens by the Bay in Singapore -S🇸🇬
Night scenes from Singapore -S🇸🇬
“This is my last day for these clothes.”
The second UNESCO World Heritage Site we saw during our day trip from Colombo was the Sigiriya ancient rock fortress, dominated by the massive column of granite. In the 5th Century, King Kashyapa selected the rock and surrounding area for his new capital. On the top of the rock are archeological ruins, but we didn’t have time to climb up and explore. So we settled for a tuk tuk tour around the area checking out the surrounding ruins.
While in Sri Lanka, we did a day tour from Colombo to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the first of which was Dambulla Cave Temple - the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The complex dates from the second and third centuries BC. The main site is spread over 5 caves and contains paintings and statues relating to Gautama Buddha, Sri Lankan kings, and gods and goddesses. -J 🇱🇰
When your beer comes with…ice and a straw?? 🧐🤨
(it is an excellent cherry/raspberry/apricot smoothie sour from a Latvian brewery) -S🇸🇬
A random Singaporean street scene -S 🇸🇬
Sunset over Singapore, from our hotel’s rooftop pool. -S 🇸🇬
Other random shots from Singapore’s Chinatown. -J 🇸🇬
Street art scenes in Singapore’s Chinatown -S 🇸🇬
Random shots from our walk around Singapore. We specifically visited Merlion Park, home of Singapore’s iconic half-lion, half-fish statue/fountain. -J 🇸🇬
Hey all - in case you missed the post here, we’re having our final Zoom call of our adventure on Friday night! Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at 6:00 pm Phoenix time (8:00 pm EST) (it will be 9 am on 2/1 for us!) Bring your favorite weekend happy hour-ish beverages and jump on and say hi. We are missing everyone and would love to see your faces and hear your voices 😁
Hit an Irish Pub in our 19th country today -Singapore! (19/32) -J 🇸🇬
A bit more history on this place, the first Irish pub to open in Singapore (back in 1995):
A quintessential Irish pub Molly Malone’s was the first Irish pub to open in Singapore, way back in 1995. More than a quarter-century on, she still maintains that unrivalled jovial atmosphere intrinsic to any classic Irish Pub.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub was actually born in Ireland and transported piece by piece to Singapore, where she was reconstructed in 1995 on the corner of Circular Road and Canton Street. There she remained for just over 9 years, before packing up house and moving across the street to the helm of Circular Road on Christmas Eve of 2004.
Sri Lanka has a National Museum that was built and opened in 1877. It focuses on the various Sri Lankan Kingdoms that existed before the Dutch took over in 1658, and the subsequent British rule (1796-1948). Interestingly, the museum now holds 6 artifacts that the Dutch took in approximately 1765, that were only returned to Sri Lanka in 2023. -J 🇱🇰 Wow-look at those feet! We also visited Independence Square, dedicated to the independence gained from the British in 1948 (the museum there was closed when we went).
If you haven’t seen our first post about our leopard sighting already, go check it out. A langur monkey with baby An Asian green bee-eater out for a stroll These painted storks give off some flamingo vibes “Which way did he go George, which way did he go?” I could have posted an entire album of these two looking in various directions, both of their heads swiveling back and forth surveying the landscape.