Singapore then home

Wednesday:
A whole day in Singapore, back to the Gardens by the Bay on the bus.
We have been to the Gardens before so we decided not to go into the domes this time but to a new display, Floral Fantasy, a display of plants and cut flower set through the seasons. An amazing display completed by a 4D 'ride' taking in the gardens from the viewpoint of a dragonfly.

Thursday:
Time to go home, 30 degrees in Singapore. Changi Airport is amazing, a massive Frozen display in the entrance hall, then through to departures and a visit to the butterfly house again while we waited for our flight. 14 hours back to Heathrow and a 20+ degree temperature drop.
We are safely home and adjusting to UK time.

The Journey Home Begins

Tuesday:
We have started our journey home.
It was very sad to say goodbye to Tim last night when he dropped us at the hotel but it was just as well he did. Sydney was once again shrouded with a thick blanket of smog caused by the bush fires, you could almost chew the air. The traffic around the airport was gridlocked and it took us ages to get to the terminal.
The flight was full with lots of Indian families on their way home, but we are now in Singapore where the temperature at 6.00pm was in the high 20s.
We walked around to Tanglin Mall to get something to eat, there was a Christmas Garden set up along with carol singers and snow machines, totally surreal in the heat.
Tomorrow we have a whole day in Singapore, then it is back home on Thursday.

Our Final Day in Australia

Monday:
Tim was up early as usual and off to work in the city, he is on a training course for the next two days so was unable to take time off. 
We began the day with a little last minute shopping then went to the beach front for the last time, the cloud was coming and going but it was extremely windy though we were still in shorts.
After lunch at a café on the front we set off for a walk along the near deserted beach, the sand was blowing at such a rate that it stung our legs bit we walked all of the way to the top of the headland at Long Reef where we were rewarded with the most amazing view both up and down the coast.

Out of the wind it was really warm.

We walked back to Tim's flat for our final meal together before he drove us to the airport hotel, ready to catch our flight to Singapore tomorrow.

The Northern Beaches

Sunday:
Today was our last day with Tim, he has to go to work tomorrow and then he is taking us to the airport hotel in the evening, so we decided to go out for breakfast at a café on the front. Going out for breakfast is a big thing in Australia and the food is all freshly cooked and 'healthy'. Claire had a crepe filled with avocado, feta and salad whilst I went for the bacon and egg roll, but even that was different, a charcoal roll, not burnt!

We walked back to Tim's flat then he took us for a drive north up the coast to Narrabeem, Avalon, Mona Vale and as far as Palm Beach (Summer Bay from Home and Away). The coastline is rugged and the scenery spectacular. We thought about walking/climbing up to Barronjoey Lighthouse but decided against it as we had scaled that path on our last trip, then it was back to Dee Why via a Newport and the mall at Warriwood.

In the evening we all went out to an Italian Restaurant at Spit Bridge for a very pleasant meal to finish off our with Tim, glad that we did our road trip with him when we did as this morning's news tells of bush fires near where we were in Bateman's Bay.