Catching the Singapore National Day Parade Dress Rehearsal Fireworks

It’s been a month since we moved to Singapore. It seems longer, but then again, we haven’t managed to do much. Still trying to adjust, nevermind that I grew up here.

Felt good tonight to bring out my camera again – its first outing since I picked it back up from the camera workshop last week after it died a watery death in Iceland. They’d closed the roof top access to the Esplanade, but my brother and I managed to get a spot in the roof top bar. Whilst waiting for blue hour and the fireworks, and fending off rowdy kids with no sense of personal space, we guzzled cocktails and craned our necks to watch the National Day Parade dress rehearsal on the floating platform.

Happy birthday, Singapore.

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Road Tripping – from Melbourne to Sydney

We had a most wondrous Christmas to New Year’s break, starting with our road trip down from Sydney to Melbourne. We spent Christmas at my aunt’s, and shared many amazing meals and laughter. Before heading back north, we squeezed in a day trip to Yarra Valley, where we delightedly tasted north of 40 different wines.

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Our second portion of the trip was less about the eating, and more about the kayaking and snorkeling. Stopping at Tathra on the Sapphire Coast for a day and a half, we caught a couple sunrises and managed a 22 km paddle up the Bega River.

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While the cloudless blue days made for undramatic sunrises and sunsets, they were perfect for being on the water.

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We also spent a night up in Jervis Bay – a place where we seriously need to go back to spend more time at. On the eve of New Year’s Eve, we got in some snorkeling at Honeymoon Bay. Despite the heat of the sun, the water was chilly, but the snorkeling was worth it as we spotted a sleeping woebbegone shark under a shelf, and as we were about to head back into the bay, a pod of frolicking dolphins. 😀

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On New Year’s Eve, we got in a 8km paddle from Callala Bay to Myola Beach. The water was flat and glassy when we launched, and we excitedly kept our eyes peeled for another dolphin encounter. No luck this time though. An hour and a half in, the wind started to pick up, and we decided to turn back in. It was tough work battling against the winds and currents, so that we were glad to finally slide our boats back to shore again. Afterwards, we learnt that Hyams Beach just south along the bay was closed down because of shark sightings. That’ll have been neat. Heh.

But in all, we had a marvelous vacation to end an incredible 2015!