Departing Fremantle our next of call is Geraldton WA, however the weather had other ideas. As we enter Geraldton Harbour, which is really a large open bay, the wind has risen. After some manoeuvering, the Captain announces his concern the DP will not be able to hold anchor given the rising wind speeds. So off to Singapore we sail.
We have 4 sea days cruising before Singapore. So we settle into ship board life, up for an hour in the gym, breakfast and coffee. Then there’s reading, catching some sun, a swim and maybe another coffee. Afternoon naps and a drink before dinner. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere we see numerous fishing boats or perhaps illegal immigrants Australia bound. We pass Krakatoa as we thread our way through the Sunda Strait of Indonesian.
We make our way up the channel into Singapore Harbour after first light. We pass huge container ships and small fishing boats, everyone busy on there way somewhere. The oil refinery on the adjacent island belches smoke and flame as we pass. Its warm, very warm, humid and it’s only 7 am. After breakfast we take the bus downtown it’s only 9 am and nothing’s open yet. We walk Orchard Road before catching the first red tourist bus of the day and do a circuit of the city.
We pass the famous Raffles Hotel, the Chinese and Indian quarters before we jump off the bus and walk through the markets. Despite walking at a leasurely pace the heat and humidity has us looking for shade whenever we can. We walk along the Singapore river, lots of ritzy apartments and open spaces alternate with old building and shops.
Time for lunch and chilli crabs is on the menu. We have asked around and Jumbo’s on the river is famous for it’s crab. We find it soon enough, we are offered a table on the verandah overlooking the river but decide on a table under the air conditioner instead. We have a memorable lunch and a couple of drinks before heading off the catch a red bus back uptown. We wander a couple of shopping malls but nothings a bargain, in fact most clothing and electronics seem quite expensive.
It’s bus time and there’s quite a queue so where in for a wait. At least we know the DP is waiting with a pool and a cool drink.
