Singapore

13th January

Our last trip to Johannesburg airport and a flight to Singapore awaited! We were lucky as we paid a bit extra for an exit row so had tonnnneeess of leg room! Even stretched out we couldn't touch the part in front of us. Only down side was that we were right by the toilets so there was a steady traffic flow. Can't have everything though! The others were in premium economy but had less leg room than us.

14th January

Arriving in Singapore was an experience! We arrived at about 6am and couldn't check in yet. So we left our bags there, and tired as anything, headed into town. Where nothing was open. Luckily we had a nice river by where we were staying and after a stop at an expensive Starbucks, we headed to a Red Bus stop - $90 later we boarded it. We were incredibly tired and it was really hot - but we managed. We did the tour and weirdly had to get on another bus to complete the loop.

After a few hours of doing this, we went back to the hotel and checked in. What a nightmare though. It was a lot later than the time they had said, and we were getting cranky. Kyle and I had lunch by the (amazing) pool at the hotel, and Trudi and Liam spent about $60 on nachoes at a place down the road. Singapore was horrendously expensive.
That night we more or less did our own thing - Kyle and I had Subway for dinner and explored the little expensive mall next to the hotel.

15th January

This morning we got ready to go to Santosa Island. We caught a taxi to the cable car and then had an interesting experience with dumb comments being made and laughing all the way over the the island. Once there, we walked around and found one of the

beaches. Liam had a $12 beer and we had our free water. After walking around for ages trying to find the others, we decided to ditch them and go for a swim. The water was amazing and in the distance we could see a turtle poking it's head out every now and again. Liam and Trudi went on the luge and we did all the free stuff...funds were tight after six months of travel. In the afternoon we spent time at the pool, seeing if we could touch the bottom and laughing at Shane who was a bit of a freak and stayed at the bottom of the pool for long enough for you to be worried about whether he could still breathe or not! I also learned how to float.

That night we split up - Shane, Kyle and me, vs Carmen, Trudi and Liam. We had a race to see who could get to China Town. Well...let's just say you shouldn't trust Shane with directions. We ended up having to ask someone where to go, and then of course we couldn't find the others. So that was hilarious and also super frustrating. It was Shane and Carmen's 30th Wedding Anniversary so we really wanted to reunite everyone! Luckily Trudi had the sense to turn her data on for a minute - long enough for us to tell each other where we were. We finally ended up meeting and had a nice dinner in the middle of the market. Kyle and I headed back to the hotel a while later and went for an evening swim. The pool at the hotel was so amazing - it was very deep so you could easily jump in.

16th January

This morning Trudi, Liam, Kyle and I went to the Singapore Gardens. We were very excited to be going into one of the domes that misted up every few hours. We made sure that we got there in time for that, then planned the whole visit around where we should stand - up the top, down the bottom? Where was the best place!? We eventually decided that we would go up the top. Only to be seriously disappointed by the lack of mist that was produced. It was a good laugh anyway. The gardens were really beautiful but we only did the entrance fee stuff as it was so expensive. It was also incredibly hot, so we were pretty keen to get into some air conditioning.

Back at the hotel we chilled out some more and then packed our bags. It was time to go home. Shane had booked us a taxi van, so after our cheapish Subway for dinner again, we headed to Changi Airport. There we had the easiest check in ever, then had a ridiculously expensive coffee and a gross slice with our leftover money. A long haul flight, and we arrived in New Zealand.

17th January

Back in Auckland was very surreal - we had to wait a lifetime to get through customs, and then said goodbye to the others. What an adventure. Once we had done that, Kyle's Dad Peter joined us for lunch. It was nice to see him after so long.
While waiting for our plane, we saw two Feilding High School teachers and an ex Feilding High School student. New Zealand is too small.

After a 6 hour wait, we boarded a plane to Wellington where Mum greeted us and we went to Oma's house. The next day, we flew to Christchurch for Pete Russell's wedding, then back to Wellington. We finally made our way to Palmerston North - the day after that, we started work. Back to the real world!

We visited some spectacular countries and experienced the most amazing things. It was truly

a once in a lifetime experience. Now to plan the next trip.