Layover in Singapore

2015 – I’d spent the last two years travelling and making a wonderful life in New Zealand, but sadly my working holiday visa was coming to its ultimate end, and it was time to head back to Europe (back when we Brits could call Europe our home). The best flight I could find had a 2 night layover in Singapore. I was nervous – I didn’t know anything about Asia, but I soon realised I had nothing to fear. The city is very convenient for a short stopover, and because people from all the surrounding countries unite here, Singapore is the perfect place for first time travellers to dip their toes in a multitude of Asian cultures.

Flying with Singapore Airlines

My experience began in the taxi-to-take-off on the tarmac of Auckland International Airport. Singapore Airlines were classes above any of my previous experience with budget airlines. They truly live up to their highly professional reputation, and the cabin crew were masters at concealing their distaste towards “yet another sweaty traveller”. Each procedure was a well-rehearsed routine, performed with silver-screen smiles.

There was turbulence over the Java Sea, terrible, shaking, dropping turbulence that made the passengers gasp and grab their seats. I exchanged glances with the young Indian girl sat next to me as we both went to clutch the same armrest, and we burst into a fit of nervous giggles, identifying the mutual flame of fear in each other’s eyes.

I lifted the shutter on the reinforced porthole window, and through the glare of brilliant white light bouncing off the 747’s gargantuan wing, my eyes adjusted onto the glistening shipping lanes of Singapore below. A connect-the-dots of white boats, scattered on the vast swirling sea, just visible through the chalky haze.

Journey to Bussorah Street

Arriving in the hustle and bustle of a new city can be overwhelming, but getting around is made pretty simple in Singapore. I hopped on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) straight from the airport. The MRT is a similar concept to the London Underground, with 4 different lines that will take you anywhere you need to go in the city. This ran between 6am and midnight and was far less expensive than the tube!

There are MRT maps in the carriages and at most stations, and each stop is announced in 4 languages (usually all at the same time!) English is the official language of the city, although you will equally see or hear Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, as these languages constitute the 3 main cultures of the city.

From the word go, it was evident that locals were friendly and happy to help. The moment I stepped out of Bugis station into the open air, a man asked if I needed any help. He pointed me in the right direction of my hostel and I thanked him. Then, as I waited to cross the busy street, a man zooming past on his fold up scooter shouted, “Thank you, my darling!” I continued to walk through quieter streets, until I came to a lit arch, leading to a beautiful mosque. I could already hear the dull babble of Kampong Glam nightlife, and followed the glow of light to Bussorah Street.

A pretty, pedestrianised street, fronted by the spectacular Sultan Mosque; tall, green palm trees rise up either side, while below, bars and restaurants thrive, spilling onto the paving in chatter and laughter. Right there amongst it all was the Sleepy Kiwi Backpackers, its own tables and chairs outside, scattered with happy travellers enjoying a beer and a laugh. (In my recent research, I found this backpackers is permanently closed, but there are plenty of hostels dotted around the city.)

A Night in Singapore

It’s 28 degrees at night, and the city has no breeze. The hostel lacks carpets and exterior doors, and even windows, but they’re luxuries that are certainly not missed! You raise the bamboo blind in the communal bathroom, to find a large, window-framed hole in the wall. The showers are little wet-rooms through pretty, mosaicked archways, and the wooden shutters in the dorm open straight out onto the street, pigeon spikes lining the ledge. Every dorm has a ceiling fan, which may sound daft in a place that has no glass in its windows, but it is all in the aid of keeping cool.

5 am. The sky shows no relief from night, and the air outside is still and silent. I am awoken suddenly by songs from the mosque before dawn. Haunting and poignant, the Islamic call echoes through the darkness, calling local Muslims to prayer. The night is filled with a voice of incredible compassion that resonates an ache for peace, for just a few minutes, before resuming dark silence.

The Sultan Mosque is a fine work of architecture, not to mention the sacred role it plays in the heart of Singapore’s Muslim community.

When dawn finally broke, the streets were alive with birds, hopping from building to building, and singing in strange and exotic tones. I went downstairs for the all inclusive breakfast – a buffet of fresh dragon fruit, watermelon, juicy orange, and sweet green jam on toast! Tea, coffee and milo were also made on request, and I sat outside to enjoy it.

I met two of the girls in my dorm – Karen and Fan, who were on holiday from Taiwan, hoping to enjoy a beach day on Sentosa (Singapore’s get-away island) and shopping at Orchard Road. They were sweet, curious girls, eager to practise their English.

There is plenty to see in Singapore, and more than enough guides and friendly people to point you in the right direction, but I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends I’d met on my travels, who had agreed to show me around.

Lunch at Marina Bay

I met my friend Tze in the train station at around 11, and we went downtown to Marina Bay where he treated me to some delicious Chinese cuisine in one of the enormous shopping malls. We had sliced duck in pastry, “drunken” chicken, and steamed pork dumplings, refreshing our pallets with ginger and chamomile tea.

After lunch, we took a stroll along the river to the Gardens in the Bay, where we stared up at the “Super Trees” – amazing metal structures, entwined with plants and flowers, up to 50 metres high. Tze told me that the artificial trees are not just there to look good, but are actually solar panelled and at the time supplied 20% of the city’s power.

Looming over the gardens like a zeppelin, (or a giant silver sausage on a fork) is Marina Bay Sands – the world’s second most expensive building in 2015. With 57 floors, this extravagant hotel is 194 metres high, and a room would have cost anything between 500 and 5,000 Singapore dollars per night! One of the building’s many features, is its Infinity Pool – a swimming pool located on the roof, which gives the illusion of just dropping off the edge.

*Singapore Dam / Singapore City Skyline*

At the end of the river walkway is the Pump House, from which we got a splendid view of the dam, the shipping lanes, and the city skyline behind. You can see everything from the Super Trees to the Singapore Flyer – a 165metre high observation wheel, inspired by the London Eye.

The Merlion

Feeling refreshed by the sea air, it was time to head back towards the CBD for some proper tourism! The 8.6m tall Merlion stands proudly on the edge of the harbour at Merlion Park, spewing 20,000 litres of sea water into the harbour per hour. It was the era of selfie sticks, and everyone wants a selfie with the Merlion, as it’s Singapore’s icon.

The Merlion represents Singapore in many ways; there are a few vague links to Indian folklore, but Tze’s explanation was that Singapore is a gateway to the ocean, and surrounding countries, and so a creature that is half king of land, half king of sea, represents unity. The island is not divided by the sea, but instead connected by it. It is also said that the fish’s body symbolises the origins of a fishing village, Temasek, and the lion’s head symbolises the original name ‘Singapura’ – ‘Lion City’ in Sanskrit.

Beer on Boat Quay

We made our way back around the marina, past the only ‘floating’ Louis Vuitton outlet in the world, and walked around to Boat Quay for a much needed beer. Bartering is not uncommon in Singapore; every seller is out to offer you the ‘best’ deal, and every buyer is out to find the best price. We walked along Boat Quay, bar after bar, in the shells of old Chinese merchant Godowns. There was a string of riverside marquees all laid up with silver service and decorated with red cloths and orange lanterns, on a backdrop of little water taxis going back and forth along the river. Tze finally found a bargain he was happy with, and we sat beside the river and enjoyed a Chang beer.

Train Hopping

We spent the afternoon train hopping through the city districts. One of the most colourful parts of Singapore that I saw was Little India.

Here is where you’ll find one of Singapore’s oldest Hindu temples – Sri Veeramakaliamman – try saying that after a few bottles of Chang! The temple is a visual treat as you approach, a cornucopia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses peering down from the colourful tiers of the roof. Tourists can enter the temple, but must practice the same respect as worshippers, removing all footwear and washing your feet before going inside. Every inch of the interior is dedicated to a shrine, representations of Gods on every wall. Worshippers chant and pray, seemingly unaware of the tourists encroaching on their beloved sacred place.

Next we explored China Town, walking through the bustling markets, little laughing Buddha trinkets and wooden bracelets as far as the eye could see.

It was a stifling, muggy afternoon, and at the China Town gate, Tze bought us a little ice cream sandwich each from a street vendor to cool us down.

Dinner in the City

As darkness settled above the city, the markets and food stalls of Bugis started to come to life. I met another friend, Boon, who took me to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. He was quite the connoisseur, and had so many recommendations, so I let him order for me. The dish he ordered was called ‘Summer’, and was a beautiful ramen, rich with spices and topped with nori. Boon also ordered a bowl of hardboiled eggs for the table, completely over estimating my appetite! One of the cool things about this restaurant was the pestle and mortar on the table to grind our own fusion of spices to taste.

After dinner, we went into one of the great shopping halls to a Kopi tiam – coffee shop. Boon explained the cultural significance of this style of coffee, and that everyone from all ethnicities orders in the Chinese Hokkien dialect. Now, perhaps it was my training as a barista in New Zealand that peaked my interest, or the fact that it was practically a Singaporean tradition, but this was a definite highlight.

He ordered a ‘kopi’ for me, a ‘teh’ for himself, some kaya toast, (a crisp, sugary toast, with a layer of the yummy green jam I’d had at breakfast, which is made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar,) and some soft boiled egg, (because apparently we hadn’t had enough egg already!) They prepared it all before us, and laid it on a tray for us to take to one of the communal benches. The kopi was thick; filtered from jug to jug, and poured over condensed milk, sugar and soya milk, with water poured on top. It was dark, rich and syrupy, I’d never tasted anything like it, and it was well complimented by the crisp, sweetness of the kaya toast. Having since been to Vietnam, I can liken the taste to Vietnamese coffee, but it isn’t the same. Singaporean ‘Kopi’ is unique in its roasting process: a glaze of sugar is added to the beans, giving it that caramelised sweetness. It is highly caffeinated, and dangerously sugary, so despite being a traditional drink, it’s not recommended for frequent consumption.

The Ideal Layover

Singapore is conveniently situated between Oceania and Europe, making it a common layover spot for long haul flights. In 2015, I found the city so accessible, with a wide variety of food choices, plenty of nearby places to visit, and unless you’re visiting to shop the designer outlets, it wasn’t overly expensive.

May 20

Lantau Island – Hong Kong

Po Lin Monastery

Hong Kong’s largest island is Lantau. This is where Hong Kong International Airport is situated, along with Disney Land, plenty of beaches, national parks, and traditional fishing towns. The island is a popular summer holiday escape, but remains a tourist hotspot even in the middle of winter, as I discovered! While staying in Hong Kong in December 2018, our host, Cecilia took us for a day trip to Lantau Island. We left Kowloon City early in the morning commencing our 3 hour journey, via hydrofoil and bus, to the Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha in the heart of Lantau Island. This giant bronze Buddha is one of the biggest in the world, and sits on an enormous lotus flower plinth atop the mountains, seen for miles around. I could see it from the bus as we wound through the mountains, glimpses of beaches in the distance between curls of mist that floated in from the sea. By the time we arrived at the Big Buddha, a thick fog had plunged the mountain into grey soup. At the gate, street-wise cows wandered around, perusing the available snacks and terrorising picnics!

With the Big Buddha entirely obscured by fog, we went to check out the temple. Wisps of incense rose up into the white sky, where mountain peaks made ghostly appearances through the mist. The beautiful architecture of the 1920s Buddhist buildings splashed colour onto the bleakness, dragons carved into the stonework roaring silently. There was peacefulness in the fragrant air, despite the number of visitors.

Inside the Po Lin Monastery there is a vegetarian restaurant where you can eat like a Buddhist monk. The dishes are classic Chinese meals, however, in contrast to the meals we’d had in the city (see ‘Flavours of Hong Kong’ blog) Buddhist monks eat modestly, therefore they don’t use any kind of flavours like garlic, chilli or ginger, or spices that may be regarded as rich or frivolous. That said, the lunch was deliciously simple!

Buddhist Lunch at Po Lin Monastery Restaurant:
Vegetable spring rolls, Shiitake mushrooms, tofu roll pancakes with lemon & honey, glazed vegetables, and steamed white rice. There was also a fortune cookie each for good luck!

Content with lunch, Cecilia showed us the “Ngong Ping 360”, a 5.7km long cable car system, which is usually an ideal way to view Lantau Island and all its shore lines, mountain peaks and landmarks. We stood at the Ngong Ping Terminal, watching the gondolas launch off into the cloud, disappearing into nothingness – it wasn’t the day for it!

Tian Tan Buddha

Admitting defeat by the weather, we decided to just go up to the Big Buddha anyway. We climbed the 268 stone steps to the invisible Buddha, and entered beneath the giant Lotus plinth. Inside is a mausoleum, which was unexpected, and families have paid huge sums of money to join the waiting list to be brought here after they die. Cecilia told us the mausoleum was almost full, so the remaining spots were in high demand. There is also a museum of Buddhist artefacts, including the Buddhist Bone Relic, which brings worshippers from far and wide.

When we stepped back outside onto the platform beneath the Big Buddha, the fog had cleared, revealing moody views all around! Lantau Peak rose up, touching the clouds beside the Big Buddha.

*Po Lin Monastery down the 268 steps / Lantau Peak behind Buddhist statue*

We ran down to the platform below to finally catch a clear glimpse of the Tian Tan Buddha in all his glory.

Tai O Fishing Village

A 30 minute bus ride from the Po Lin Monastery brought us to the West coast of Lantau Island, to a traditional fishing village – Tai O. This is an island in itself, and once you get off the bus, you walk up to the inlet, which is full of tourist boats that, for a fee, will take you out to spot the native pink dolphins. Walking over the pedestrian bridge onto the island and into the narrow streets is like going back in time to some ancient village. Shops line these streets; seafood stores, fishing stores, whole food stores, local fast food stores, everything sea related. Dried Puffer fish and sharks hang from the windows, while mini aquariums display the catch of the day. Grills and deep fryers are constantly on the go outside shop fronts, ready for you to taste some fresh, local seafood.

We came to the edge of the village, where the streets meet the sea, and the old residencies stretch out over the water on wood & bamboo stilts. Nicknamed the Venice of Hong Kong, a pier maze of wooden walkways lead across the water, old houses, fisheries and restaurants clinging to the edges, all weathered by the sea. Instead of driveways or garages, the houses have their little boats suspended from winches outside, ready to be lowered into the water whenever they need to leave. Many of these buildings were in ruins due the adverse weather conditions of this extreme location. A year prior to our visit, Super Typhoon Hato (August 2017) had destroyed much of Tai O’s stilt village, and sadly, modern lifestyle meant that it was more cost efficient and practical to simply move away, rather than try to rebuild in such a temperamental place. Still, that which remains represents the traditional nature of Tai O fishing village, and maintains its weathered charm.

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May 19

Flavours of Hong Kong

It was December, 2018, and Hong Kong was chilly and damp. I saw the city as a futuristic London; the British colonisation influenced the double decker buses, and fusions of architecture, old and new, crammed together in narrow streets teaming with diverse culture, but the double decker trams, and wide highways cutting through the skyscrapers, more lights than Piccadilly Circus, made it like London 2.0. Of course, Hong Kong certainly has its own identity, with its idyllic location, surrounded by sea and mountains; it is stunning to look at from a distance. But when you’re in the heart of it all, dwarfed by buildings, traffic noise filling your head while you try to navigate the 7.4 million people around you, it’s the glowing lanterns of restaurants and food stands, and the rich smells of Chinese cooking that remind you where you are, warming your cockles in the cold December chaos.

Breakfast

We were hosted by a friend, Cecilia, who lived in a typical tiny flat in Kowloon City. The first meal of our visit was brunch, so Cecilia took us to a small cafe around the corner from her place to try Hong Kong style breakfast.

Congee – a Chinese porridge made with white rice. We tried it with and without beef, (I preferred it without) it was fairly bland and savoury, unlike Western oat porridge. We also tried Cheung Fun – Cantonese steamed rice noodle rolls, with seafood or pork, and on the side we had some egg rolls and stir fried noodles. It was a heavy breakfast for me, and Cecilia admitted that she would usually have fruit and toast, and save this kind of breakfast for special occasions!

Symphony of Lights

A short ferry ride across to Hong Kong Island brings you into the shopping district and tourism hub. We rode the double decker tram around the city, which was all lit up and filled with crowds. Christmas was in the air, and once again I was reminded of the dark, winter afternoons in London, Christmas shopping in Oxford Street. It was on Hong Kong Island that Cecilia introduced us to a sweet treat from a roadside food stand – Put Chai Ko.

Put Chai Ko is a traditional Cantonese desert, popular in Hong Kong. A starchy rice pudding with sweet red beans, it is sugary and creamy with the texture of soft Turkish Delight.

Every evening after sunset, Hong Kong Island puts on a musical light display, which you can view from across the water, at the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront. Thousands of people flock here every evening to see the Symphony of Lights, and it’s free to watch, so it’s a great way to end a big day of maxing out your credit card in the shopping district!

To top the evening off, Cecilia took us to a Taiwanese Craft Pub where we met a friend of her’s. Hong Kong’s multi-cultural history means that it’s taken the best bits from its influences over the years, and the pub scene is roaring. There are many craft beer pubs and tap rooms scattered all over Hong Kong, and there is such a diverse amount of different beers from different places, it’s hard to be disappointed. I was too busy ordering tasting paddles with every beer on the menu to take any photos!

Lunch

Cecilia wanted to show us an authentic food hall for lunch, where groups of people go for casual banquet style dining. This can be a business lunch, or just an outing with family or friends, where dishes are shared around the table, rather than ordering a meal per person.

We had some classic steamed shrimp Dim Sum, crispy, crumbly taro nests, and of course Cecilia had to get us a Millennium Egg to try! The egg isn’t really 1000 years old, but it can take weeks to months to complete the curing process. It came with plenty of pickled ginger, which helps disguise the strong flavour of the egg, which had turned to salty jelly. Millennium Eggs are safe to eat, and surprisingly, don’t taste too bad! We finished with something scrumptious – fluffy steamed custard buns.

*Millennium Egg / Shrimp Dim Sum / Taro Nests / Steamed Custard Buns*

Victoria Peak

If there is one thing I could say is a ‘must do’ in Hong Kong, it would be to climb Victoria Peak. There are so many national parks in Hong Kong to explore, that it can become overwhelming trying to figure out the best way to use a short amount of time. So, go simple! Victoria Peak is easily accessible, and is probably one of the most trodden paths in Hong Kong. At 552m, it’s Hong Kong Island’s highest hill, and the views at the top are a beautiful showcase of the contrasting landscapes.

As you climb the paved footpath of the ‘circular walk’ you get glimpses through the bushes unveiling views on either side. Victoria Harbour towers up from below and the mainland districts frame the mountains beyond, while country parks and oceans on the other side give you two totally different views.

Sunset is a popular and busy time to go up Victoria Peak, but as the sun sets the ocean on fire in one direction, the skies and mountains over the city are painted with ever changing pastels, reflected in the shining buildings, and as the colours fade the lights come on.

I was surprised to find a tower at the top of the peak, with a cafe inside, open ’til late, and a bus and tram station underneath! Public transport was welcoming, now the sun had set and taken all its warmth with it, but the queue was insane. Once we made our way back down to the city on a busy bus, (which took twice as long as walking) we’d built up quite the appetite.

Dinner

Cecilia took us to a Szechuan restaurant for dinner. Szechuan cuisine is popular due to its bold flavours, with liberal use of garlic and chilli, which is warming when you’re cold, tired and hungry. We had a slow roasted duck and rice claypot, with Chinese kale and fried noodle crackers on the side. During my time in Asia, claypots turned out to be some of my favourite dishes, old fashioned and wholesome with varying spices. The meal was served with real Chrysanthemum tea, which was beautiful and florally refreshing.

*Noodle Crackers / Duck Claypot / Chrysanthemum Tea*

Herbal tea is drunk regularly in Chinese culture, as an accompaniment with meals, for general health, or a pick-me-up when you’re feeling run down. Chinese tea shops are all around the city, usually a stand or window with various cauldrons filled with steaming herbal teas lined up on display. You can choose your tea according to your ailments, or simply by flavour, and they either serve it in a little plastic bowl for you to drink there, or in a takeaway cup. Cecilia took us to one of these windows, and we tasted a medicinal tea for general colds & hangovers.

Night Cap

An evening in Hong Kong wasn’t complete without a trip to the local supermarket to pick out a beer to take back to Cecilia’s. The supermarkets are similar to British supermarkets, in that you can purchase alcohol from them, and the range is quite extensive. I chose to try a TsingTao Stout, which is a classic dark beer with bold flavours, and the next night I got a Hong Kong Amber Ale, which was delightfully malty. It was the perfect end to the day, before falling asleep to the subtle city sounds in the streets below.

May 9

Volunteering with Elephants – Chiang Mai, Thailand

A scorching sun rolls skyward into the haze as we leave our hostel (and its resident mosquitoes) in the "Haiya" subdistrict of Chiang Mai city. It's 8:30 am, on an October Saturday in 2018. The 12 seater shuttle bus we board is clammy, and stuffed with tourists, our mutual excitement is thick in the air. We chug north bound for an hour, finally stopping at the edge of the jungle, in a village in San Pa Yang.

One by one, we step out of the mini van onto the dusty driveway, and there they are, beautiful, gentle giants. A few of the elephants come plodding quickly over to our van, swinging their trunks as they come - they know our arrival means feeding time!

Meet The Elephants

When I was there in October 2018, there were 6 elephants living at the park, all female, with a lot of history between them.

Bella – 20 years old

The park’s longest member, Bella had been living there for 4 years. She’d been rescued from a show where she’d play ball games like golf and football, and performed dances and tricks like sitting on chairs. This resulted in her left leg being damaged. A happy retirement was the safest option for Bella, over a complicated procedure that could cause more unnecessary trauma and be extremely costly. Bella could still walk on her leg, but the disfigurement caused her to limp, which put stress on her spine and shoulders. There are plenty of shaded areas built in the park, like this one, where Bella could rest at her will.

Bella had a calm and mothering nature, and was the adoptive mother of Lanna, one of the park’s baby elephants. Bella sadly passed away in June 2021.

Jao-nang – 31 years old

Born in 1987, Jao-nang is a beautiful elephant in the prime of her life. She was rescued from 20 years in the riding industry for tourism. At the time I was there in October 2018, she was 6 months pregnant, after entering a breeding program with one of E.R.P’s sister park’s bulls. Jao-nang had her baby in 2020, that’s right, elephant pregnancies last 18-22 months!

Jao-ying – 36 years old

Born in 1982, Jao-ying was the park’s oldest elephant, but she isn’t old at all, as an average Asian elephant’s life span is 60-80 years.
She worked for 20 years in the logging industry, before being sold for riding, and was rescued by E.R.P in 2016.

Lanna – 3 years old

A clear favourite among tourists, Lanna is sociable, curious, and a fast learner. She was born at the Elephant Retirement Park in 2015, and when she was 2, her mother was moved to a sister park in the south for further breeding. Her and Bella developed a mother-daughter like connection.

Ping & Tong – 2 years old

These cheeky twin sisters moved into E.R.P in 2018 from a nearby camp who did not have the means to support two calfs. They are bright and playful, and have been known to be quite naughty!

The Staff

The Elephant Retirement Park is not only home to elephants. It is also home to the mahouts and their families, who live onsite, close to the elephants at all times. These mahouts have a close bond and special understanding with the elephants – they do not ride them, or control them using sticks or chains; they oversee the safety of everyone. The staff onsite all help out with gathering food for the animals, cooking, cleaning and maintenance at the park, building new additions to the park, and also helping out in the local community.

And then of course there are the volunteers. Pictured are Meli, Simon and me.

Alex was our fantastic host, he managed the park and all the volunteering tasks for us. He looked after us well, and once the working part of the day was done, he loved taking us out for dinner, showing us the sights, and introducing us to his friends. He showed us how to party once or twice too!

First thing first – we needed to meet the elephants! Simon and I arrived with a half-day tour group, so we got to experience the tour and get a good introduction to the park and its residents. The elephants knew the schedule by heart, and yep, it was feeding time!

The food store was stocked chock-a-block with bananas, sugar cane, and banana leaves. Each of us was given a tote bag to fill, and a couple of people were given bottles of milk for the babies. As we emerged from the food store, the elephants were waiting, holding their trunks out! At first, they took anything we gave them, often trying a cheeky trunk dip in our bags, (we were instructed to keep the tote bags firmly under our arms, as they would try and take the whole thing) but it wasn’t long before they started rejecting sugar cane, throwing it on the floor and asking for bananas instead!

Once all the food was gone, we were taken further down into the park, towards the mud bath and pool, and that’s where the real fun began! Elephants like to roll in mud, or throw it over themselves with their trunks. Mud baths help cool them down, and protect them from common ticks. The mahouts started a mud fight, and we all ended up throwing clumps of wet mud at each other, laughing, slipping and sliding, so by the end of it everyone and everything was a monochrome of mud!

Time for a wash! The elephants had already wandered off to the pool, seemingly rolling their eyes at the silly humans, and we followed, splashing water with little plastic dishes we were given to wash the elephants.

*One of the Mahout huts next to the elephant pool*

Once everyone was washed, dried and fed, the mini-bus was ready to leave, and it was time to wave off the half-day tour group, and get settled in our dorm. The room was a cosy twin, right in the heart of the sanctuary, with a big ceiling fan, and geckos on the windows to eat the mosquitoes.

Aruni’s Flowers

Peace. Simon and I finally find a moment to sit down on the communal veranda and breathe in our surroundings with a Chang beer from the vending machine. Afternoon sunshine paints the trees with licks of gold. Through the gentle breeze, we hear a little "hello!" and a small girl appears from the mezzanine deck, an inquisitive grin on her face, and she repeats, "hello!" Quite confidently, she pulls up a chair beside me, produces a drawing book, and the three of us proceed to draw and colour flowers together! She's the daughter of a mahout, and is home from school for the weekend. She's learning English, and is able to tell us her name is Aruni, and she's four years old.

I had an unfortunate accident on my first evening, through no fault but my own, and I can only sing the praises of Alex and the others who helped. I managed to cut open my cheek, just under my eye, on some very large barbed wire – elephant sized, you might say. Alex quickly sourced some “Lemon Bush Grass” from his herb garden, he chewed it into a pulp and told me to press it on the cut for about 3 minutes. Amazingly it stopped the bleeding, and bought time for Aruni’s mum to find the first aid kit. She washed it with iodine and redressed it every day for a week, refusing to let me look at the damage! I still have a small scar, barely visible now, and a surprisingly fond memory to go with it!

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer

A typical day at the Elephant Retirement Park on the volunteer program looked something like this:

6:30am	Clean the elephants’ night enclosures
7:30am	Gather elephant food: typically cutting down banana trees in the park’s nearby plantations
8:30am	Breakfast
9:30am	Elephant care / Community volunteering
12:30pm	Lunch
1:30pm	Park maintenance and upkeep
2:30pm	Hottest part of the day – time to rest
6pm	Feed the elephants
6:30pm	Dinner – cooking with Alex or going to village for food with the locals

Early Morning Duties

Each morning we’d rise with the sun, waking with the soft trumpets of the nearby elephants, singing for their breakfast. Pulling on our baggy work clothes, we’d step outside into the rising sun, and into our one-size-fits-all wellington boots. It’s a refined look, one that I embraced, with my scarred cheek and borrowed wicker hat… There was a coffee station in the common area outside, and some mornings the mahouts and workers would gather there before the sky was lit, and we would sip quietly until work began.

It is essential for the night enclosures to be cleaned every morning. At 6:30am we’d go around with a giant basket, filling it with elephant dung (really heavy, like grassy, brown bowling balls!) We’d sweep all the old leaves and bits of food away, hose down the floors, and clean and refill the water trough – often with the help of Lanna!

Then the Utility Truck would start up, the mahouts would beckon “come, come,” and we’d all jump into the open trailer of the Ute. Rumbling along the narrow, uneven road, skirting the jungle, with wind buffering our ears, we made our way to one of the park’s nearby banana tree plantations to harvest food for the elephants.

On arrival, it was straight to work. The mahouts showed us that banana trees grow back super quickly, producing baby green shoots straight out of the stump, which makes them a perfect renewable food source for the elephants. We were told to leave any trees with bananas growing on them, and any young trees, watching for snakes and spiders all the while. The mahouts taught us how to use a machete to cut the tall trees down – a two-handed swing, angled into the lower part of the trunk. They made it look extremely easy, felling trees in a single swipe, while I seemed to be hacking away ungracefully for hours! But I got my trees, and we carried them back to the Ute, loading them in and climbing on top of our loot for the journey home for breakfast.

Community Volunteering

Everyday was different after breakfast. Somedays we’d help around the park, or go to another location to help out in the local farming scene. These are some of the tasks we took part in:

Unloading Deliveries

A large delivery of Sugar Cane arrived on the back of a ute, and we had to strip all the leaves, and bind it in bunches with bamboo ties to pack into the food store.

Elephant Healthcare

We learned how to make vitamin balls for the elephants, by crushing dried papaya and salt crystals in a pestle and mortar. We then squished the pulp together, placing deworming tablets and essential vitamins inside, and rolled them into balls, ready to feed the elephants.

I was tasked with treating a tick wound on Bella’s cheek. Ticks are a common problem for elephants, and can leave big wounds, vulnerable to infection. I took a giant cotton tip, dipped in iodine, and Bella and I had a little bonding session over our matching cheek wounds!

Elephants eat for up to 16 hours a day, but they have an inefficient digestive system, and are prone to digestive issues, so it’s essential their diet is balanced and full of fibre. We used an old shredding machine to make a fibrous mulch, with sugar cane, papaya, banana, salt water, and medicinal herbs. Bella was our taste tester; she took a mouthful with her trunk, and then threw the next trunkful on the floor and flapped her ears! I’m still unsure whether that meant she hated it or loved it!

Deep Cleaning

The enclosure area had a concrete floor, which had become covered in moss over time, making it dangerously slippery for the elephants. We spent two mornings scrubbing it clean with caustic soda, with Alex’s help, and were rewarded with pancakes from the village later!

Working in Rice Fields

One morning after breakfast, we piled into the trailer and Alex drove us to the nearby village “Ban Iek”. The jungle thinned out, and we crossed a bridge lined with Thai flags, until we saw dozens of people all working in the rice fields, on a green back drop of mountains.

We were each given a bunch of long bamboo ties, and shown how to gather the pre-cut rice bundles and tie them efficiently, though I’m not sure we were very efficient or helpful to the cause! Everyone was friendly and good humoured, keen to help teach us, and laughing at us every time we got a boot stuck in the thick, wet mud! They taught us to stomp down on the rice stalks and use them as a foundation to stop ourselves sinking.

Another day, Alex brought us to another beautiful location, an independent rice farm, where we helped a couple cut the rice from their fields, using traditional long scythes. It was very hot work, but between the 5 of us, we got the job done.

Harvesting Corn

Landscaping the Park

The Elephant Retirement Park is a constant work in progress, and one of the things they were raising money for was extending the food store. We helped in levelling the ground by hand, preparing it for laying foundations. We also planted herbs and shrubs, for decoration & to expand their renewable resources onsite.

Elephant Walkies

The elephants know, just like dogs when it's time for walkies. They lift up their trunks and frolic up the driveway to the front gates. The first part of the walk follows the dusty road, so we surround the elephants & make ourselves visible to any traffic. We are reminded that you mustn't stand behind an elephant as they don't have good peripheral vision, and if you startle them you'll suffer a hefty kick or a whip from their wiry tail.

The road leads into the jungle. The woodland is immediately thick and humid - the elephants know the way, and help themselves to the vegetation. There are farmers who live on the outskirts of the jungle, their crops backing onto the footpath where the elephants walk. The mahouts have their work cut out, trying to distract the elephants from the fields of corn, but they are intelligent creatures, and of course, they never forget. The mahouts break off an ear of corn to try and entice the elephants away from the crops, but the distraction doesn't last for long, and there's a five minute pandemonium with a group of naughty, stubborn elephants. Despite the fact it's a public path, Alex tells us it's a worry for them, and is a growing difficulty all over Thailand, since humans are occupying more and more space, encroaching on the elephants' wild habitat. The farmers here have already complained, and if there are more complaints they run the risk of turning it into private land, taking away a lot of freedom for the elephants here.

The jungle path grows wilder and less inhabited, with banana trees dotted around that the elephants love to munch. The path winds upwards and comes out on the high banks of an enormous river, with cascades the colour of chocolate tumbling down from the jungle beyond. Usually the elephants will swim in the river, but heavy rain has made it full and roaring, and so the elephants stay clear of it, seeking out bananas instead.

Continuing, the path loops, re-entering the sanctuary through the back. We see some impressive bugs - dung beetles, butterflies, and a giant spider strung up in the tall grasses. I spend a lot of the walk dodging the cheeky twins, Ping & Tong, who keep trying to make me into an elephant sandwich! We come to a stream, which Bella decides she wants to drink from, and when an elephant decides something, you can't argue with her! She slurps water through her trunk like a giant bendy straw, framed by ancient trees and bamboo.

Time to Relax

After a big day of learning and working hard, it was a luxury to have a hot shower, kick back on the veranda under the heat of the mid-afternoon sun, and crack open a can of Chang beer from the vending machine.

The Temple in the Mountains

One particularly warm afternoon, Simon, Meli and I had just sat down, when Alex said, “Let’s go, I want to take you to the temple!” We quickly made sure we were dressed respectfully, (covering our knees and shoulders) and we piled into the trailer, beers in hand. It was about a 40 minute drive, climbing narrow mountain roads, winding through old villages, beneath the deafening hum of cicadas. Panoramic views and waterfalls passed by on each hairpin bend, until we reached the mountain-top village. A pack of stray dogs chased us through the enormous entrance archway into the precinct, and as we passed, a local monk in an orange robe shouted, “where are you from?” Meli, Simon and I all responded with our respective countries, and then Alex shouted “Thailand!” from the driver’s window, making the monk laugh.

*Wat Phra Phutthabat Si Roi* – *Ubosot (Ordination Hall)*

“Wat Phra Phutthabat Si Roi” is dedicated to the four sacred footprints of Buddha, and is said to be a perfect example of a Thai temple. We visited the ‘Ubosot’ or Ordination Hall, (place of mass worship and ritual ceremonies.) The architecture is incredible, with multiple tiers, smothered in jewels, and guarded by enormous, shimmering basilisks at every corner. It was very quiet, just the cicadas in the distance; the forest swaying gently, and a rainbow streaked the sky behind as we pulled up, adding to the atmosphere.

Inside was just as impressive, everywhere you looked, a thousand more intricate details. There were golden carvings on each of the windows of Buddhist figures, and Alex had brought us here to show us one in particular…

Nalagiri the Elephant

Nalagiri was a fierce elephant, deliberately angered & used as a weapon by jealous people. He was sent to kill the Buddha but when the elephant charged, he was stopped in his tracks by the Buddha’s belief in kindness and ability to suffuse all beings. Nalagiri the elephant lowered his trunk and fell at the Buddha’s feet, released of his anger. Alex told us of a later chapter he described as “Buddhist Lent”, when the Buddha spent three months in the jungle. Nalagiri remembered him, and stayed by his side during the Buddha’s exile. After three months the Buddha returned to his temple, and Nalagiri died of a broken heart.

Alex was filled with emotion; the importance of protecting elephants ran so deep and that resonated with us. He showed us how to ring the gong, and said a prayer before we went on our way.

Evenings of Leisure

Aside from making sure the elephants had enough food at dusk, the evenings were all about socialising, eating, drinking and having fun! Some nights Alex would take us to the market to buy ingredients for dinner, and then we’d all cook together back at the park kitchen.

We learned how to cook traditional home dishes: fried black fish, garlic & onion salad, tomato, chilli & fish sauce soup, and rice noodles, using a pestle & mortar and a wok. We toasted our dinner with a tot of Hong Thong Whiskey! Also pictured is a classic Pad Kra Pao (Thai Basil Beef) which we had for lunch.

Other nights we had Pad Thai with the locals in the village, or street food banana pancakes. We were introduced to Alex’s friends and spent an evening drinking Leo & Chang beers in a local bar, with dried fish and chicken feet snacks! We even went to a party with an exquisite buffet, dancing ladies, many drinks, and a strange raffle where everyone won cuddly plush elephants!

Party Food

Fruit carving is an ancient Thai tradition, which was once performed exclusively for Royalty, nowadays they can be carved for any special occasion. Other treats are fried banana, Pad Thai, and coconut, sugar & rice starch sweets, served on banana leaves.

Tour Guide for a Day

At the end of our E.R.P experience, myself, Meli and Simon led the half-day tour! We spent the morning touching up on our elephant knowledge, ready for the tour bus to arrive at 8:30 am. We did an introduction, talking about the park and its efforts in protecting elephants, held a little Q&A session, and then took the guests to meet and feed the elephants. We got the group chopping sugar cane with machetes, (demonstrated by one of the real tour guides) fed it to the elephants, then took the guests down to meet Bella who was chilling under the shade. There were a lot more questions about Bella, her injury, and her mothering instincts towards Lanna, which I really enjoyed as I felt I’d bonded well with Bella. It felt terrifying and awesome all at once; we were supervised the whole time, and the staff jumped in whenever we needed help. Then we all went to the mud bath and pool for a play with the elephants.

Leaving was hard. We’d been like a family for a short time, and after going round the park to feed each elephant a pumpkin as a parting gift, Alex blessed us and our families with good luck in Thai. We rode the stuffy mini van back to Chiang Mai old city, feeling a little bit sad, like I’d acquired a lifetime of new knowledge and fond memories, but it was all over in the blink of an eye. Someday, I will visit the elephants again.

www.elephantretirementpark.com

In Loving Memory of Bella

May 3

Great Barrier Reef – Lady Musgrave Island

A real desert island, complete with a tropical lagoon and reef oasis, sits around 95km off the coast of Bundaberg in Queensland. Lady Musgrave Island. Part of the Bunker Group, this is the southernmost section of the famous Great Barrier Reef and plays host to a magical menagerie of sea life.

Ok, David Attenborough voice aside, this was my favourite Great Barrier Reef experience so far. Taylor and I booked the ‘Lady Musgrave Experience’ Day Tour for late February, and I was not disappointed! Between January and March is turtle hatching season, and many mother turtles are still laying their eggs through February. The tour did get cancelled on the day I’d booked it for due to dangerous offshore wind conditions (went to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery instead – never a bad thing!) The tour was easily rescheduled for the following day, at no extra cost, and went ahead as planned.

6:45am: Checked in at Bundaberg Port Marina
7:00am: Boarded the “Reef Empress” ready for departure

The morning was warm, full of promise, with the first blue sky we’d seen in days. All passengers were assigned to a group as we boarded the boat; Turtles, Clownfish and Dolphins – we were Dolphins. This was simply for the rotation of activities once we reached the island. The crossing was a rough 2 hours, the majority of passengers needed paper bags, clutching their heads and holding on for dear life. We took our ginger tablets and sat watching the crew running around cleaning patches on the floor and disposing of used paper bags. They were incredible, remaining upbeat and cheerful the whole time.

2 hours later, we pulled into a big semi-circular reef lagoon, with the gold and green island in the centre. Firstly, I need to talk about the colour of the sea. You couldn’t even paint it. It was blue, yes, a light, bright blue with stripes of turquoise and green wherever the reef lay below, but it was iridescent, backlit if you will, shining like fluorescent light!

Anyway, we stepped off the boat onto the enormous three-storey pontoon, (with an underwater viewing room below deck, and glamping style beds on the top deck for the overnight experience) and the first thing I saw as I gazed out across the reef was a turtle! It was just floating on the surface about 20 metres away, its shell all clean and beautiful.

The Glass-Bottomed Boat

After a brief snorkeling run-through, the 3 groups broke off. The Dolphin group were on the glass-bottomed boat first. Our guide was Tyson, and he floated us over the different types of coral: staghorn, brain, boulder, plated, finger…. As he was explaining that the white tips on the coral is actually regrowth, not bleaching, a Brown Booby Bird swooped low next to the boat, majestically stealing our attention.

Next, Tyson steered us over a ‘turtle cleaning station’, a part of the reef where little fish nibble all the algae off the turtles’ shells. We could see the silhouettes of 4 turtles being cleaned far beneath the surface, and as we drifted over, one swam right up to the glass, giving us all a clear glimpse of its beautiful pristine shell, before popping its head up right beside the boat! Tyson said that was the closest he’d ever seen a wild green turtle and was pretty stoked himself!

*Green Turtle under the Glass Bottomed Boat*

Lady Musgrave Island

We pulled up on Lady Musgrave Island, where another guide, Jordan, met us for a walk around Capricornia Cays National Park. The sand is white, broken coral, with flecks of pink, and is so sharp you are advised to wear footwear at all times. One of the deadliest creatures of the ocean can be found on this beach – Cone Snails, which might look like a pretty, pink shell to collect, but the creature has a tiny barb that it fires through an opening in its shell, which has the ability to kill a person in half an hour. It wouldn’t be Australia if something wasn’t trying to kill you…

Behind the beach is a dense canopy of green Pisonian Grandis trees, and then you notice the birds. I’m not sure if the noise or the smell hits you first, but when you notice the sheer amount of little black sea birds nesting in the trees, you really get a sense of the wildness of this island. They have no predators here, and they’re everywhere, diving, swooping, pooping, screaming, and they appear to wear little white hats, hence their name: White Capped Noddy Terns. They inhabit the Pisonian forest, and are part of an intense circle of life, see, the island is basically a pile of coral; the birds nest in the trees, and their poop helps fertilise the trees. The trees also produce these sticky, sappy traps, which capture some of the Terns in a slow and sticky death, essentially using the birds as plant food. Gnarly.

*A White Capped Noddy Tern Chick in its nest*

But aside from the stench, the forest was beautiful to walk through. I also spotted a couple of Buff Banded Rail birds scratching about on the ground, and some tiny Capricorn Silver Eyes darting about the branches. We came out on the other side of the island, onto the beach, where sun bleached logs litter the coral sand.

*A Bridled Tern rests on a log; a White Capped Noddy Tern flies overhead*

Then came a turtle, just a dark shape in the shallow water, moving closer to the beach. Then came another, and another! They didn’t leave the water, but one came so close to the shore that Jordan identified that it wasn’t big enough to be of nesting age (30), so she must have just been curious! We strolled back around the island along the beach, and hopped back on the glass-bottomed boat, back to the Pontoon for lunch.

Bridled Terns, Greater Crested Terns, Sooty Oyster Catchers, Pied Oyster Catchers & Seagulls
Turtle Swimming up to the Beach

Snorkelling on the Reef

Finally it was our turn to snorkel, the part I’d been looking forward to all day. After a quick lunch of salads and cold meats, we quickly got our gear on and jumped in the reef lagoon. The first thing you see are little groups of little black and white fish, swimming for a close up of your funny goggles. As you get closer to the coral shelf, schools of tiny blue fish shimmer like a glittery curtain as they dart back and forth in unison.

*Whitley’s Sergeant Fish around purple coral*

Parrot Fish have beaks that enable them to feed on the coral.

They come in a huge array of colours, you can see the orange one’s teeth-like beak.

The coral is beautiful here, splashes of colours somehow pop under the water. I was so engrossed in watching interesting fish appearing from the reef that the turtles caught me off guard! Taylor caught my eye, signalling to me under the water, and pointing ahead; there it was, appearing out of the murkiness, coming towards us, so majestic, as though flying beneath the waves. This Green Turtle was about the size of a grown man’s torso. Her tail was barely visible, showing she was female, and she swam right underneath us. I turned and followed her for a short while, before she dived into the depths of the reef.

The second turtle was skimming along a shallow shelf of reef at my eye level, flapping her flippers, and surfacing a few metres away. I popped my head up too and saw her floating on the surface!

After an hour of solid snorkelling, we sat on the edge of the pontoon sipping on a Gin Mule, dangling our feet in the ocean. On the boat ride back, we saw an Olive Sea Snake wriggle by in the waves, and several dolphins.

Facts of the Day:

The Great Barrier Reef is roughly the same size as Japan.
You can’t visit the adjacent Fairfax Islands because they were used for target practice by the Australian Military in the 1940s, and there is likely to be live ammunition still scattered on the islands.
Without the birds, there would be no trees on Lady Musgrave Island, and without the trees there would be no birds. Without either of these, the island would be a bank of dead coral, and may have been washed or eroded away.
Corals are actually living invertebrates related to jellyfish and anemones.
Coral relies on its resident algae to survive. Photosynthesis in the algae creates food for the coral.
Some corals actually catch small fish and plankton to feed on.
The tiny white tips you see on the coral reef is not bleaching; it is in fact regrowth.
The colour you see on coral is actually produced by the algae as a form of sun protection. The deeper the coral, the less colour it will have, as it will have less sun exposure.
Coral Bleaching is caused by rising temperatures and pollution that kills the coral’s algae. When the algae is gone, the coral dies.