Gardens by the Bay. What a discovery! We were spell bound. Situated behind Marina Bay Sands Hotel (the one that looks like a boat on top of three tall towers) and the Marina Bay shopping centre, on even more reclaimed land.
We can vaguely remember building work here four years ago, but did not expect to see such a magnificant development. Singapore moves fast.
After leaving the shopping centre and hotel we crossed over the expressway on a high, treelined walkway, which was very pretty. Then we saw the view over the gardens which was spectacular to say the least.
My eye caught sight of the domes in the photograph below. Are they in competition with the Eden Project in Cornwall? A deja vu moment. In actual fact I think these domes must be used by the gardeners for propagating the plants for the gardens. These domes were not mentioned in the brochure.
The Supertree Grove. An assortment of metal structures, with plants growing up the sides.
In the photograph below the gardens are spread out behind me, with the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest Dome in the background.
The gardens have been divided up into areas that focus on different ethnic groups, plant relationships, ecosystems, children's play areas and a sun pavilion. It was a very extensive area and sadly we did not have time to walk around the gardens fully.
Our aim was to visit the domes, which cost $26 each, to visit the two domes. And here we saw many similarities with the Eden Project, especially regards raising awareness of the fragility of our world.
The first dome, The Flower Dome. Very cool inside, with a dry atmosphere, to represent the Mediterranean and subtropical regions of the world.
The Australian Xanthorrhoea or grass tree, with the trunk blackened by fire. Quite a magnificant speciman.
Australian bottle trees, part of the Baobob collection.
There was one of the best collections of cacti I have seen, nearly as good as the collection in Kew Gardens.
Thank goodness Walter did not fall backwards on any of them.
There were plenty of sculptures made of wood.
The sculpture of a family travelling, was donated by Changi Airport.
I loved the plant monkeys. So cute.
The second dome, the Cloud Forest, was also very cool and represented the tropical mountain regions of Asia.
The 35 metre high waterfall.
A relaxed Walter standing on the platform which jutted out from the side of the waterfall, about half way up. The very nervous photographer had trouble taking this photograph.
The cloud walk, high up in the dome. We took a lift to the top, and then walked back down the walkway, with a couple of escalators to help along the way. No effort required on this walk.
The view down.
The pitcher plants growing in the pond at the top of the Cloud Forest.
We then hurried to The Supertrees in order to take the lift up to walkway, before it rained. The clouds were gathering fast. Luckily it was not a thunderstorm.
A relaxed Walter,
And a very nervous Nola. This walkway swayed a little, similar to a swing bridge.
The view from the Supertrees walkway.
It was a marvellous experience, and I would love to go back and explore the rest of the gardens, slowly.
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