Singapore to Melbourne

Sunday, October 2

Our final travel day, and given our checkout time and flight departure time today was always going to be a quiet day! After checking out at midday, we sat around in the lobby for 2 hours reading and relaxing, before getting a cab to Changi Airport. The Malaysian Grand Prix was starting at 3 pm so we found a sports bar with it on, and sat and watched it while enjoying a beer. It was a great result too as Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo won the GP, so we were glad we were able to see it live.

Changi is a huge airport so there were lots of shops to look out and do some last minute shopping - we also clocked up a lot of steps walking around, while also keeping an eye out for somewhere to eat! We had a light meal then headed to our gate, ready for our departure at 9:15pm. Everything went well and we departed on time. Unfortunately our plane wasn't an A380, but a Boeing 777, and we found the seats quite a bit smaller than we enjoyed on the A380 in the upper deck.

The flight is normally 7 hours but we picked up some time and landed in Melbourne at 7am local time on Monday October 3, which was 4am Singapore time to our bodies - and we only got a couple of hours sleep on the plane! It was also freezing in Melbourne as it was going through a cold snap that was forecast to last until the middle of the week! Our amazing 16 week trip has come to an end, but we could have happily kept on travelling. However it's always good to get home, but I think it will take us a little while to settle in - especially while planning for next year's trip!

Singapore - Day 2

Saturday, October 1

As we've been to Singapore many times before we have taken the opportunity to have a breather after our long trip and just relax while we're here! Having said that there are always new shopping malls to check out, especially in the Marina Bay Area where we are staying this time! The other reasons for not getting out and walking around like we have done in Europe is that it's very humid here, and also the city is more spread out than the old towns in Europe.

Today was also the Grand Final match of the Aussie Rules season, and we were barracking for the underdogs who hadn't won the premiership flag for 62 years! So we watched the match on TV, and the  Bulldogs completed the fairytale and won, so we were happy for them (especially given neither of our two sides even got into the Grand Final)!

After the match we went for a walk, taking in the Singapore Flyer (the big wheel), the Esplanade Theatre on the Bay, and the Merlion which is the symbol of Singapore. We also checked out a couple of the nearby shopping complexes before having dinner. They love lighting up their buildings here and the view from our room at night is pretty stunning.

Singapore is a very modern city, and we like visiting here on our way home from Europe, but it doesn't have the charm of many of the European cities we have visited over the years or on this trip. You can really see the contrast between "old" Europe and modern Asia, and both have their pros and cons, but we prefer to soak up the ambience in Europe.