Adelaide’s Beautiful Zoo and Botanic Garden

Downtown Adelaide is surrounded by 19,000 acres of parkland. Among the 29 named parks, several museums, and a sports arena (The Adelaide Oval) are the Adelaide Zoo and Adelaide Botanic Garden. We visited both during our stay in December 2025.

We chose to visit the zoo on the hottest, sunniest day of our visit. Had we thought about it, we would have chosen a different day. At least three-quarters of the animals had retreated to their shelters to seek relief from the sun and heat, so we didn’t get to see many of them. But some were out, including one of their two pandas.

Here are photos of some of the animals we did see, followed by photos from Adelaide’s beautiful, expansive botanic garden.

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We LOVED Perth! Let us show you why…

After spending several days in Singapore, we flew five hours south to Perth, the capital of Western Australia. We spent six nights and five days there, and loved it!

Perth seemed friendly, vibrant, and safe. It has a clean, efficient public transit network of trains and buses. Its downtown has many visually interesting buildings and its suburbs (which we mainly saw from trains) look attractive. The Swan River, which is wide enough to be a lake or bay where it runs through the center of town, is beautiful. It all combines to make Perth a liveable, welcoming place.

The fact that we visited in their early summer, with temperatures in the high 70s and no rain, made our stay especially enjoyable. It was windy, though.

Downtown Perth, as seen from Elizabeth Quay (pronounced “key”), a focal point for boating and entertainment on the waterfront.

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Rottnest Island: Interesting, Unique, and Beautiful

One day during our wonderful visit to Perth, we booked an excursion to Rottnest Island (Wadjemup), 18 km off the coast. It’s an 11 km-long, largely unspoiled island of pristine beaches, aquamarine bays, bike tracks, and walking trails. There are no cars, only a few tour buses and hundreds of bikes and e-bikes.

It’s also home to the quokka, a small, adorable marsupial that’s indigenous to Rottnest Island and a remote area of Western Australia. When Dutch sailors arrived in the 17th century, they thought the animals were large rats, which is how Rottnest (rat’s nest) Island got its modern name.

While people are instructed not to feed, touch, or disturb the quokkas, capturing a photo with one is a goal of many visitors to the island. They are not afraid of humans.

Rottnest Island has an interesting history, which we’ll touch upon in this post.

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Photos and Stories from Singapore

At the conclusion of our Southeast Asia cruise in November 2025, we stayed four extra days in Singapore to discover what that city had to offer.

Perhaps the most iconic image of Singapore is the gigantic Marina Bay Sands hotel, which opened in 2010.

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An Ocean of Orchids at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

Our Southeast Asia cruise in November 2025 ended in Singapore. We stayed several extra days to explore the city. 

Most days were overcast and humid, with varying probabilities of precipitation. The sunniest day was our first full day in the city, so we took that opportunity to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens. 

Most of the garden could better be described as a nice city park. It was a beautiful oasis of nature amid an otherwise crowded, overbuilt city. But it lacked the variety of interesting plants from around the world that we have found in most botanic gardens we’ve visited. 

That changed when we entered the National Orchid Garden. We were amazed by the wide variety of orchid species on display. We took dozens of photos. Selecting about 20 was a challenging task.

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Photos and Stories from Koh Samui, Thailand

The last stop on our Southeast Asia cruise was the island of Koh Samui. 

Although there were some fancy resorts on the island, many parts of the island were simpler and gave us a glimpse of life in Thailand outside of the big city.

Our first stop was Bo Phut Beach. Since it was late morning and the weather was overcast, there was nobody on the beach and very few people on the pedestrian-only street aside from other cruise ship tourists. Most of the bars and restaurants weren’t open yet.

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The Magnificent, Mesmerizing Beauty of the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand

During our Southeast Asia cruise in November 2025, our ship docked at Laem Chabang, Thailand – a port that’s two hours from Bangkok and 45 minutes from Pattaya. We visited Bangkok on the first day and Pattaya on the second.

Pattaya is a beach resort city. We drove along the busy beachfront road but didn’t stop. It’s a typical tourist beach, with endless blocks of 7-Elevens, restaurants, bars, hotels, souvenir shops, massage parlors, and the like. The beach itself was nice enough, and it was lined with lounge chairs for rent. 

What made our visit to Pattaya remarkable was our stop at the Sanctuary of Truth. We were amazed and inspired by the beautiful building and the thousands of wood-carved figures. It was a truly magnificent (even over-the-top) display of artistry and craftsmanship.

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Photos and Stories from Bangkok, Thailand

The centerpiece of our twelve-night Atlantis Southeast Asia cruise was a two-day stay in Bangkok, Thailand. 

The ship docked at the port of Laem Chabang, which is a two-hour drive from Bangkok. This was a common theme for this cruise; all of the cities we visited in Vietnam were two hours inland. This made for a long day. Thankfully, we had a wonderful tour guide named Opal who kept us entertained and informed.

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