Singapore: Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay is a 54-hectare urban oasis that has been under construction for the past seven years, and officially opened on June 29th, just two weeks before we were there. It’s hard to describe exactly what the complex is – in some ways it is a very impressive botanic garden, but then in the middle of it are eighteen steel Supertrees that range from 25 metres to 50 metres high, covered in foliage such as bromeliads. A 22-metre-high aerial walkway links several of the Supertrees. There are also two imposing glass conservatories, but unlike botanic gardens in Australia, which would normally have ‘hothouse’ conservatories, these ones are cold climate conservatories.
Development of these Gardens is part of a plan to establish Singapore as a destination in its own right, rather than a stopover on the way to or from some place else. I’d certainly visit Singapore just to see these Gardens.
The signage on the Supertree aerial walkway made me laugh. They have everything covered. I hadn’t thought to fly a kite, but now that you mention it…
There’s even an Australian garden.