Derekthered's Corsica blog

When we are in Corsica at this time of year I am always on the look-out for wild orchids.

I thought we would be too early this year as we landed in Corsica on 25th March and left on 30th. But how wrong I was - orchids like the one on the left were everywhere. This one was snapped on a brief coastal walk behind a beach in the Balagne - in the vicinity of Arinella and Giorgio beaches. We saw at least two other early species.

We saw a lot more today. I am presently in Singapore - a city that uses covered escalators to get you across the road and whose restaurants boast sliced fish porridge on their menus. A city where there are no longer any tigers but where Tiger Beer can cost about £7 for a small glass.

We are on our way to Australia to see our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren and we decided to stop here for two days. Entry to the Singapore Botanic Gardens is free - and entry to the orchid garden contained within it is just one Singapore dollar for seniors like me. It's worth going to Singapore just to go there.

I'm suffering from orchid overload. There are thousands of different varieties here, ranging from exquisite to blowsy, from the gentlest pink to fiery orange. My least favourite was a thin purplish one bizarrely named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.