A party numbering 15 Ordinary Seaman Trainees, the Training Officer as well as several of the Ship's Company invited along to fill the bus (what happened to Chippy?)

Despite Singapore's "wet" we set off in high spirits early in the afternoon for what proved to be a very enjoyable and interesting, if long, trip.

Our Sikh driver spoke two words the whole afternoon, so it was left up to the individual to identify each place as we went as best we could.]

Leaving HMS TERROR behind, we traveled up through "Woodlands", home of the Royal Malayan Navy and followed the road along to Johore Straits to the famous Causeway which links the Island of Singapore to the Malayan mainland state of Johore.

Across the Straits in the town of Johore Barhru could be seen the Palace of the sultan of Johore with its high central tower and known locally as the "Istama Hijau" or "Green Palace".

The area is quite "famous" because of the fierce fighting which took place during World War II, for possession of the causeway.

The Japanese used the tower of the Palace as a Command Observation Post for the assault on the Island of singapore.

These campaigns were brought home vividly to everyone in the party a few miles further along the road, when we made our first stop at the Kranji Commonwealth War Cemetery.

This cemetery lies on the side of a hill overlooking the Straits and the Causeway and is a very imposing sight, with row upon row of white marble headstones.

It is set in lawn amongst vivid tropical flowering bushes rising up to a central monument on the crest of the hill, which takes the form of a row of marble walls upon which are engraved the names of 25,000 dead buried here and in the immediate area and above this a spire and cross.

I think all in the party were very impressed by this beautiful and obviously well kept cemetery in which so many Australians are buried.

From Kranji we made our way down the Western side of the Island through the large town of Bukit Penang and up to the heights of Bukit Timah, which translated means "mountain of tin" and whose Reservoir supplies the City of Singapore and the Botanical Gardens where we made our second stop.

These gardens are not as large as those at home but are very attractive with their tropical plants and palms, lakes and ponds and the novelty of a colony of monkeys who caused a battery of cameras to appear and the usual comparisons.

The Gardens behind us, the bus proceeded around the out-skirts of the City to the British Army Barracks sitting astride Kent Ridge from which quite a good view of Keppel Harbour and its Islands can be seen, then on down to the coast road through the town of Island View and to the Tiger Balm Gardens.

These Gardens are a tourist "must see" in Singapore and quite an eye opener when seen for the first time. Built on the side of a hill by a wealthy Chinese manufacturer of the "cure-all" Tiger Balm, the gardens are a collection of large and colourful statues depicting Chinese Mythology down through the ages and were well worth the visit.

From the Gardens we traveled along the coast road and through the City of Singapore itself, where at a stop sigh, some of the younger members of the party could not resist the temptation and stepped ashore.

With the City behind us, we moved North, again along the coast road, which is quite pleasant; before turning inland through Payah Lehar and on to Changi, outside of which can be seen the grim wartime prison, then back along the main road through Nessoon and Sembawang to the Dockyard just on dusk and the end of a long but very interesting trip.