Today we travelled via bus (90 minutes each way), and a 10-minute bumboat ride from the Changi Point Ferry Terminal to Pulau Ubin. A bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore or, in our case passengers. Each boat is limited to 12 people and the fare is $4.00 each way.
The National Parks Department report that the island sees an estimated 300,000 visitors annually. Hopefully this fact will aid in protecting it from future plans for development. The Pulau Ubin Recreation Area, which included Chek Jawa, was created to cater to local tourism. The flow on effect for the local environment is immeasurable. The reintroduction to Singapore of the Oriental Pied Hornbill is a direct result of nesting boxes made available on Islands such as Ubin, following the loss of suitable nesting trees due to development.
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| Oriental Pied Hornbill making itself comfortable on a patio in Changi Village |
Shaped like a boomerang, Pulau Ubin is situated just off the north-eastern corner of mainland Singapore. Once a cluster of five smaller islets separated by tidal rivers, it has since been united by the building of bunds for prawn farming to become a single 1,020-hectare island. Since the British founding of Singapore, the island has been known for its granite. In the past, the numerous granite quarries on the island supplied the local construction industry and the granite mining supported a few thousand settlers. The granite outcrops are particularly spectacular from the sea because their grooves and fluted sides create furrows and ridges on each granite rock slab.
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| View from the birdwatching tower |
Much of the original vegetation was cleared for the cultivation of rubber and crops like coffee, pineapple, coconut and jasmine. Today, abandoned granite quarries remain as picturesque relics of Ubin's history, while forests and grasslands have regenerated to cover up the ravages of the past. A boardwalk runs through the mangroves, allowing visitors to observe the plant and marine life at close range. The boardwalk then continues just offshore to encircle part of the island to enjoy the view of the forest meeting the sea.
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| Part of the coastal boardwalk |
The remains of the wooden house villages, and wooden jetties, provide a window to the past when the Island once supported its many settlers. Now just 38 permanent residents remain on an island rich with preserved wildlife, abandoned quarries and plantations. This portal to the past makes it the last witness of the old Kampung Singapore that existed before modern industrial times and large-scale urban development.
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| One of the many bike shops that cater for day trippers |
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| House number 1 |
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| One of the old homesteads |
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| The Sultan - Caracinia gigantea |
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| Torch Ginger |
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| Green Crested Lizard lunching on a Carpenter Bee |
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| Common Flameback |
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| Barn Swallow |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Malay Viscount |
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| Asian Glossy Starling |
