of late, i have been taking walks at the soon-to-be-opened dairy farm nature reserve because of the interestings finds i have made, like the betel plant, the birdwing butterfly and the physalis minima (chinese lantern plant).
i always make it a point to walk to where the dilapidated building (in the above picture) stands. during the durian season, i have even gone to the back of the house to check out the durian tree but i did not realise, until this morning, the existence of these water tanks (top picture) just behind the buildings.
these buildings will be refurbished to serve as the rangers station and volunteers' lounge. looks like it will take a bit longer than the scheduled date - which is the end of 2008 - for the office to be ready for occupation. not much work has been carried out here. the main part of it - the classrooms and the visitors' centre - is nearing completion.
another discovery that i made this morning is that there is a well-used track, just next to the water tanks, that links the dairy farm area to the bukit timah nature reserve. now i know why i sometime hear voices, coming from within the forested area, when i am near the old warehouse.
in the 1830s, this area was a gambier (a tropical vine used for tanning and dyeing) plantation. that explained the need for a lot of water and the water tanks. over at the old warehouse, there are two big wells have been preserved.
up to the late 70s, there was still a dairy farm in this area. i remember visiting it with some of my primary school's pupils.
the heritage of this area will be showcased at the visitors' centre.
