Adelaide, Australia

February 9th - February 22nd 2012

We arrived in Adelaide in the early hours of the morning and after a quick glance of the map started walking from the bus terminal to North Adelaide where our apartment for the week was. It was a long walk with our heavy rucksacks but as we went we watched the sunrise over the city and park.

We eventually found the apartment and caught up on lost sleep. Once up we walked to the supermarket for supplies and then in the evening were picked up by Reva, mum's friend that moved to Adelaide a few years ago. We had dinner in Reva's beautiful home and discussed our trip so far and the adventures that we had been on.

The next day we went to Adelaide Zoo as mum really wanted to go. We walked to it as it wasn't far from our apartment. We saw loads of wonderful animals, the pandas being a particular highlight. It was nice to see a Zoo that had high standards unlike some of the places we'd seen in Asia like the Beijing Zoo for example where people don't seem to have much respect for animal welfare and instead treat the animals like objects of entertainment.

Panda in Adelaide Zoo

February 11th we walked into the city centre and mum and Jo spent quite some time in the gift shops looking for souvenirs to take home. Craig and I knew that we had plenty of time to see the sights and museums of Adelaide because after mum and Jo would be flying home we still had quite a few days here before returning back to Melbourne so we were happy to spend the day chilled out wandering around taking in the sights. We went to see the big fountain and Rundle Mall which has some lovely street sculptures.

The following day we went for a walk along the river before stopping at a lovely little cafe for drinks and cakes. In the afternoon Reva's husband Mark picked us up and we went to theirs for a traditional Australian barbecue. The food was great and we got to catch up with Reva's children who I grew up with. When we got back to the apartment we had a text from Reva offering us a place to stay when mum and Jo flew home which was so kind of them as it would save us a lot of money and provide us with a nice place to stay rather than having to go to a hostel.

February 13th we walked into the city and hired a car. Craig was designated driver and we drove up to Mount Lofty. After lunch in the restaurant with amazing views we took some photographs. It was a scorching hot day and from the summit of Mount Lofty you can see the whole of Adelaide.

Mum and Me at Mount Lofty

The next day we woke up early and drove the hour and a half to Victor Harbour. We parked up and walked along the pier which joins Victor Harbour to Granite Island. We had lunch on Granite Island and then went for a walk, it was another hot day but the walk didn't take too long as the island is so small. We drove to another little town and went in a couple of the shops and sat on the beachfront people watching.

Bridge connecting Granite Island to Victor Harbour

February 15th we drove to Hahndorf which is an old German settlement in the Adelaide Hills. The town is full of quaint little shops. We stopped off for a cream tea at a lovely cafe before browsing through the shops. Mum and Jo managed to pick up loads of great things to take home with them. In the evening we dropped off our big rucksacks at Reva's as we would be going there the next day to stay with them for a few days.

Hot chocolates in Hahndorf

The following day was one that I had been dreading, saying goodbye to mum and Jo as they would be flying home. The last 16 days went so unbelievably quickly. We packed up and drove mum and Jo to the airport and waved them off at the terminal. There were tears as it was still months before I'd be seeing mum again and we weren't sure exactly when that was going to be. Before leaving Jo gave us the parking ticket money and mum left us her currency card which still had a couple of hundred dollars on it. I'm so lucky to have a mum like mine and lucky to have mums friend Jo as well. We returned the car to Thrifty in the nick of time after a mad dash. After a Chinese for lunch we bought bus tickets and made our way to Reva's where we had dinner and settled in.

February 17th was our first day without mum and Jo in Adelaide. We went to the Art Gallery of South Australia which had contemporary art temporarily placed amongst the traditional art as part of an arts festival. We went to the library and had a look around before going on the internet to catch up on events at home. We then went to the Museum and learned all about Aboriginal people and saw a variety of exhibitions. We walked down to Central Market which has stalls for everything that you'd ever want to eat, fruit and veg, cheeses, wines. For dinner we ate cheaply, I had a veggie curry while Craig went for all you can eat Chinese.



Art Gallery of South Australia

The next day we decided to spend at the seaside so we got the bus into the city and hopped on to a tram which takes you all the way to Glenelg. We walked to the end of the pier and watched the people fishing and the kids jumping in to the water. We walked around town and bought some $3 strawberries which we took to the seafront and ate while people watching. After a long walk in the sun and some chips for dinner we got the tram back to Adelaide.

On February 19th we decided to go to the Immigration Museum. Entry was by donation so we put in a couple of dollars and walked around learning all about the British colonisation and the Aboriginal people that it affected. Some stories were absolutely heartbreaking and I couldn't help but feel so awful for those affected, especially the stories of Aboriginal children taken from home so that they wouldn't grow up with those traditions. After the museum we wandered down Rundle Street to the Garden of Unearthly Delights which is like a circus/carnival.

Garden of Unearthly Delights

The following day was almost like a typical Saturday at home because we decided to go to the cinema and watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. We had amazing enchiladas for dinner and chilled out at Reva's.

For our last full day in Adelaide we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens as it's just about the only thing in Adelaide that we hadn't done and it was free. We took a picnic and sat on the grass in the perfect sunshine. The gardens were beautiful and kept us entertained for the rest of the day. The following day we chilled out and then got dropped off at the coach station for our overnight journey back to Melbourne.

Botanical Gardens

Great Ocean Road, Australia

February 6th - February 8th 2012

We woke up early and headed out to meet the minibus for our tour of The Twelve Apostles. Our first stop was Bells Beach where we had billy tea, Lamington cakes and crackers with vegemite and watched some wild kangaroos in the distant fields. A very Australian start to the day.

First Stack

After morning tea we saw one of the amazing 'stacks' which is what the Twelve Apostles are made up of and we went to a lighthouse which featured in an Australian TV show. After taking in the beautiful ocean views and the white lighthouse we drove on to the Great Ocean Road gateway. We stopped at the memorial to the people that built the road after the war and then stopped at a place where we saw wild koalas and fed the brightly coloured birds.



Feeding the Birds

We stopped for lunch and then drove through the countryside before getting out to go on a walk through the forest which was really interesting but very cold. After the forest walk we came to another stack and walked down the steep steps to the beach to get some closer photographs. In the van we sucked on eucalyptus sweets to keep from falling asleep because although the guide was great and very informative he had a monotone voice which was sending me and Jo to sleep.

A few minutes drive down the road and we saw the actual Twelve Apostles which consist of several (but not twelve) rock stacks which have been carved away over time by the crashing waves. They were a beautiful sight to behold and we managed to get some nice photographs of them although all the viewpoints were pretty crowded. The next stop was to a cave and some interesting rock formations carved over many years by the sea.

Two of The Apostles

The final stop of the day was to London Bridge, an impressive section of land that has been eroded over years to form a kind of bridge which used to be attached but collapsed fairly recently. Apparently you used to be able to easily walk over the bridge and people were stranded on the other side when it eventually did collapse but luckily they were saved.

After London Bridge we stopped for dinner and chatted to other people on the tour before the very long drive back to Docklands and our lovely apartment.

The Four of Us and London Bridge

The following day we had a relaxed stroll around Melbourne after our very busy tour and ate ice cream. Tomorrow we would be leaving Melbourne to go to Adelaide, mum and Jo were flying but us backpackers were taking the overnight Greyhound coach to save money, something I was very much dreading.

February 8th was our last morning in the luxurious Docklands apartment which we had had such a wonderful time in. We packed up and checked out and after a lovely breakfast at a local cafe saw mum and Jo off as their flight was soon whereas we had to wait all day for our coach. Craig and I caught the tram to Flinders Station and then walked to the library where we spent an hour on the internet catching up with events from home. After Nando's for dinner we walked back to the apartment to collect our rucksacks before walking to the bus station to catch our coach to Adelaide.