OK, have too much to say and no time. But Australia is not hot, it is not all sun and bright skies. Adelaide is cold and dreary but the city lights and sights are wicked and Kangaroo Island was fantastic!! I’m not an animal kinda girl but I was in absolute awe and have realised where the words awesome and dude come from. We have our hats our A$10 fleaces, gloves and wet soggy uggs boots – which are NOT cool here, aussies wear uggs as slippers so we do get some looks sent our way. Food is amazing, kangaroo fillets yet to be tried. Hostels are like student halls with common areas and kitchens – wasnt expecting that! Hip and I share a single bunk bed everynight – to share body heat and cure our late night homesickness which we fear might sneak in – plus we love each other.
Below is what we have been doing – written by hip1 as I have been busy doing our first load of washing which was absolute skankness. P.S Booked KIsland through STA and Groovy Grape – absolutely wicked amazing tour but the number we had to call to confirm didnt work so we popped into STA in Adelaide to get them to ring them, no problemo but we were annoyed.
Well, here we are in Oz! been here nearly a week now and already so much to tell!
Flight over to Singapore first, slept practically the entire way!! was brilliant, so didnt feel too bad at the airport, in fact we felt so good we found our way to Harry’s bar (an outside cactus garden under the stars at the airport!), and helped ourselves to a couple of Singapore slings, and relaxed in a couple of foot massaging chairs, this then helped us to sleep again on the flight to Adelaide! Perfect start to the holiday!
So, we landed! first things first, we got stopped coming through customs, there we are all ready to hit Australia and a security team pulled us to the side to search our hand luggage. They asked if we had brought any food in to the country with us, of course we answered no, we had a couple of packets of sweets but that was it. they kept asking and because we had filled in a ‘nothing to declare’ form on the flight, they considered us to be ‘dangerous’. I emptied my bag, only to find a sodding little apple at the bottom which i’d had since heathrow the day before. OH MY GOD!!! this was a serious offence, they really grilled me, on the verge of a $200 dollar fine, but luckily the lady saw me nearly cry my eyes out and believed that i’d completely forgotten, so let me off with a serious warning (i have the form for proof!) but oh my god, what a start to the trip – George was of course wetting herself at this!!
So anyway, we got a taxi in to town to drop us at our first hostel – lovely place!!! right in the middle of town, settled in (was about 7am so not a soul in sight), tried to keep going so we wandered in to town Rundle Mall and street, lots of shops, where hardly much was open, but we helped ourselves to a good cooked breakfast! Also cam across University of Adelaide and tried to wander in to a lecture but didnt find a way! Started to feel a bit groggy so came back to hostel for a nap around 12 – NAP ended up being about 6 hours!! we obviously needed it! So we later went out for a couple of drinks in a bar, then searching down a well-known street for something to eat, found a traditional aussie meat place and had a good well-deserved large warm hearty meal and a glass of champagne to celebrate!!! On the way back we fell in to a karaoke bar (you pay a couple of dollars and get given your own room with karaoke machine, sofas etc and order drinks!) of course we loved this and sung out to our hearts content!! then gradually made our way back to hostel and to bed!
Next day we got up fairly early, tea and toast in hostel (its free before 9am so you have to get in!) Wandered around Victoria Square and the Central Market with Chinatown etc. Then after lunch we went back for another nap which turned out to be another 6 hours again! Missed a whole day! In the evening decided to get the tram to Glenelg (a beach resort near the city), was absolutely freezing, pitch black seafront and raining like anything! Quickly had a dinner and got tram back as soon as we could!!! Stumbled across a pancake kitchen house which stays open all night, and went in for a few stacks (George’s 8th meal of the day)
Next day we woke again to bitter coldness, and got a bus to this small German town in the Adelaide Hills called Hahndorf. supposed to be so pretty and lovely in summer, all this nice small boutique type shops and cafes, but no, we’re in winter so itwas freezing, horrible and empty! Not to worry though, had lunch in an inn with traditional German brockwurst sausages and beer!! Back to Adelaide and nice italian meal in evening. Still to bed not too late as we’re still getting used to time difference. Also we went to Pancake place again later after dinner (George’s choice again!)
Saturday we woke at 5.30am to be ready for pick up at 6. Mini-bus picked us and loads of others up for the Kangaroo Island 2 day tour. Drove all the way down to Cape Jervis through the Fleurieu Peninsula and McClaren Wine Valley, got ferry over to Kangaroo Island, where dolphins were swimming with our boat! Still cold, but no rain and bright sunny skies! Firstly drove to this place called Prospect Hill which we climbed and had some amazing amazing views all down over the island, then drove to this Eucalyptus Distillery, where they show us how to make eucalyptus oil etc, and there was this baby kangaroo lying in a basket for us all to stroke. We got hundreds of pictures, she was called Millie, so so cute, she kissed and licked us lots too!! Then after a quick stop for lunch we went down to Seal Bay, where we got to walk down on to the beach and right past these giant sealions all sleeping in bunches together on the beach and greenery hills, was so so cool. If we were in summer we would have been able to swim with then but its just too cold right now! Then we went to these sand dunes called Little Sahare, and learnt to Sandboard, I was quite good at it, George just went backwards on her dangly legs. Finally we arrived at the cottage we were calling ‘home’ for the night. was a tiny little brick hut, just about fit a load of bunk beds in and that was it! dropped our stuff then went for a nocturnal walk down to Vivonne Bay nearby to spot some baby penguins in the dark, was wicked. Back to cottage to start a big campfire and a bbq around it – proper Aussie style (and our first!) drunk lots of wine, toasted marshmallows and went to our freezing beds, dressed in as many layers as we could find!
Next day we were woken at 6 again to a really amazing sunrise over the sea and coastline, quickly had breakfast and packed up cottage, then drove to a koala sanctuary, spotted lots of koalas in eucalyptus trees, was so surreal. Then a big big (and i mean massive) hike in Flinders Chase National Park, up and down and all through a burnt tree forest, sandy mountains and wooden bridges to come across this spectacular view of the sea. was absolutely tiring and we nearl died, but so worth it! Then had a quick trip to the Remarkable Rocks, climbed over them and took lots of pics, then to Admirals Arch, again, another breathtaking cliffside rock formation, but with fur seals all over it! Stopped at a lunch point for another bbq for lunch, then started to made our way back to ferry port. Had a quick half hour free wine tasting in a shop nearby and then on to a very very rocky ferry back to Adelaide! Slept nearly the whole drive back, we all did, was such a tiring couple of days but one hundred times worth it!1 Would definitely do it again! but plenty more to come! Got dropped back at our new hostel, much bigger, lots of people here we know (from the trip), going out for drinks with them tonight actually. Dorms are ok, bit strange, but we sleep next to each other every night and get cosy!!
Monday we just lazed about, did some washing and walked around by the river and Adelaide Festival Centre, up to the Oval and watched the sunset after.
So now you’re all up to date with our lives, hope its not too boring, just dont want to leave any of you lot out and want you to know everything!!
Tomorrow we are going on a wine tasting tour around the Barossa Valley – home to Jacobs Creek, apparently you getting absolutely hammered so we’ll see! Then Wednesday we get let loose with our campervan and start our trek along the Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne.
Just to let you all know however, Australia is not always hot!! We are v.cold at the mo, buying jumpers, woolly hats, scarfs and gloves! Not wishing away the time, but looking forward to getting up the east coast to a bit of warmth! Until then, we’ll put up with it cos we’re in AUSTRALIA!!!!!
Also we’re not your average travellers! George asked some of the guys on the tour ‘are there any nice restaurants around the Adelaide Festival Centre?’ much to the shock of all the others, their response was ‘backpackers don’t eat in restaurants, but we can tell you where to buy cheap food!’ haha, we never asked again! Yes ok, we are splashing out but dam it we’ve worked hard for this all year so deserve to!! nice restaurant for lunch and dinner, why not?!!
