Adelaide, South Australia

We arrived at Adelaide airport (Monday 28/07/2014) and once we picked up our bags we headed to jump on the bus into the CBD. The bus driver advised us where to get off near to our accommodation (now when I direct someone it would possibly get them to their intended location likewise if I didn't know I'd state that I didn't know) ..... we got a little lost and after wandering about we conceded and asked a random for directions - we eventually found our hostel 'Backpackers in Oz'. We've not stayed in a backpackers place for nearly 10 years so we were both intrigued as to what it would be like and if we'd end up checking into a hotel after the first hour or so of being there. 

We were greeted by a guy called 'Sam' on reception who spoke at about 100mph - he was very helpful. For a laugh we attempted to talk back that fast but failed miserably. He gave us directions to our room and entered our shared dorm and we got ......... bunk beds! :) whoop whoop - we're definitely staying! :) 

There wasn't anyone else yet in our dorm - but would it stay like this? We dropped our stuff in our room (it was quite nice considering - I think we were expecting the worst) locked our things away and went back to the reception and lounge area to find out a little more about Adelaide from the locals there.

We booked onto the Barossa Valley winery tour for the following day as really this is what we came to Adelaide for and headed out to discover what was on offer. The 'Lonely Planet' guides and locals' knowledge has proven invaluable in the few places we've visited so far so we had a decent idea of where to head out to. After checking out the CBD, nipping into the supermarket and with the shops all closing early we popped back to get ourselves ready for the evenings adventure. As Adelaide isn't really a massive place we found it quite easy to move around and the 'things to see' are in close proximity to each other.

Walking through the CBD at night is quite pretty - what seemed like a busy place during the day was now an extremely quiet place in comparison - where had everyone gone? Is there something happening somewhere that we're unaware of that's drawn a crowd? It just seemed a little too quiet for a CBD - that's just Adelaide for you apparently! We wandered about taking in the buildings and surroundings (which were all beautifully lit up). 

We stumbled upon Chinatown where we found one of the busiest places called 'Dumpling King' (great Chinese name) where they served freshly made 'Shanghai Cuisine' and so we ordered some random dishes (the menu wasn't in English) but it all worked out fine - we may have eaten something considered exotic but we were non the wiser and it all tasted good.

After dinner we jumped on the free city bus but as it was now night time and other than the inner CBD, we found that Adelaide isn't a very lit up place so we didn't really see very much ......... but following our map of the route we knew when we passed the Zoo, Government buildings, Botanical Garden, Adelaide Oval etc so we kind of did a City tour just a really rubbish one! - was good to let our food settle at least before a short walk back to our hostel for an early night as we had a busy day on tomorrow.

If you're still wondering ........ yes we had roommates - we shared the 4 bed dorm with a German guy called 'Jurgen' (who was surprisingly friendly given the stereotype) and a Chinese guy called ??.... Dumpling King ;) ??? hmmmm I can't remember (sorry Chinese guy if you're reading this) but we thought you were cool also.

The next day (Tuesday 29/07/2014) we were up early to head out on our Barossa Valley winery tour. We were picked up from right outside where we were staying. Our guide was called 'John' and he was top - a really pleasant bloke - we knew we were in for a good day right from the off. John was a fountain of knowledge on Adelaide and the surrounding areas - he answered loads of different questions from our group of 18 people and kept us well informed and entertained throughout the day. On our trip we went through the Adelaide Hills, Williamstown and a few other smaller places and we saw Kangaroos on the way - our first whilst on our visit in Oz.

Our first stop was at the Barossa Dam 'Whispering Wall' - an amazing feat of engineering where you could stand on one side, talk against the wall and the person on the other side of the dam could hear you clearly. The curvature of the wall (it's design) meant sound travels large distances so you didn't have to shout to pass your message across to the other side of the dam - pretty cool.

Next we passed through Lyndoch, enroute John informed us that many of the wineries here grow rose bushes adjacent to their vineyards as they are used as a good indicator against bugs, pests and other diseases that threaten the vines and these would attack the roses first so the vineyard keepers are able to keep their vines free from disease etc and generate a good yield.

The wineries employ 'growers' - small Independent farmers to have vines on their lands to supply the main wineries, however the main wineries decide when the fruit is to be harvested and it can be calculated to the exact day for harvest depending on the climate it has experienced. The Barossa Valley is a famous place for wine and it's climate is very similar to that of the Mediterranean so the vines are able to produce a good quality fruit which is turned into some of the worlds finest Shiraz. The Barossa Valley is generally known for its quality of Shiraz and the different areas across Australia would specialise in growing a different type of grape depending on the climate in that specific area. In short the vines are climate specific. We also visited areas where some of the vines were 125+ years old and although they don't produce a vast quantity of fruit, the quality is very high and this is why the producers are able to demand such a high price for a bottle of red. The older vines are harvested by hand so that it's not damaged (the rest done by machinery) and during the autumn these are cultivated by hand which is a very time consuming task yet it ensures a relatively healthy vine for the following year, again the rest would be done via machinery. During the winter other plants would be set beside the vine as to keep the soil in the correct condition for the next growing season and later destroyed so that the vines take the nutrient from the soil and not have any competition for this ........... that was boring wasn't it ;) We just learned quite a lot whilst on this trip and thought to share a snippet :)

The first winery we stopped off at was the Chateau Yaldarra within the Yaldarra Estate the home of 'McGuigan Wines' International winemaker of the year 2009, 2011, 2012 & IWC White winemaker of the year 2012 & 2013 (not a bad start to the trip) - here we had our first tasting session. 

After this first stop the group became a little more relaxed after the wine to the point where Carol was now going to drive us around the rest of the tour!...

Our next stop was 'Peter Lehmann Wines' where we had our wine tasting coordinated by a lady whose tasters were very generous. 

After several decent wine samples we had a 'Weighbridge platter' for lunch consisting of different cheeses, meats, olives, breads and dips to accompany our wine whilst sitting next to a nice log burner. It was here we discovered and enjoyed a glass of 'Black Queen' a fizzy red Shiraz with our lunch - something we've never encountered previously ....... fizzy red??? ......... but amazing - if you can find this from where you're reading from then give it a try. The locals would tend to have this on a weekend with breakfast and throughout Xmas / family time.

We passed the famous 'Jacobs Creek' (for those of you who are familiar with wine you may have heard of this brand and if you haven't then it's one of Australia's biggest wine exporters globally) anyway, the creek itself does exist but don't get excited - the 'Creek' isn't as big as you'd probably imagine - without exaggerating we drove across it in 2 seconds - if you blink you'll miss it kind of situation - disappointing given our expectation.

Our next stop was Langmeil Barossa winery where Antoni was chatting to the guy loads asking him all sorts of wine related questions - I think he's really enjoyed today and quite possibly learnt a lot about the different methods and wines available. The 5 wines we tried here probably added to his confusion ;)

Heading towards our final vineyard we stopped off at a viewpoint where we could see over the valley but as the weather was closing in, this wasn't as spectacular as maybe it could have been - great effort by 'John' to take us there as it wasn't supposed to be a stop on our tour and it was much appreciated.

So our final stop was at Murray Valley Vineyard which was a family run winery, they greeted our 18 strong very merry group and got straight to business - a great selection of wines on offer and an excellent (British) guide to talk us through them. In all honesty we tried to keep a level head throughout the day but you have to remember that when you're plied with wine for approximately 5 hours something is going to give somewhere so really this last place seemed more of a laugh then the previous yet the host played on this and made the experience memorable - thank you!

So we got back in the bus (Carol didn't drive!) and we had our 3 hour journey back towards Adelaide - I think everyone except our guide 'John' had a great power nap and we were back before we knew it.

Upon our return to Adelaide we quickly nipped to the supermarket and wandered around the shops where Carol bought a new pair of shoes and Antoni saw the new Manchester United shirt. We grabbed a Subway to help soak up all the wine we'd had. Incidentally the Australians still have 'Woolworths' but it's not as we know ......... 'Woollies' is a supermarket - not a pic 'n' mix in sight :(

Later that evening the hostel were putting on a free BBQ for its guests so we headed to that and were pleasantly surprised. We got talking to the chef who was from the UK and had moved over to Adelaide over 10 years ago. We got involved and joined in the hostels 'killer pool' competition - we both did OK considering we were all wined out - it probably helped! - but unsurprisingly we didn't win. 

Luckily whilst this was happening we located the much needed washing machine room - it was empty so got in a much needed cycle and dry whilst being entertained around the pool and bar area - the joys of having a limited number of clothes whilst travelling!

We eventually headed back up to our dorm to pack up our stuff as we had to be out early to go and pick up our Apollo camper van in the morning to take us along The Great Ocean Road towards Melbourne - this is one of those things we've always wanted to do and see and we struggled to sleep due to the excitement!

To be continued ...........

Perth, Western Australia

So after much needed sleep on a tiny plane operated by Jetstar we finally arrived in Perth, Western Australia at around 11:00AM (Thursday 23/07/2014). We both expected to be stopped and questioned (given we're entering the country on a 12 month stay) at Customs / Passport Control so we got our stories straight before disembarking the aircraft (especially after our extensive research viewing programmes such as 'Nothing to Declare' and 'Border Control') we thought we'd be in for a round of question time but we just picked up our bags and walked straight through ........... strange considering how formal things normally seem. In a fate of uncertainty we thought it'd be best to speak to someone about our visa application but we were told by a very helpful Aussie bloke (who worked in the airport) that we are not in the UK now and he told us to get out of the airport and enjoy ourselves before they catch us :) So leaving the airport we jumped in a taxi to head to Bassendean to Suzanne and Padraic's house. The Aussie taxi driver made us feel welcome showing us the sights enroute accompanied with a comical commentary - he initially said he couldn't take us to Bassendean because they had just opened a new KFC there and that he was on a diet! He left a good first impression of the Aussies either way.

Suzanne had left the key hidden for us which we found on arriving at the house so we let ourselves in while they were out at work. We had a quick nap, which was much needed after having an overnight flight, got changed then headed out into Perth CBD. We walked down the road, found the train station and made our way into the CBD. We weren't there long and it started raining ............ just like being back in Manchester! We were definitely feeling the cold now after it was roasting hot in both Dubai and Singapore previously. We headed down to find somewhere for lunch and ended up at a place called 'Outback Jacks' where we had a nice Aussie style lunch. To our disappointment (especially Antoni's) they didn't have any Kangaroo, Buffalo or Alligator in stock although they did appear on the menu!

We both had a cup of tea to warm up (remember we'd just been in temperatures of 35 - 51 degrees previously in Dubai and Singapore and it was now 12 degrees) we were pretty cold and thankful for our waterproof and warm NorthFace jackets! After lunch it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. We wandered around the city not really knowing where to go but we were just absorbing the Perth city life. We went through Stirling Gardens and past the Court House and fell upon the Swan River, Esplanade and Barrack Street jetty. 

There were lots of 'Love Locks' on the tall bell tower building (the oldest bell tower in Australia) overlooking the Swan River. People had put their own random padlocks and bike locks on there too so it kind of looked a bit of a mish-mash padlock parade! (I think they have something similar in Paris). 

We went for a walk by the Swan River and went past lots of runners, cyclists and people exercising in the parks - the people round here like to keep themselves fit. 

Shops were shutting at 17:00PM which is normal for Perth and we spoke to a man in a random backpackers place we passed for information on Perth - he gave us loads of maps and tourist brochures - we think we overdosed a bit on these but we were happy to be here! We found a bar called 'Shack' which seemed pretty chilled and cool which had a beach scene stretching across three walls, a corrugated sheet steel ceiling and beach style furniture (very cool place - you should check it out one day). We sat enjoying fruit cider and chatted with the bar man about life in Oz. 

For some weird reason we both fancied pizza and ended up in a place called 'Carnegies'. Only when ordering were we informed that as it was a Thursday they had deal on pizza with beer or cider ........... result! We eventually headed back to the train station and jumped on the train back to Bassendean to Suzanne and Padraics'. They were back from work by the time we got home and we were chatting until well after 01:00AM so another late night ...... and they both had work early the next day (sorry!). We also tried some of the Aussie famous lemon lime bitters squash drink - not bad. They had the heating on but we both layered up to go to bed - we were both feeling really cold still - not acclimatised just yet - you'd of thought we'd of been fine having lived in Manchester!

The next day (Friday 24/07/2014) we got up with Suzanne and Padraic as they headed to work as we'd planned a trip to Rottnest Island on Suzanne's recommendation. We headed out on the train from Bassendean into the CBD again which was pretty busy with the early morning commuters. We picked up some breakfast on the way and sandwiches for lunch later to take with us and a token blueberry muffin. We walked down from the train to the Esplanade which we knew from walking the day before. This was where we picked up tickets for the Rottnest express boat and a days bike hire. We got the first boat to Freemantle where we sat in wet seats given the rain but got a good view. We also had a tour guide informing us about the area pointing out sights like Australia's most expensive house etc. Just as we were pulling out of the harbour we saw a small pod of wild dolphins in the Swan River - amazing to see! 

Once we arrived in Freemantle we jumped onto a larger boat which took us onto Rottnest Island. As soon as we arrived we picked up our hired bikes and off we went. Neither of us had been on bikes in years unless you count the ones in the gym! so it felt weird at first but didn't take long to get back in the swing of it and it wasn't long before I was taking photo selfies (standard!) of us both whilst cycling along! We had no actual plan of where we were heading but just saw a track and headed off in that direction on our (in great need of repair) bicycles. Antoni's bike definitely wasn't big enough for him! 

We went past a few awesome beaches and the barracks where we took some random photos. We took a route along some old train tracks and found some lovely views across the island and the sea. 

After cycling up and down hills for a few hours we headed back towards the main beach to enjoy our lunch when a seagull nearly stole our sandwiches! Naughty seagull-thankfully we were quick enough to save them! There were also some huge Pelicans on the beach - they don't like you much when you try to stroke them or try to get pictures with them! ;) 

It had turned into a really sunny day given the rain we experienced that morning and we were pretty hot with the cycling so changed into shorts and put sun cream on - this was definitely a bad omen for later because not long after the gorgeous sunshine we'd had for the whole day it suddenly went overcast! After lunch we headed the other way to the other side of the island where we saw Quokkas (a cross between a kangaroo and a rat) which are only known to inhabit Rottnest Island. 

We went to a few different beaches, spotted a lighthouse and took lots of pictures. 

Unfortunately the weather had turned - we definitely shouldn't have put the shorts and sun cream on! After a further 3 hours cycling up and down hills we headed back to the main port as it was nearly time for our ferry home.

Although it was raining quite heavy we were now back on our boat heading back from the island to the mainland and there was the most amazing, full, complete rainbow - the best we've ever encountered - the colours really intense.

After getting off the boat we nipped into the 'Lucky Shag Bar' for a quick refreshment overlooking the Swan River.

We walked up through the CBD, had a look in a few shops but as they all close at 17:00 we went to get the train back to Bassendean. On returning back to the house we just chilled out, Suzanne and Carol chatted for a bit whilst Antoni went for a power nap - all that fresh sea air (not to mention the cycling) took it out of us.

For the evening Suzanne and Padraic had made plans for us to go for an Italian at a place for dinner called 'Ciao Italian' with their friend Sheldon (if you're visiting Perth it's a must). We had both our standard favourite of lasagna (which was the size of a house brick!) and the others' food looked and tasted really nice. We all shared the classic Tiramisu for dessert - so full! 

After dinner we went to see the view of Perth CBD by night from Sir James Mitchell park in South Perth over the Swan River - amazing CBD viewpoint!

The following day (Friday 25/07/2014) we both had a well needed lie in and spent some time chilling out a little. We'd not stopped on our travels so far! We spent time backing up our photos using Suzanne and Padraic's computer. It was good looking through all our photos so far - we've done so much already and we're having a great time. We also received an email from Marek (Antoni's younger brother) with a link to his professional wedding photos so we both enjoyed looking through them and reminiscing about Marek and Taryns' fabulous wedding day we attended just before we left. We also finished writing the Dubai blog and posted it along with some pictures - it was a difficult to choose a select few pictures as we've so many good ones but can't post them all.

Antoni and I then decided to jump on the train into the nearby town of Freemantle, or 'Freo' as people seem to call it, to have a 'walk about' (Aussie lingo creeping in there). We headed to the Freemantle Market to look at all the random stuff there - we discovered that Freemantle is a quite a quirky / hippy kind of place. The heavens had opened once again, this time it was pretty heavy so we found a place called 'Dolce Vita' selling waffles ........ you know what's coming next ....... we shared waffles and ice cream and ................. had a cup of tea ;)

We sat and watched the rain for a while (remembering the Manchester weather) and wrote some of the notes for this blog. We headed to 'Coles' (which is the equivalent of a Tesco back at home) to check out the Aussie food. We found a section called Manchester which is apparently bedding and towels etc. What's that about? Antoni thinks has something to do with Manchester historically previously being a place of textiles. We basically found pretty much everything we have at home! We bought a couple of bits then headed to find a bar and ended up in a place called the National Hotel bar on the high street (it looked pretty busy in comparison to the rest and had live music) where we sat on the outside balcony (only seats available) with the patio heaters keeping warm watching the rain. Suzanne and Padraic met us there a little later once they were back from work and we had a beer and cider or two. They'd had a power cut at the house while we were out so they had to get ready by candlelight! - they thought it was due to someone crashing into a nearby telegraph pole due to the poor weather and Aussies not knowing how to drive when the road gets wet!

After a couple of drinks there we decided to go for some dinner and afterwards Padraic took us in the car around the city for a bit of a night tour and we went to River Vale, the Sticks and Kings Park where we got out and saw the view of Perth CBD from above. We then went down by the Esplanade before returning home, unfortunately there was no power still so we went to bed by candlelight .......... romantic ;)

The next morning (Saturday 26/07/2014) the power was still out - it made us all realise how much we rely on power and technology these days. We were using our battery pack to charge our phones. Luckily we still had hot water so was able to have warm showers! 

As Padraic was helping a friend move house, we went out for the day with Suzanne, we went for a drive around Guildford first and ended up in Morley - the rain was relentless so we visited a shopping centre and had breakfast / brunch at a place called 'Dome'.

Suzanne took us through to the Swan Valley to start a wine tasting tour - great shout by Suzanne! Our first stop was 'Houghton' vineyard in the Swan Valley where Suzanne and Padraic's friend Sheldon (the guy we went to dinner with) normally works. The vineyards here were huge and we got to sample some wine and look at the artwork. 'Oakover wines' vineyard was our next visit where we had more wine and as many samples as we wanted. We then continued on to 'Jarrah Ridge' winery where we tasted more wine, olives and cheeses which tasted great combined with the wine. Here we saw some amazing brightly coloured parrots just chilling in the vines. 

We then stopped at a honey place and tried lots of honey followed by 'Mondo Nougat - World of Nougat'. Next stop was 'Providore' where we tried some amazing mango and passion fruit jams then right next door was the 'Margaret River Chocolate Co.' Factory where we got lots of free samples of chocolate Mmmmmmmmm. Our last stop was 'Sandalford Wines' where we made it just in time for our final wine tasting. 

If you remember from our Singapore blog (previously) the boys found some terrible jackets they very kindly modelled ......... well, here we actually saw someone wearing one of them! Perfect non discreet photo opportunity! ;) Antoni also nearly convinced a chauffeur into letting him drive his stretch limousine just outside here - I think the driver thought Antoni was joking until he got in and then I think the chauffeur panicked a little ;) 

Upon our return home the power was back so we chilled out and Suzanne cooked us an amazing Shepherds pie. After dinner we headed out to the Casino and had a look around. It was such a popular place to go for a Saturday night out - the place was packed! We all just took in the atmosphere and watched people lose - we were tempted to have a flutter but decided to spend our money at the bar :) We walked around this amazing complex enjoying a few beverages before meeting with Sheldon ............... it ended up being quite a late night. 

The following day (Sunday 27/07/2014) Suzanne was in work but Padriac had planned to take us out for the day. He popped out to pick up some stuff to cook breakfast but the shops don't open until later on a Sunday so he picked up some breakfast sandwiches from the bakery instead - what a guy - legend - thank you! 

After breakfast Padraic drove to Cottoslow Beach. On the way we went past Ascot race course, the Crown Casino we went to last night and the Italian from the night before (Ciao Italia) Gloucester park and the WACA Cricket ground. Once we arrived at Cottoslow Beach it was really sunny but as we walked along the breakwater it started raining a little - as soon as Carol went back to the car to grab her waterproof the sun came out again! (N.B. when you next see Carol if she's wearing shorts etc - bring your coat and umbrella but if she's wrapped up from head to toe - you can bring your shorts).

As the sun decided to come out again we decided as we were by the beach it would be wrong to not get an ice cream so we indulged - it'd be rude not to right!?! We headed back to the beach a little further up and watched the surfers and kite surfers. We went past Lake Claremont and through into Kings Park and Botanic gardens to have a look about the synergy parkland and go over the Boodja Gnaring tree top city walk. We saw some amazing views of Perth and it's skyline from here especially with the appearance again of some gorgeous sunshine.

We then stopped on Kings street and saw there was a penthouse apartment for sale overlooking the Swan River ONLY $3million dollars - bargain - we did contemplate it for a minute but we wanted one each and there was only the one for sale so we didn't pursue this any further ;)

Just down from there was the boat house - apparently one of the most photographed places in Perth. This blue boat house is one of Perth / Western Australia's icons sitting at the foot of Kings Park on the Swan River. 

Heading home we went through Mount Lawley - there are some beautiful properties here. Once back and whilst we were researching the next leg of our trip Padraic cooked us up a steak dinner on the BBQ - a proper Aussie style Sunday dinner on the Barbie! This was washed down by a lovely glass of red wine from Houghton Winery that we had visited with Suzanne. 

Following dinner and lots of chatting we eventually booked our accommodation for our two night stay in Adelaide along with a camper-van to pick up on the Wednesday (30/07/14) to take to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road. (can't wait!) We spent the last part of the night chilling with Suzanne and Padraic before heading to pack the rest of our stuff followed by bed .........

We were up early doors (Monday 28/07/2014) had a quick shower and sorted out a few last bits before Padraic took us to airport on his way to work (thanks again!) for the next leg of our trip ....... our flight to Adelaide. 

There was minimal security at Perth airport domestics terminal which we were surprised about - we were even allowed to take bottles of drink or water through unlike in the UK and most other airports we've been through - we only realised this after we both downed our 600ml bottles of drink though! Our flight was delayed by 20 mins so it gave us a little bit more time to chill and write some of this blog!

Another big THANK YOU to both Suzanne and Padraic for being so accommodating and showing us Perth/Western Australia! It's been a fab few days and we really appreciate your generosity and for opening up your home to us and showing us what WA is all about! We definitely wouldn't have seen half of the things we did if it wasn't for you guys ............ Thanks again! We hope to see you guys again soon, take care Xx