Following my flight from Perth, I landed at Adelaide Airport late on Sunday evening where I was met by my two Aussie friends.. Olivia and Lizzy.

I met the both of them on a tour of The Great Wall of China back in October. We struck up a chord that day, then met up again a few days later in Xi’an, and having kept in touch ever since they kindly invited me to stay with them for a few days, as well as show me around their home town.

Not only was it great to see them both again, but with Olivia and Lizzy having lived in the South Australia city all their lives they knew all the best spots to show me, which was perfect since I’ve never visited Adelaide before.

After getting some much needed rest at their home in the Modbury North area we headed out for the day. Firstly, they took me to Cleland Wildlife Park.. a protected bushland area in Adelaide Hills which is home to some popular Australian species.

We were free to roam the park amongst the animals at our own will, which initially was a bit of a strange one working out how to approach the situation. However, it was pretty cool getting up close and personal with heaps of kangaroos, wallabies and emus. Feeding them was fun too.. we made sure we kept the freaky looking emus at arms length though.

We saw koalas, but it was too hot a day to hold them, and also saw some of Australia’s most venomous snakes in the reptile house.

After stopping off for some dinner in a quaint little German town called Hahndorf (where I ate the most ginormous burger!), we made our way to a local winery. With a rich wine history, Adelaide famously produces some of the worlds finest wines. Driving through the rolling green hills of the countryside it’s easy to understand why this is a worldwide known wine region.. acres upon acres of farm land dedicated to wine production completely dominates the landscape.

We checked out the beautiful green and peaceful Bird In Hand Winery where we sampled numerous reds, whites, rose’s and dessert wines. To be honest, after the fourth or fifth, they were all starting to taste very similar but it was all good fun nevertheless.

Before we headed back to the house we made a short detour to Olivia’s family home.. and it was gobsmacking! The sort of home you’d expect to see on MTV’s “Cribs” or owned by a Premier League footballer. It was definitely the nicest house I’ve ever stepped foot in.

After the grand tour of Olivia’s family home we drove back to Modbury North and had a great evening in the back garden. Lizzy cooked some awesome dumplings, her boyfriend Randall threw some skewers on the BBQ, their other housemate, Nancy, joined us.. and we ate, drank wine and played a hilarious game of “Cards Against Humanity”.

We were out and about again the next morning, this time to the Port River which is home to approximately 30 Bottlenose Dolphins. We jumped on a cruise boat for a mini tour of the river while trying to sight the dolphins.. I’d never seen any before so it was cool spotting a few of them out in the wild as we sailed by.

We had some dinner in a restaurant by the port and then made our way to the lovely Semaphore beach to dip our toes in the sea and whilst demolishing a delicious ice cream. After that, the girls showed me around the CBD, we grabbed a few things from the market, and then made our way back to the house.

For my last night in Adelaide, Olivia, Lizzy, Randall, and I, drove to the Adelaide Botanic Garden where we caught a film at the Moonlight Cinema. It was another first for me, I’d never been to an outdoor cinema before.. the set up was great with a big clear screen accompanied by excellent sound. We brought a big rug with us, as well as a massive beanbag, and a picnic to go with it. Sat under the stars, with bats flying overhead while led on the grass watching Love Actually (a guilty pleasure of mine).. it was class! With the festive season approaching it was the first time I’d felt a bit Christmassy while being in Australia. We even saw a few shooting stars too!

I may not have been in Adelaide for long but I enjoyed every minute of it.. there’s a very nice relaxed vibe and it’s much less crowded than the likes of Melbourne or Sydney.

All credit and my sincere appreciation goes to Olivia and Lizzy for inviting me into their home and showing me such a good time. Once again I feel humbled by the kindness and generosity shown to me by two more lovely people I’ve met on my travels. I can’t thank them enough, I had a great time!

It was Wednesday morning and time for me to make tracks, and begin the next leg of my tour across Australia. Lizzy was a legend yet again by kindly dropping me off at the airport, however I wasn’t there to catch a plane though. I’d secured another relocation deal where I was supposed to be hiring a camper van for cheap and dropping it off in Melbourne a few days later. The purpose of this was so I could go on a mini road trip and drive the Great Ocean Road.

Things didn’t quite go to plan though. Because it was a cheap relocation deal, it was also subject to change, and change it did. Instead of the 12-seater camper van I’d signed up for, I was given a Toyota Corolla instead!! Ha

I had the intention of driving to Melbourne over 3 days and sleeping in the camper van for a few nights, so having now been given an average sized hatchback it was going to pose a few difficulties, especially as I had no particular plan of where I was going to stay at night.

At the beginning of my trip I would tend to plan most things, however my mentality has changed over time finding that things can be, yes occasionally more hassle, but also more interesting by “winging it”.. and I’ve become a firm believer that things will always work out in the end some way or another.

Anyway, after picking up supplies at the supermarket, off I went in the superstar Corolla passing through hundreds of kilometres of nothingness.. straight, boring, flat roads that rolled off into the distance for as far as the eye could see.

Instead of heading directly to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road in Allansford, on recommendation of Ruth who I’d met a few days previously in Perth, I took a detour inland to the Grampians National Park in western Victoria.

It wasn’t until around 4.30pm that the landscape began to change and become more interesting. Finally, I’d reached the sandstone mountain range of the Grampians that stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise completely flat surrounding.

The roads became smaller, steeper and windier, the scenery became greener, picturesque and perhaps also dangerous. I’d been warned about how wild kangaroos would suddenly jump out into the road here, even into oncoming vehicles. I was also told that I shouldn’t swerve out the way, I should just hit them! But obviously I couldn’t do that, otherwise I’d be liable for damage on the car. Sure enough I got my first few sightings here but fortunately for me they were out of reach.

I’d decided to check out a few of the Grampians main hotspots while it was still light, then drive to a camp site and hopefully kip in the back of the Corolla for the night.

Parked up and delighted to stretch the legs, I followed a trail down a few hundred steep steps to McKenzie Falls. I’ve seen more waterfalls than you could shake a stick at already on my trip. Nevertheless, it was a pretty sight to behold, with a misty rainbow leaping out from the splash pool below.. a fine waterfall indeed :)

The lookouts and viewpoints were my main focus now with daylight slowly drawing to a close. There were several in close proximity to one another so I decided to rattle a few off.

Over the next couple of hours I visited the lookouts of Boroka, Reed and The Balconies, which were all as equally impressive as the next. High up in the mountains I was presented with some breathtaking panoramic views over the Grampians region. Warm blue skies began to subside as the sun started setting over endless rolling hills of thick green forest. It was peaceful and beautiful.

It quickly became apparent, after checking out a few campsites, that I required a permit to stay overnight in the Grampians, even if it was just in the back of a car. These permits have to be booked online and displayed in the window of the vehicle.. but I had no signal and no printer! This is a definite disadvantage to the “winging it” method.

It was going dark, and I didn’t fancy pulling up on the side of the road in a National Park full of active wildlife. I had the intention of waking up early and going for a morning hike to another lookout called “The Pinnacle” had I been able to camp out for the night, but instead, I decided to try and blitz my through the the park and get as close to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. It wasn’t without accidentally going off-roading (which was a big no-no in the hire company’s rule book) for 20 minutes down a dusty track of rubble in the middle of the forest first though. I came across more kangaroos and a pack of massive emus! Get me out of here! Thankfully they stayed clear of the Toyota’s silver exterior. I found the road and floored my way out the Grampians and followed signs for the Great Ocean Road in near pitch black conditions.

I’d been on the move, driving for the majority of it, since 9.30am, and it was now 10.30pm. I couldn’t go much further as fatigue had really started to kick in. With no sign of places where I could potentially stay, I decided to stop down a dark country road by some public toilets.. at least I wouldn’t get caught short.

I brushed my teeth and jumped into the backseats of the Corolla which was cramped and incredibly uncomfortable. It was eerily quiet and dark, and for the first half hour I’ll admit, I was s***ting my pants. But somehow I managed to get a half decent sleep.. it wasn’t without waking up a few times with cramp though, and it got extremely cold. Thank god for my Liverpool towel that I could grab from my backpack to use as a makeshift blanket!

I’d survived the night and woke up at 7.30am to the sound of folk walking their dogs, in a place I later found out to be called Nullawarre. I got up, stretched the legs, splashed my face with water and got the hell out of there still wearing the same clothes as I’d started in the day before.

Within 20 minutes or so I had reached the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. No sooner had I started, I’d made my first pit stop. I’d arrived at the deserted and wild waters of the “Bay of Islands”. This was the start of several stops I made along this famous part of the Great Ocean Road where unusual, large, stand-alone limestone stacks sit in the sea slightly adrift of the shore detached from land.

I made further stops at more of the rock formations including “London Bridge Arch”, “The Grotto”, “Loch Ard Gorge”, and of course the most famous of all, the “Twelve Apostles”, located off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park.

It was blustery, overcast, and the sea was drumming up some fierce rampant waves but it didn’t take anything away from the natural beauty before me.

The apostles were formed by harsh and extreme weather conditions from the Southern Ocean and gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs. These then became arches, which in turn collapsed leaving rock stacks up to 50 metres high. Because of this continued erosion, there are now only 8 of the apostles left standing.

With the aforementioned firmly ticked off, I hopped back in the Corolla and began to cruise the Great Ocean Road. Surprisingly, a large chunk of it takes you inland over sweeping hills and thick forestation until eventually hitting the coast again. Right on cue, the grey clouds dispersed and blue skies began breaking through. Now it was just a matter of opening up the superstar Corolla in true Top Gear style and enjoying the drive.

The coastal roads from here on were nothing short of breathtaking, and as the name suggests, it was indeed “Great!” Driving along the edge of perpendicular cliffs overlooking the crystal blue waters of the Southern Ocean, the views were spectacular!

Having passed through the lovely beachside towns of Lorne and Torquay I had a bit of a dilemma.. stomach another uncomfortable nights sleep in the back of the Corolla without showering for a second night in a row and saving some cash, or hammer out some more kilometres, get to Melbourne a day early, and treat myself to a nice hotel.

Decision made.. I’d accomplished what I’d initially set out to do, minus the camper van. The latter prevailed!

A couple of hours later after sitting out some hefty congestion on the city’s motorways and just over 1000 km’s under my belt, I’d reached the drop-off point at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. I never intended to smash it within two days, but circumstance and personal hygiene left me with no choice. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my mini road trip witnessing some jaw-dropping and historic scenery along the way.

I waved farewell to my makeshift camper van, jumped on the Skybus to the city, and checked in to The Great Southern Hotel in the heart of the CBD where I was greeted by a king-size bed and a long hot shower.

Nighty Night xx