So since I last blogged I've been to Darwin, Adelaide and The Great Ocean Road and here are my stories...

We had 3 days in Darwin and we visited three national parks in the time that we were there which were- Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park and Nitmiluk National Park. Our first visit at Kakadu was Ubirr Rock where we viewed some classic Aboriginal Rock art and some spectacular views. I learnt more about the rock art and how there are lots of different types - more general knowledge to squeeze into my little brain! The next day in Nitmiluk we went on a canoeing adventure down Katherine Gorge which I nearly didn't survive. Why doesn't someone tell you before you get in a canoe just how much upper body strength you need to paddle one of those things? Needless to say I ended up being towed by another canoe for the end of the journey because I'd lost the will to paddle! After our lunch on the same day we headed for a homestay at a place called Mt Bundy Station which was a huge huge farm with 25 horses and lots of cows and one peacock. We went on a sunset horse ride which was brilliant and I loved going up and down all the hills on my horse Ben. We had a great dinner that night too of kangeroo, crocodile and boring old normal steak! Our last day in the National Parks was just spent swimming swimming swimming. We stopped at 3 places to swim in the waterfalls and rock pools before traveling back to Darwin on the bus.

I had three days on my own in Adelaide after that. Adelaide is probably one of my favourite cities that I've visited so far, mainly because it is a very sleepy city and not very city like at all really! I was staying in a seaside suburb called Glenelg and I spent my first night there on the beach with the seagulls eating fish and chips. While I was in Adelaide I did some arty/cultural sights in the form of the Botanic Gardens, The South Australian Art Gallery and The South Australian Museum. And I also did some indulgent sights in the form of the Central Market and Haigh's chocolate shop. The Central Market was one of the highlights of my stay here because for a foody lover like me it was just absolute HEAVEN. There were stalls and stalls full of organic veg, fruit, nuts, bread, cakes, olives, cheese etc etc and then there were books stalls, antiques and lots of little cafes. I managed to fill up a whole basket full of stuff in one morning and was very envious of anyone who lived there who could just pop down and visit that market every week. On my last night in the city I tried to go and see a film at the Moonlight Cinema in the Botanic Gardens. I took my little picnic down (all my goodies I had bought at the market) and was ready to watch Breakfast at Tiffanys in the park when the heavens opened and didn't stop for about 4 days! So the film was cancelled and I had to go back to my hostel wet and eat my picnic there.

After Adelaide I had to make my way up to Melbourne so decided to take a 3 day trip on The Great Ocean Road. We visited a place called Hollow Mountain in the Grampians but couldn't climb it because it was raining. And then we visited a place called Mackenzie Falls but couldn't appreciate it because it was raining. Then we visited a place called Reeds lookout but couldn't see anything because it was raining. Anyway, you get the picture, it rained a lot and spoiled most things on those first couple of days. BUT the weather started looking up and we did manage to climb The Pinnacle (a huge mountain which was very slippery!) and visit the Bay of Islands, Bay of Matyrs, London Bridge, Lock Ard Gorge and the 12 Apostles. On the last day we took some time to have lunch in Appollo Bay which looked like Scotland but with surf dudes and sunshine. We also made a stop in Torquay, named after our very own Torquay and a total surf town too. We also made a stop at Bells Beach where the national surfing championships take place every year - no surfers on the day I visited though.

Now I'm in Melbourne but won't update you on what we've been up to until I'm at my next stop! I'm hopefully going to get some pictures up from my travels so far though while I'm here so watch out for those!