So I decided to do some more WWOOFING. This time in a beautiful small coastal town called Port Elliot, in South Australia. Authenticity was a Health and Wellness Retreat, so I was really looking forward to some relaxing time, exercise and healthy food (and no alcohol!) It took about two hours by coach, south of Adelaide and was a scenic journey. SA is so green and the journey went mostly by the coast, it was lovely. To my surprise, the owner, Gregory was Greek and he had his close family also living here and working at the retreat. They were all lovely. Philippe and Lydia were the kids; Alexandra (who I mainly worked with) was their mum and Gregory's sister. Enrico was their brother. Margaritis was Alex's husband. Between them all they were qualified in Naturopathy, Counselling, Massage Therapy and Personal Training. Laura, the Spa Manager was a local and there were a couple of additional staff members who worked on certain days, but it was a small team which was nice. There was another guy WWOOFING here too, German (surprise surprise), Mike had been here for nearly a month and a half already!

The Retreat was beautiful, set in acres of landscaped gardens, vineyards and had a sea view. It was Mediterranean inspired (naturally), had a lovely outdoor swimming pool and spa. It is a boutique resort with only 6 bedrooms and a handful of treatment rooms and a vegetarian cafe....the food...wow I was spoilt. The food was mainly organic and all vegetarian, Mediterranean inspired as well, as Alex and Gregory were also the chefs and had years of experience. Amazing grain bread with homemade Greek dips, roasted vegetables, fresh risottos , pastas and incredible salads. I didn't have to cook lunch or dinner, it was great!

I was absolutely freezing when I first got there, the temperature had dropped sharply and I had to get my jeans out for the first time in months. Alex also had to lend me a jumper because the thickest thing I have left in my backpack is a cardigan! Ha ha, it's so ridiculous as it was still like 18c in the day time but lower at night, but I must have acclimatized to the weather (as I have been in 30-45c for months ), now I understand what Hayley meant, as I used to knock her when she moaned it was 'freeeeeeeeezing' in Sydney in the past. At night I had to wrap up with a duvet doubled over and a blanket! Ha ha, what a joke. Luckily by the end of the week the weather started to brighten up and it got back up to near 30c and nice and sunny.

I did Yoga some mornings with Gregory when it was on, or I went for a 5-6k beach run at 8am. Then I would help Alex in the kitchen for most of the morning, or do general tasks like sweeping the leaves (as its autumn here now) in the courtyards or just general cleaning of the main retreat house. Nothing too strenuous! Then about 1, we would have lunch, and then I'd be free to do whatever. I'd either take one of the bikes and go for a cycle along the beautiful coastline (one day I did 30k return trip but I wasn't expecting it to be so hilly, I was knackered by the end). Or I would just relax, read, go in the pool (if we had no guests). Then I'd usually so an hour in the gym early evenings, doing sit ups and yoga stretches. During the evenings we would all watch films together...my idea of a relaxing time. Loved it.

So I ended up staying for 12 days, which was perfect. Now back to Adelaide for the night before I get picked up at 6am Saturday morning to start my adventure north...through the middle of Australia to Alice Springs and the outback!!