Friday 6th and Saturday 7th February
It's soooooo hot! I will add more to this blog later but all I can say is how hot it is; so hot that the soles of my rubber flip flops started to melt as I was walking through town! It reached about 45C over these two days and we spent most of the day's hiding from the heat. We went to the Moonlight Cinema again to see the new James Bond but even at 11 p.m. it was still 39C and pretty unbearable. The next day we went to the cinema again because it's one of the only places with air con and saw the new Torino Grand, which was really good.
Sunday 8th February
How strange, after two days of 45C, today it's 24C, that can't be good for one's health! We pottered around town, stopped off at a local market; went to the free art gallery; Adelaide museum and spent the rest of the day in the internet cafe.

Monday 9th February 2009

Dan and I were awake early and excited by the prospect of going on a wine tour, even if it was 8 a.m. in the morning. Boarding our bus, we headed through the Adelaide hills and followed the Torrens Gorge into the delicious winery region. We stopped off quickly at possibly one of the most pointless stops, the 'Big Rocking Horse', a horse which is remarkable big. Although completely pointless, it does extend our list of 'giant' things, i.e. 'big banana', 'giant pinnacle' etc.

Anyway, our next stop was far more exciting, the Wolf Blass Winery, enjoying a structured tasting of delicious wines. We tasted a really lovely sweet white wine (I know I'm so not classy with wines, Lambrini girl through and through!) and some stronger reds. Now in the mood for more wine we stopped off for a quick lunch, where I tried the kangaroo, didn't like it though and then jumped straight back on the bus eager for more wineries. The next winery was Vinecrest, a boutique winery that had some very nice soft whites. We then headed through the Barossa Vines onto Kies Family Wines and enjoyed some lovely tipples. One of their award winning wines, which Dan and I will be shipping back over to the UK is a sweet and slightly carbonated Merlot, very nice but the sort of thing I think my Dad would be appalled with! They also had a very nice ice slushy, white port. After a long, strenuous day we went back to the hostel and enjoyed one last glass of wine before hitting the hay.

Tuesday and Wednesday 10th and 11th February 2009

The weather took a turn for the worst after the most extensive heat at the end of last week, so we spent the next couple of day's looking around the city markets, art galleries, museums and shops. The hostel we were staying in had a fantastic atmosphere so when we weren't out we were back at the hostel watching films and talking to our fellow backpackers. The hostel, Backpack Oz, provided free breakfast every morning and on Wednesday evenings free BBQ, which was very nice, and a pool competition. I made Dan enter just in case the prize was money and he won…six beers!!!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday 12th, 13th and 14th February 2009

Today we had to prepare for a very long journey. In the afternoon we planned to board a train bound for Perth, which would take around 48 hours. So we spent the day enjoying the sights of Adelaide and it's nearest beach. We said our goodbyes to friends at the hostel and headed to the train station. At first we were really excited about getting the train. We had heard that there were different carriages where you could chill out, play cards, drink and our section, 'red', there would be films and lots of room to sleep. The Indian Pacific arrived and it look really impressive… never trust first impressions!! When we boarded the 'red' section, a nice way of saying 'economy', a man started to read the rules and regulations of train travel, it felt like a school trip! There were two toilets that stank; luckily we weren't sitting too near them, a shower, which we didn't bother to use and seats just the same as an airplane so not spacious. What made matters worse was that there was no entertainment, apart from a recording of an old audio every so often and the leisure carts we had heard of had been removed. This left the entire 'red' section to use the catering carriage, which you were only allowed to use if you were eating meals in. In a bid to save money Dan and I had taken our own alcohol (which was foribben but we really didn't care by this point) and food to last us the two day's, so using the catering carriage was pretty pointless.

The scenery was pretty amazing, good sunsets, good full moon viewing, star spotting, red sand, red sand and did I mention red sand?! We did also see three camels and two towns that had the population of 10 between them, joy! Needless to say our journey was very uncomfortable, boring and time wasting! However, I did beat Dan at three rounds of chase the eight and read a big fat book. To make the journey more painful, behind us a young girl had three songs on repeat, very loud throughout the journey playing on her I-pod. I never want to hear Lady Gaga, Poker Face ever again. Anyway, I shouldn't moan, some people boarded the train from Sydney, which took almost four days! It truly was the most horrible journey I have ever been on!!