We arrived into Adelaide at rush hour after eight hours on the road, luckily with Tim navigating we found our way through the glare of the sinking sun to Mark and Kate's house.

With such a warm welcome into their family home, catching up with Felix and meeting Finn for the very first time, it was hard to believe it had been over four years since we were all hanging out in Oxford together. It wasn't long before Tim and Felix were showing each other their iPad games and Bee and Finn were happily reading 'The Little Kiwi' together.

Family breakfast of bacon and eggs set us all up for a good weekend, we headed out to the Adelaide Hills were it had been rumoured there was a chance of a flake or two of snow, when we got there it was sunny and bright but no snow to be seen, with stunning views out across the city. We were still really keen to get into the sea, so with wetsuits borrowed we set off to the beach. With great wind to fly the kite and dark clouds rolling in, we chickened out of our dip, knowing warmer waters were only a week or so round the corner, or we are getting old!

Everyone was up early on Monday morning and it was back to work for Mark and Kate for the time being. We took this opportunity and headed off to explore the Barossa Valley. It is moments like these when we are reminded how lucky we are to have this chance to spend our first year of marriage travelling the world together.

We picked up our bicycles and set off from Nuriootpa through the fields of vineyards, in the afternoon sun. First stop was Saltram Winery, a whistle stop free tasting tour through their whites, rose and reds. Heading back across Angaston and out into the countryside we headed over to Australia's oldest family owned winery Yalumba. Here we were welcomed in by a roaring fire and lovely staff taking us on a thorough romp through the best part of their extensive wine list, starting with sparkling wines and ending on the fortified wines.

The next day we headed out towards Clare and the outback to wait for the Lawrie's to meet us for our long weekend trip out to the Flinders Ranges.