Wednesday

Our itinerary for the day was to do some tourist stuff, so we began by walking up to the Botanic Gardens, which were quite nice, but it was a little chilly to appreciate them. We then went on to the National Wine Centre of Australia to see the exhibits. It was a good, informative place and we did some interactive smelling to see what different grapes smelt like, and saw the different grape varieties, and an old vine too. We also were able to make our own virtual wine and then have it judged, we both got a bronze on our first go, and a gold on our second. We would be naturals. The wine place also had lots of cool bottles, barrels, labels, openers, corks etc and a good bit of art made of bottles. Sadly, there were about 7 conferences on in the centre on the day we went so we didn't get chance to do any tasting, but Nik looked down at the mighty impressive cellar and drooled somewhat, and we went to see the wee vineyard they have afterwards too.

Our next stop was the South Australian Art Gallery which was ok, except A LOT of the artefacts were actually British. There was also a lot of very old paintings and stuff. Some were amazing, and by masters etc, but these were hidden amongst enormous amounts of dull pictures of scary looking people (Nik was freaked out by the religious paintings bit). There was a selection of modern pieces, some of which were interesting, including a stuffed puma but the photography selection was a bit lacklustre. The craft bit was quite good though, they had a brilliant Tiffany stained glass window which Hannah liked a lot. And a few teapots which is always good stuff. On the whole, it was ok for free, especially as it was pouring with rain outside.

We then went to the South Australian Museum where we rejuvenated with tea and cake first, before checking out the exhibits. We say exhibits, it was a lot of taxidermy mainly, but interesting none the less. We saw lots of mammals, and we saw a big collection of Aboriginal artefacts (are we bad people to say it didn't really grab us?). Then we saw some big fossils, meteorites, space stuff and a room full of rocks (minerals). We also saw a box thing which had radiation in it but we weren't clever enough to remember what it was, even though it was really cool. We saw a section that was about arctic exploration and included lots of stuff in jars and had a replica explorers hut which was nicer than some backpackers hostels. We saw a display about giant squids - gross. We then went to their new exhibition about biodiversity in South Australia which once again was a lot of taxidermy, but it did mean we could see some of the animals we have spied to date in a stationary form, and learn about some nature. Final stop was a gallery about Polynesian culture - the art and weapons were way better than the aboriginals.

After our gruelling tourist activities, we bought some food at Woolies in preparation of having a dinner made wholly of vegetables. We also bought cake stuff inspired by the chap yesterday, and went back to the hostel to make banana and honey muffins. They were good.

Over dinner, we got chatting to a couple of girls from the UK who are staying here while they study biology at university in Adelaide - Sophie and Rachel. After dinner, we then all sat down to watch some rubbish tv (mainly UK programmes) and shout at the screen. A favourite was a show about adults learning to swim. There was one woman who wasn't even trying and she annoyed us. However, all in all it was a fun evening chatting and sitting on a sofa, in a lounge with the addition of tea and cake!

Thursday

Today was cold, rainy and miserable and to top it off, the hostel have sold on our room for the weekend so we have to move to a dorm for tonight.

As such, spent some of the day finding (and promptly booking) a new place to stay over the weekend. It wouldn't be such an issue, but currently in the dorm is some guy they don't trust and have been trying to throw out!

The rainy day at least gave us reason to do some planning as we haven't got long left in Australia, so we booked our flights to Sydney and researched our trip to the Blue Mountains. We also started to look at options for New Zealand, but that still really depends on Nik's knee.

We also FINALLY (after days of promising ourselves we would go) forced ourselves to go to the post office and send back some bits. We sent a few kilos back on the slow boat so we might even get back before it, but hey ho! Afterwards, we also realised we hadn't very effectively listed the contents and hope that customs don't think Nik's circular razor is in fact a bomb as we had forgotten totally to put it on the docket - oops.

We then chilled out on the sofa with some snacks from the petrol station and watched Transformers 2. Hannah thought it was trash, Nik liked it - hmmm, wonder why! (Megan Fox on a motorbike boys?). Our dinner was a deluxe combination of last nights leftovers, with some supplementary beef super noodles to make it a suitable sized dinner. Wow. However, the evening took and up turn when Sophie and Rachel returned to the hostel with DVDs from the library. Although they had brought Flood, one of Nik's favourite made for tv cheeseathons, we opted to watch Shark Swarm, their other choice. It was hideously bad, but that made it the more enjoyable, especially as Sophie knows a lot about sharks and was mostly disgusted by the inaccuracies. Lamentably, the story was in two parts, and we all only just managed to stay awake for the first bit, so we may never know what really happened…

In good news, we did have the dorm to ourselves as the strange kiwi boy had gone, but we didn't bother making a bottom bunk man cave anyway.

Friday

We awoke this morning in our delightful bunk beds to celebrate six months of our being married - how lovely. We munched our way through breakfast and then cleared out our dorm to move up to another hostel with a double room. It's a real shame to be leaving this one, as it did have a really nice feel, but if the dorm us going to be fully booked over the weekend, it won't be right for us.

The new hostel wasn't far on the map, or indeed in reality, but this made it no less painful to tramp over there with the backpacks in tow. Although on the plus side, we didn't get lost and when we arrived were happy with our choice - the hostel is a really beautiful old building (was an old pub), and for less money than in the other one we've been upgraded to a double with en suite and tv. The décor is interesting however, as one wall of our room is decorated with black and white nudey pictures of models. It's quite brilliant actually.

Once we had settled our belongings in, we hopped on the tram (yesss!!) down to the beach suburb of Glenelg. The coast there was really pretty and it was a nice place with some shops to mill about etc. We spent some time in a bookshop where Hannah found a book called Shelter Cats which was pictures of cats and kittens from an animal shelter. She made the mistake of reading the back where it told you what happened to them all and some of them died, got euthanased or nobody took them home. Its just like watching blooming Big Cat Diaries all over again! Nik read a book called wine dogs. He now wants a vineyard AND a dog together.

We treated ourselves to a pot of tea for two and a delicious cream cake - toasting our first six months of wedded bliss with an éclair and a custard Berliner.

On the way back to the hostel, we stopped into the supermarket for some supplies (breakfast etc) and gave ourselves yet another treat. Nik bought razor blades, deodorant and hair putty, Hannah bought Frizz Ease hair serum, and we got some face scrub and face moisturiser. We then went back to base and had a beautifying session. Seriously, a bit of moisturiser on the face is truly a deluxe experience, and in good news, Nik smells fragrant, and Hannah's hair now is the size and texture of hair, and not wool.

On tv in the late afternoon we saw that they are forecasting wild weekend weather. Great. It actually follows us. We also saw a real life version of Shark Swarm in South Australia - a bunch of sharks are attacking a dead whale floating not far from Adelaide. Nice.

For dinner, we dolled ourselves up (within reason you understand) and went out for a dinner treat. We went to a tapas bar which is one of Adelaide's most popular restaurants. We had tried to make a reservation several times before we went, and they hadn't confirmed but we chanced it anyway. Luckily, we mentioned this and they found us a table pretty quickly (it was absolutely packed though).

We propped up the bar for a bit first and enjoyed some superb Shiraz and Grenache before our food. It was difficult to pick, as tapas is the yummiest of all foods, but we had: patatas bravas, chorizo on a red pepper sauce, the worlds greatest chick peas, manchego cheese and quince paste, a bread selection, jamon and cheese croquettes, then for dessert we had churros and chocolate dip, with a muscat dessert wine of the region. It was some of the best food we've consumed in a long while and we were very happy. It wasn't even that expensive which made it extra brilliant, especially as they left some of our drinks off the bill so it came in at under £25 per head - pizza express prices for a truly great meal.

Saturday

Today we went on a wine tour to the Barossa Valley, one of the most famousest of all the wine places obv. The day started well, as the driver picked us up early, gaining points with Nik, and once again, we have chosen this activity on a suitably disgusting rainy cold day (the forecast of wild weekend weather coming true!). We then drove straight out into the valley and visited our first winery - Wolf Blass. It was very slick, and a very nice venue. The wines were ok (the Moscato was quaffable), but we paid to try one of the special posh wines and that was very nice. It also came with an amazing piece of chocolate which was wine chocolate - literally, an amazing combo (as some of us knew from the Holiday Extras event back in the Autumn…).

Next up we went to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop. Maggie Beer is apparently a famous TV cook and recipe book person in Australia. She was at the shop when we were there and was right by us, but we weren't impressed. However, the farm shop was pretty much the most unbelievable shop ever as you could taste not only wine, but basically everything else. Maggie Beer got famous for her pate, and we tried about six different types including her original Pheasant Farm pate, which was MIND BLOWING. We also tried biscuits, vinegars, oils, sauces, crackers, jams - loads of stuff. We also had really good wines, including a brilliant Tokay. And the lady on the wine bit basically was trying to make us drink everything and telling us what in the shop we should go and taste with it - amazing. It literally killed us to be backpacking and not able to buy anything.

We then went to another winery that we can't remember the name of for a tasting. The wines were ok, in particular the sparkling Shiraz was very nice (we bought a glass for with lunch). However, they did give us a white wine that was so awful is made Hannah's face gurn and have to turn away. Whilst the vino was underwhelming, lunch was delicious - a platter of locally sourced cheeses, meats, breads, pear chutney (incredible) and Maggie's pate, followed by tea/coffee and a home made muffin (it was no Nancy's Muffin from the shop that used to be near Putney Bridge station, but it was tasty). Lunch also gave us chance to chat to some of the other people on the tour. The line-up as ever included some asian travellers (didn't really drink, bought lots though), plus some elderly couples (some brilliant people including a man who was a scouser whose wife didn't even drink), a group of girls who worked for the government and were quite good fun, and a couple called Leith and Miriam, who were comedy and intent on drinking as much as possible.

After lunch, we went to Langmeil (meaning Long Mile) which was our favourite winery of the day. We got to go through the vineyard there and see some of their posh vines, which are the oldest vines in Australia (160yrs) and their orphan vines (which people adopt). The winery is built on the site of a tiny old village and the vineyard was started by the town blacksmith. It still has all the old buildings and uses them as part of the winery so we got to go in them and learn the history of the place. Then we went for tastings inside the old stables and the wines were INCREDIBLE. They even opened for us a couple of special bottles of wine that were well worth it - some of the best red wine ever in our mouths and so incredibly cheap considering. Again, we cursed the backpacks and the cost of freight to the UK.

Our final winery was Chateau Tanunda, which is a big old historical building and looked very nice from the outside - good views etc. Inside, it was cold, and none of the wines were very special at all. However, there was also a small family winery doing tastings there for the day, so we went and had those wines too. Or rather, Hannah had those wines, while Nik stood by the complimentary cheese and cracker board filling his cheeks at speed. Most of the wines were actually really nice, including a lovely Zinfandel.

We drove back to the city, which was interesting as Miriam was now so drunk that the bus driver (and her husband) kept telling her to calm down. In one drunken episode, she kept taking pictures of herself with us - she's going to really enjoy waking up to those tomorrow! On arriving in the city, we noticed that everything shuts at five on a Saturday, and that there really isn't anywhere that near to our hostel to get dinner. This was annoying as a hearty dinner was much needed after a day on the wines. Adelaide is a very nice place, but everything is very concentrated in certain areas, and unless you are near it, and it happens to be open you are screwed.

We were too shattered to go out for dinner (and didn't want another restaurant bill on today's budget) so after finding directions from a girl at the hostel, Nik went to Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and we feasted on whoppers, fries and Sprite.

We do not recall whether Hannah became ill before or after the Hungry Jacks dinner, but during the evening, her insides gave up as usual and the remainder was spent rolling around clutching her belly. Pretty par for the course these days!

Sunday

Hannah was very ill so she had to stay in bed watching TV. Nik was very good at making tea and looking after her. He also went to Coles to get some dinner unaccompanied and was hit with a torrent of abuse after refusing to sign some green protestors petition - 'heartless b******' was the choice term shouted after him in the street.

However, on the plus side, the spag bol we made for dinner was delicious, even though it took ages to cook This was partly down to the inconsistent gas supply in the kitchen, but largely down to all the idiots that were in there too. There were two asian girls taking the LONGEST time to cook the WORST LOOKING dinner (a cold fried egg, spaghetti that hadn't been strained so was wet, and tinned tomatoes with cut of bits of frankfurter boiled in it - rank), and one of them kept turning off the kettle when Hannah was trying to boil it. Then some Swedish girl asked to borrow the cheese grater, but then spent ages washing it when we needed it, and left loads of bits of green scourer in it. Oh, and two giant german boys were cooking a literal mountain of potatoes and eggs for their dinner too (in inches, I would say the food reached six inches in height on the plate NO JOKE). And the layout of the kitchen is such that there is a very lovely but very enormous table in the middle of it, so there is no room to even move around. Needless to say Nik was a little flustered.

Sunday night is good TV night with lots of funny programmes on, so that at least cheered us up after tea and meant we could have another of our very special cheap nights in!

Monday

Today we had planned to hire a car and go and do another wine region, but Nik's knee was not feeling well enough so we had to can that for our last day in Adelaide - a real shame. We then considered going to the zoo, but apparently the only good thing there is some pandas, and it was freezing cold, so we decided to just save money and stay home instead. Also, Hannah was tired as she is a sensitive soul so was awakened by the rain for several hours in the night.

On the plus side, this meant that we laundered our underwear and t-shirts (although Nik somehow keeps losing clothing, how, we do not know) - always a thrill ride. And as a result, this meant that we could get packing done well in advance. Seriously, packing NEVER gets any easier. It also gave Hannah a chance to wash her hair - an undertaking in itself, especially in cold hostel bathrooms.

Main event of the day was a trip to Coles to get some bits for dinner. We also got some Cheesy bite dips (vegemite with cheese spread mixed together with little crackers to dip in them - like snack pack size) which were a taste sensation.

We also booked our accommodation for our trip to the Blue Mountains. Sadly our first choice, a chintz-tastic little guest house, has got booked up in the last couple of days, but we got our second, which was a double room in an old pub, right next to the station (minimal bag carrying - tick).

Dinner was rice pasta with veggies and sauce and cinnamon donuts for pudding. While Nik made dinner (as the kitchen at this place is ridiculous and there is no room for one person to cook, let alone another to hang around helping), Hannah dried her hair on the radiator. Literally, laid different parts of her hair on the radiator in turn - it totally worked!

After dinner, we enjoyed the television service (as we won't have one in the next couple of hostels) and watched Undercover Boss (excellent), some crime drama (quite good, cop cutting peoples heads off) and a new CIA programme with the girl from Coyote Ugly in it (too many adverts, made it too long). Nik also stayed up to watch Trauma (ambulancey firey in San Francisco) but Hannah needed her beauty sleep.