We were quite excited, if a little apprehensive at the prospect of a 2-day train journey across the country, so we rocked up at the station in Perth in plenty of time to catch the train. Too much time as it turned out, but better safe than sorry. Being backpackers, we had bought the cheapest seats, a reclining seat each for our almost 48 hour journey. Fortunately they were actually pretty comfortable and reclined most of the way back with plenty of leg-room (especially for little people like Daisy and I). In the end it was quite a fun journey, we paid a little extra for access to the lounge and free tea and coffee, made friends with some of the staff members and enjoyed some surprisingly good food at surprisingly good prices. It really brought home quite how vast a country Australia is and how much of it is empty, we could wake up after several hours sleep to see that the scenery was exactly the same as when we fell asleep.
We had a few stops on the way, in Kalgoorlie (where we arrived in the middle of the night and had a rather interesting bar experience), in Cook (which has a population of 4), and a super short stop in Port Augusta (again in the middle of the night). It wasn't the most eventful journey but you got to see a lot of the country (and a lot of nothing) and it ended up being quite an enjoyable experience and 40-something hours later we arrived in Adelaide.
Arriving feeling like true backpackers we decided that we would walk the 'short' distance to a hostel. It wasn't quite as short as we had estimated and it felt even longer due to carrying big backpacks and not having had a huge amount of sleep on the train... We did get there eventually though and it turned out to be quite a nice hostel with a decent bar and a lively enough atmosphere (especially on the night of the free BBQ!). After having dumped our stuff at the hostel we wandered down to the Central Market which was full of delicious-looking (and smelling) food (although still Australian prices =( ). We also discovered a second-hand bookshop which both of us had really got a taste for so I purchased the sequel to one I had discovered in Perth. After popping back to the hostel to check-in properly we headed out on a walking tour of Adelaide. We began by walking through the shopping district stopping at a few of Daisy's favourite shops (super-tacky souvenir shops selling everything from inflatable kangaroos to garish clothing plastered with the Australian flag) before heading over to the Museum of South Australia and the neighbouring Art Gallery, which although good (and full of screaming schoolchildren) really made you appreciate the quality of museums and galleries we have in the UK. From there we walked past the 'Migration Museum' which neither of us were inspired by up to the river and along to the Adelaide Oval which is supposedly one of the most pretty cricket grounds in the world. After being suitably impressed and looking around the Don Bradman museum which is housed there, we had a delightful stroll along the river up to the Botanic Gardens and then on to the National Wine Centre which had a remarkably good exhibition on wine, how it's made, where it comes from and some of the science behind it all. Afterwards we felt like true wine connoisseurs and decided to put our new found skills to the test with a spot of wine tasting which was definitely enjoyed by all. It also turned out that it was Tuesday which meant cheap pizza at Domino's which we gratefully indulged in (and even got an extra free pizza because they took so long with it). After consuming it with the help of a couple of reasonably priced drinks from the bar and a chat with some other people who where staying there we retired to real beds for the first time in what seemed like ages.
We had sort of planned to go on a tour of wineries in the hills around Adelaide the next day but we were discouraged by how expensive they were (and too disorganised to do anything about it). Instead we wandered through the city to a collection of galleries adjoining part of the university. There we saw some... interesting... works of art and were captivated by a group of people engaged in glass-blowing to create some incredible works of art. Some of what was on sale there was truly amazing and we both wished we could take some home with us. From there we headed south across the city to Haigh's Chocolate Factory where we saw (and smelled) people making some very tasty treats. Daisy managed to wangle us some free chocolate buttons and so we had a sit down with complimentary tea and coffee in order to consume them. It was good. That evening there was a free BBQ (which we obviously partook in) and a pool competition in which we both were rather average. We also met some cool travellers, among them Natasha and James who had a car and were driving west all the way across the country. As they were still looking for another person to join their epic trip they offered to take us on a trip into the Adelaide Hills the next morning.
The next day, after a brief grand tour of all the backpacker hostels in Adelaide so they could drop off some advertisements to try and find another person, we headed up into the hills with Natasha, James, Coco and Tony. First stop was an animal sanctuary where we got fairly up close with some kangaroos and wallabies and tried in vain to spot the elusive platypus and koalas. It was still a lovely place for a walk and a great start to the day. From there we headed over to Hahndorf, a German town, where we had a bit of an explore and tried some rather excellent local cheese. Next we visited an unexpectedly upmarket winery where we felt like right yobs trying a few wines and leaving straight away. After a stop at a chocolate factory (next to a cheese place that was unfortunately closed) we proceeded to have a nice scenic drive up to Mt. Lofty to see the sun set over Adelaide. It was a great view, just a little bit cold to enjoy it properly...
That night we took an overnight bus down to Melbourne. Arriving before the sun had risen we journeyed through the city on the tram to find our next hostel, 'The Ritz' (for backpackers), which is nice apart from being above a pub that regularly has rather loud (although fairly decent) music late into the night at weekends which can at times make sleeping a bit of a challenge. After a bit of a power nap we headed back into the city centre to sample the sights and sounds that Melbourne had to offer. That evening we had booked to go and watch a Super 15 rugby match between the Cape Town Stormers and the Melbourne Rebels which was great fun, especially as we were sitting right by one of the corner flags! The match ended up being rather one-sided as the Rebels were soundly beaten (but at least this made Daisy happy since she had already seen the Stormers play when she was in SA) but it was a fun experience nonetheless.
On Saturday we had arranged to meet up with Higgy, a friend from Girton who is now studying in Melbourne, who had very kindly offered to give us a personal guided tour of Melbourne. After he met us at our hostel we began the tour by going up to the Skydeck where we had a splendid 88th floor view down onto Melbourne in the sunshine and could see all the major landmarks all the way out to the suburbs. After taking a few photos we took the lift back down and crossed the city to visit the Victoria Market which seems to sell a bit of everything, from clothes to food to tacky souvenirs. Here we popped into the food court for lunch before heading back to Federation Square to visit the Gallery of the Moving Image which is mainly devoted to the history of things like film and television. It was actually a really good museum with lots of interactive exhibits and interesting takes on fairly familiar subjects. It also turned out that we were there during the Melbourne Jazz Festival which meant they had regular free open-air concerts, one of which we listened to a bit of on our way out of the gallery.
Next we headed over to the War Memorial which was set in a nice garden with splendid views from the roof balcony and while we were there was quite a moving 3 minute service of remembrance. It was a very peaceful place and the building itself served as a fine reminder to the sacrifices made. From there we wandered through the Botanic Gardens and around the lake there. By this point we were becoming experts on such things and decided that this was certainly one of the better gardens we had visited. We then hopped on a tram to take us back out to St Kilda. We decided to have a fun night out and went to a lovely and surprisingly cheap Italian place just down the road from where we were staying. Afterwards we moved on to a slightly upmarket-looking bar for a few beverages which was pretty darn fun before retiring for the night.
When looking around the city we had wandered into the cathedral and had decided that it would be quite nice to attend a service on Sunday morning. Having done a fair amount of singing back at Girton, we couldn't help but compare the cathedral choir to choirs in Cambridge, especially since they were in fact singing music we had sung while studying (A mass by Schubert if you were wondering). It ended up being quite an enjoyable service and comfortingly close to the kind of service we were used to back in England. The rest of the day was fairly relaxed, consisting of a return visit to Victoria Market and a visit to an Art gallery. We headed back to the hostel fairly early to make some dinner and to try and decide on where our adventure was going to take us next.
Monday began with a fun morning of sorting out things like tours, flights and hostel bookings before we headed out around lunchtime to explore St Kilda where we were staying. It turned out to be a rather splendid day of walking along the seafront, looking in interesting little shops and generally having a nice, relaxed afternoon. We walked past Luna Park, an old turn-of-the-century theme park, which, although closed for winter, did look quite quaint if maybe a little garish. After finding our favourite thing, a pub with a good deal on, for lunch we moseyed back down the streets eyeing up cool and exciting things in shops which were too expensive, too big, or both. We popped back into our hostel for a bit and that evening caught the tram down to where Higgy lives for supper. Higgy and Jess live with another couple in a lovely house (it's even got a white-picket fence) with another couple and their dog Clifford (who is most certainly not Big or Red). It was quite hard to believe that they were students and yet were living in such a nice place. Higgy had prepared a real feast for supper, starting with Kangaroo Steak Kebabs, followed by Lasagne and then Crunchie Ice Cream for dessert! It was really nice to have such a wonderful home-cooked meal and we followed it up by watching a spot of TV in a proper living room (it's amazing how much of a luxury it can be). Just in case things were going too well, thanks to a misreading of the small print on a tram timetable, we ended up missing the last tram back and being true cheapo backpackers we opted to walk back in the cold and dark. It wasn't quite the end to the evening that we might have hoped for but it was OK since we were still on a bit of a high.
Waking up on Tuesday morning and looking out of the window wasn't the most fun experience ever as the weather was pretty miserable, although fortunately this was the first time we hadn't had pleasant weather during our Australian travels. Since it clearly wasn't a day to be spending too much time outside we headed up to the Melbourne Museum to gain some more culture points. It turned out to be a very interesting (and big) museum, including such things as an indoor rainforest and a big section on evolution. We again discovered that Australian museums often seem to be a little bit more modernised and interactive, especially when it comes to the use of technology. I really enjoyed an exhibition on the human brain, covering everything from what it is made up of to the way we think and why we dream. After enjoying most of what the museum had to offer (including the ubiquitous groups of noisy schoolchildren), we departed (after of course looking in the shop and being subjected to a spot of Rolf Harris) and walked back through the city. On our way back we couldn't help but stop in nearly every bookshop we could find (despite the fact that books in Australia are outrageously priced) as well as a number of shockingly tacky souvenir shops. A quiet evening followed in preparation for the next day's excitement of the Great Ocean Road.
We woke once again to less than perfect weather, but refused to be downhearted as we were leaving early for our trip along the Great Ocean Road. We had ended up booking onto the same tour as our two American roommates, Mark & Bryn, and set off full of anticipation. Our first stop was Bell's Beach which is very famous for surfing although we didn't actually see anyone braving the grey, chilly weather, so we had a spot of tea and snapped a few quick photos before jumping back on the bus as the heavens opened. This set an example for the rest of the day. Next we headed to Memorial Arch where there is a big sign saying 'Great Ocean Road' over the road. More photos were taken here before heading off again. We passed through towns such as Lorne and Anglesea we stopped at a little wildlife place in Kennett River where we managed to see Koalas in the Eucalyptus trees and a plethora of brightly coloured birds that would land on you if you happened to have any bird-seed on you. It was great to get so up close and personal with animals and get some amusing photos, but we once again making a bit of a dash for the bus as the rain started once again. Our next stop was Apollo Bay for lunch (which was definitely needed) in a nice Greek place where I had Souvlaki. Just to mix things up a little we stopped next at a rainforest for a short little (wet) walk around which was quite a nice change of pace. As we were leaving it got pretty torrential on our way to the famous 12 apostles (even though there have never actually been 12 of them) which are a series of limestone stacks just off the coast. It was quite an adventure just trying to get out to the viewing platform, it was very wet and windy, so by the end we were really quite bedraggled. A kindly fellow called Wayne from England took pity on us generously bought us a hot drink in the little kiosk to try and regain some feeling in our extremities. Even though the weather wasn't quite what we might have hoped for it didn't detract from the spectacle and is definitely something to look back and laugh about (especially when looking at some of the pictures of us). Once back on the bus we stopped at a couple more sights, namely Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge (the story goes that a couple were camping out there to hide from prying eyes but the 'bridge' of rock collapsed and left them stranded and the ensuing press excitement rendered their attempt pretty useless) before a long drive back to Melbourne via inland roads and a stop for dinner. Ultimately it was a great day, even the weather didn't dampen our spirits too much.
After such a big day we decided to follow it up with a more relaxing day. We spent quite a lot of it wandering around the Melbourne International Art Gallery which is huge and probably the best gallery we've been to. It had a great range of different kinds of art, from Oriental pieces to classical European pieces, to a lot of contemporary art. Every time you think you have come to the end you turn the corner and discover a whole other exhibition. We ended up a little bit tired from all the walking around and headed into the CBD for some food (and to take some more photos of the city before we left) before returning to the hostel for a fairly quiet evening and a meal at the same Italian place we had visited before.
Friday was our last day in Melbourne before a night flight up to Cairns (and hopefully some better weather) and the Great Barrier Reef. Most of it was just spent sorting out a few things and packing up. We spent some of the time having a last little wander around St Kilda and getting a few provisions from the supermarket before getting a shuttle to the airport in the evening and arriving in the 'Budget Terminal' (in true 'budget' style it was little more than a shed really). Our backpacking experience was then enhanced by our flight being delayed, but eventually we managed to get on the very 'budget' airline (Tiger Airways, which has since been told it can't fly people in Australia due to safety issues) and arrive in Cairns at around 3am. From there we had a relatively pain-free transfer to our hostel where we managed to find our way to our beds in the dark and crashed out at around 4:30am, which was extremely welcome.
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