"Melbourne to Adelaide" by northeast80

Flew in from Christchurch to lovely hot weather. Booked into The Nunnery Backpackers for a week, a good hostel always good when you get free breakfasts, pancakes on sunday, ice cream on wednesday and wine and nibbles on a friday.
Spent a few days walking round the centre, gong to Queen Victoria markets for cheap fruit and veg, going around on the free tram, the huge Federation Square, art galleries and museums, finding lots of arcades with lots of coffee shops.
Visited St.Kilda one day with Luna Park and another coffee shop strip.
The Botanic gardens with all the preparations for the Commonwealth Games going on, the weather getting hotter 36 degrees one day.
Camberwell was another good area with a huge market with lots of tops for $2 each, had to cram them in my bag, but where they're that cheap...
Seen as all the places seemed to be doubling in price for the games I booked a trip along the Great Ocean Road.

I joined one bus group and went as far as Apollo Bay with them. On the way we stopped at Bells Beach, where there's lots of surfing competitions, saw lots of koala's in the trees and my 1st kangaroos. I had two nights in Apollo Bay and did some of the Great Ocean walk along the cliff tops and into some of the Otway National Park, passed a big snake and a no doubt deadly spider.

From Bells Beach I joined a second group and we went to see the famous 12 Apostles (only 8 left), Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge.
We stayed overnight in Port Campbell having fish and chips for dinner and lots of wine, some of us didn't check in till later as we thought we'd all be in the same room, however, walking into the room after midnight soon realised this wasn't the case. All the luck or bright ones who checked in early got the better rooms we were in one with about 16 beds.

The next day we went back to the Ocean Road to see it all in a different light, then headed into the Grampians.
We walked on a volcano crater, saw some wild emus, drove through miles and miles of burnt bust, the locals were trapped for a few months around Dec/Jan due to the fires. That night we had a house to ourselves adn had a bbq, played ping pong badly and jumped on a trampoling, which of couse I fell through.
The following day we walked up one of the peaks and scrambled up the slopes to fantastic views of the area.
We changed onto a big coach at the 'big koala' and got into Adelaide that evening.

Went with a Greman girl form my room to the Haigh's Chocolate factory with free samples, brilliant Central Markets, Art Gallery and Museum. Met up with Fiona whom I first met in Melbourne and we went to the Botanic Gardens, we hired a bike and cycled to Glenelg (same spelt backwards) and swam there, where a lot of Great White shark attacts happen.

Seen as I was near the Barossa Valley couldn't be here and not go on a wine tour. I got on the bus and there was Trina from my Great Ocean Road trip.
They made us stop at a greasy spoon to line our stomachs first where there also happened to be the worlds largest rocking horse.
1st winery was Jacobs Creek at around 1045 am where we had seven wines, then Richmond Grove with around seven again we bought a bottle here to have with our bbq lunch and then went onto Bethany Wines with 21 to try and then a final winery, don't know which one, didn't care by that point.
We stopped at a bottle shop for stuff on the way back then the driver dropped us at a bar in town and we went from there to about two others after that, I think.
Needless to say the next day was a wipe out.
I met up with another girl I'd met in Melbourne, Carly, adn we went to Glenelg on the tram this time and sunbathed and swam some more, had a nice cheap meal in China Town and booked a trip to Kangaroo Island.

Got picked up at the hostel to a full mini-bus, we drove down the Fleurieu Peninsular for a swim, bbq then a surfing lesson which was great fun, very hot too but when you're in the sea you don't notice. We crossed on a small boat and had to stop when a few Bottlenosed dolpins came along for a look. We stayed in an old shearing shed and had a bbq for tea and sat round a camp fire at night.
Then the rain came. Because I'd left most of my stuff in Adelaide of course my water proof we still there. Still that didn't stop us, we did a 6k walk, saw the Remarkable Rocks, Admirals Arch, a New Zealand Fur Seal colony, kangaroos, wallabies, an echidna, watched a night time penguin parade, had a much needed indoor fire that night.

Next day we did some sand boarding, went to see some sea lions, and round the Kelly Hill caves. We had to take a big boat back due to the weather and it rained all the way back to Adelaide.
I stayed a few more nights in Adelaide until my flight to Perth on the 30th.