Adelaide

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Arriving in Adelaide at around 4:50PM on Monday I was greeted by my dad waiting at the terminal. After picking up my bag and dropping it back at his appartment we went out for pizza at one sneaky cheetah; a local pizza chain. After our meal we headed into the city to have a walk around and look at some of the public light displays setup around the place for “Ilumminate” (the annual winter light show) before heading back to dads to crash for the night.

Tuesday morning I was up nice and early for my second Gym workout of the trip. I was once again subjected to new equipment although overall was able to still hit my normal routine (after spending 5 minutes working out that I could fold away the assist and do my tricep dips normally). After Gym we went to a GYG attached to a fuel station (apparently this is a thing in Adelaide, they have “On the run” or OTR which nowhere else seems to). After smashing a Breakfast burrito and a coffee we headed over to Port Adelaide for a bit of a walk around and some lunch. For Lunch we went to Drummer Boy cafe where I had a Chicken BLT bagel and dad got a Berry Banna smoothie bowl. After lunch we headed off towards our hike from waterfall gully to mount lofty.

Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Hike

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Arriving at waterfall gully we took a few minutes to take some photos of the first waterfall while we waited for my dads mate Sam to arrive. After taking a few photos of the waterfall it started raining so we hurriedly walked over to the cafe (closed unfortunately) to seek shelter. Fortunately we found a few chairs under a small gazebo to hide away under until the rain eased up. While we waited under the gazebo dad got a call from Sam who made his way up to our spot and subjected me to an elaborate dad joke.

After our brief introduction Sam explains “I recently got a 3d printer so I made you a little souvenir” as he begins to pull out a small green object and hand it to me. It appears to be a little green bomb, which seems a little odd but hey a 3d printed bomb is cool I guess.“Oh, that’s cool, Thanks” I reply as I go to place it in my bag “Be careful you don’t drop it” he says with a grin as I look at it again and slowly rotate it. “It’s an F bomb” he exclaims.

As the rain eased up we began to make our way up the mountain, first there was a rather steep set of stairs up to the top of the first waterfall which we made our way up. After getting to the top of the stairs we all began to realise that the hike was not going to be easy so we had a quick stop to take some photos and catch our breath before continuing on. We continued to make our way up the mountain slowly taking frequent breaks to rest.I was mostly fine being younger, more active and not bearing the weight of a heavy pack like Sam. But nonetheless my heart rate over the 4.5km/465m elevation hike averaged 125bpm and peaked at 164 (when I decided to run up a particularly steep section for the lols).

When we reached the top the view was mostly obscured by the rain/fog so we made our way into the cafe for a rest and a drink. Fortunately the hike down was much easier(~2:00 up, ~1:15ish down)

After our hike we headed over to Norwood for dinner; initially the plan was to go to a sushi train but we decided our appetite was too big so decided instead to go to the pub. We walked over to Finn Maccools on the corner and I absolutely smashed down the insanely large plate of fish and chips they brought out.

On Wednesday; my last proper day in Adelaide we decided to have more of a chill one and catch the tram from Glenelg into the city, have a game of mini golf and chill. Unfortunately the weather was quite unpleasant raining and with the winds gusting up to 70kph my poor folding umbrella kept getting flipped inside out on our way to the tram. Once in the city the wind and rain did not ease up however the buildings did shield us from the wind a bit more which was nice. Once in the city we grabbed a coffee while we waited for Holey Moley to open up. We had a pretty decent game but dad definitely beat me (all those hours of golf with friends on the computer obviously paid off 😁). After mini golf we had a quick drink at Holey Moley (yes, I got the stupid duck one 💀) before heading out for lunch. For Lunch we went to a Mexican restaurant called EL Mexicano in a lane off of Pirie st. I had some tacos, jalapeno poppers and a spicy marg while dad tried the chimichanga. After catching the tram back to Glenelg we headed back home for a bit before heading out to Norwood again for dinner and desserts. Back at dad’s place that evening I packed my bags and hit the hay for a nice early 4:50AM wake up and 6:50 departure on the Overland to Adelaide.

The Overland

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We arrived early at the Terminal and I checked in my bag, after waiting for a while they announced a coffee van was out the front so I went out and grabbed myself a flat white. Shortly after finishing my coffee and throwing away the cup boarding was announced. I was sat in a window seat at the front of car B with no one beside me and easily 5 meters of legroom (the normal seats had heaps as well). The interior of The Overland was a little more dated and less clean than the Indian Pacific however the seats were comfortable and the service and meals were pretty decent. Fortunately I was travelling in “Red Premium” so meals and non alcoholic drinks were included.

For breakfast I had a Spinach & Feta Omelette. Staring out the window as we headed through the mountains north of Adelaide was quite nice but as the train slowly made it’s way out into the less interesting farmland I grabbed a coffee from the buffet car and started working on my last blog post. Lunch rolled around soon so I put away my laptop and had my toasted focaccia and a glass of sparkling chardonay pinot noir then I finished up my blog post and grabbed another coffee. I spent the rest of my time on the train finishing off my book (“Chatter - The voice in our head and how to harness it” - pretty solid read if you are into self helpy stuff) and scrolling insta reels (reception was pretty decent on this leg of the journey).

Melbourne

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Arriving at Melbourne, Southern Cross Station at around 6:30PM I collected my luggage, got a selfie with the platform sign and walked 20 mins to my hotel near Melbourne Central (could have caught the train but I wanted to walk after the last 12 hours on one). After checking in I gave my mum a call then headed into Melbourne Central for Grill’d, grabbed some groceries for the week and made my way back to the hotel.

Friday morning I went for a 1km run to the Snap Fitness in South Bank and did my first workout in Melbourne. Unfortunately this Gym was a bit smaller so was missing some of my normal machines. After Gym I headed into work for my first day back on the job. The day was mostly uneventful but getting to see some of the Service Desk guys face to face was cool (my team wasn’t in). After work I headed out with one of the guys from work for dinner and a “few” drinks. He hadn’t planned on staying out late so at around 8:30 we parted ways and he gave me the recommendation to check out StoryVille one of the bars nearby which I did. StoryVille was pretty cool. Out the front I ran into a few blokes from regional VIC who were in town on a bucks night. I made my way into the bar with them and had a chat and a few drinks before they had to head off. After they left the floor below had opened up the dance floor so I had a few more drinks and a bit of a dance before going back to the hotel.

Saturday was a bit of a late start but I made my way over to the Laundromat to catch up on some laundry then grabbed a coffee and a meat pie at the Queen Victoria Markets. After my clothes were done at the Laundromat I headed back into town grabbed another coffee and made my way to St kilda. I went for a walk around the beach area for a while, grabbed a selfie at Luna Park and went for a ride on a Lime bike before grabbing dinner at Lady of St Kilda in the main bar/restaurant area near the tram station. The food here was amazing, I had the Mediterranean Pita burger with Tzatziki which was really nice. After my meal and a couple drinks I caught the tram back in to the city hopped to 4 different bars before calling it quits at 11, grabbing a chicken rapa at Oporto and heading back to the hotel.

Sunday was another late start, caught the tram to Brunswick, grabbed a coffee walked around and grabbed lunch. At 6 I went for a run to the Gym and yet another workout.

Monday was chill at work but in the afternoon I didn’t have any plans so smashed a 10km run around the city dodging pedestrians which was fun. I still hit an avg 5'29" pace which was pretty solid for me esp given the pedestrian dodging 🙂

Tuesday was a very good day for food but otherwise pretty uneventful

• Bakemono - hella good pastries and good coffee
• Five Guys for lunch (pretty good but too expensive)
• IKKAI - pretty darn good karaage donburi

Wednesday night we did a team dinner at Vespa Rossa on Degraves St which had nice pizza, heavenly garlic bread and a complimentary tiramissu which was also amazing. After Dinner I had a few drinks and did some more laundry.

Thursday morning at the recommendation of Brenda (my manager) after my Gym session I went to Cafe Andiamo (also on Degraves st) for an eggs benny. For lunch I went to Tokui sushi. After work at my colleagues Matt’s recommendation I went to the rooftop bar Union Electric for a few drinks (They have a Espresso martini with a dark rum which was interesting and surprisingly good). For dinner I went to a Korean restaurant near my hotel called Doma which did a really good bulgogi. For desserts across the road to Mr Hugo where I had a matcha red bean toast which was absolutely to die for.

Finally on Friday morning I finished packing my suitcase again and headed off to Southern Cross station (this time taking the train from Central) to board the XPT towards Sydney.

I’m a little behind on these posts (currently briefly back in Brisbane before the Spirit of QLD) so my last post will be when my trip is done and cover the remainder of the trip - Sydney, Cairns and Townsville.