Month: January 2014

Adelaide Couchsurfing

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Due to lack of planning and last minute decisions Chris and I ended up in Adelaide with nowhere to stay and a few days to kill before going to Sydney for New Years. So we booked into the cheapest hostel we could find and handed over $28 each for an 8-bed dorm.

It wasn’t the worst hostel ever. There was free internet, a decent TV room, and a balcony terrace area. But the rooms were cramped, the air con didn’t work, and the hostel was home to a cliquey group of backpackers who were staying long term and working in Adelaide. They spent the night playing drinking games and dares out on the terrace.

At 1am I was awoken by voices outside my room. They were whispering loudly and giggling. Next thing the door burst open and a guy came running in with another guy behind him filming on his phone. They turned on the light and started shouting, jumping on the people sleeping in the bottom bunks, then ran out again, laughing.

As far as I was concerned that was enough, I couldn’t be bothered with idiots like that, it’s hard enough getting a good nights sleep in a hostel as it is! So I made use of the free internet and started frantically sending out couchsurfing requests. Continue reading →

Christmas With the Deckerts

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It was always the plan to stay with Aussie Nick and his family for Christmas. Nick is Chris’s old school friend and his mum is originally from Northern Ireland. When he was 11 his family moved back to Northern Ireland for a while, and then he came back again for a working holiday a few years ago. The two guys had gotten pretty close during that second visit and Chris had always said he would visit Nick in Adelaide, so now was his chance.

It just so happened that Nick was in Melbourne at a golf tournament two weeks before Christmas, so Chris and I were able to get a lift back to Adelaide with him. The 8 hour car journey wasn’t as bad as I thought, I slept most of it!

We finally arrived at his house in Normanville, a really nice beach town, to be welcomed by his mum, Jennifer, and dad, Ian. Straight off we were made to feel at home. We were given a beautiful room in their Bach, fed amazing food and there was always beer and champagne on hand. It was funny seeing the mixture of Northern Irish and Aussie in Jennifer. She’d moved out to Australia when she was about 10 but still had a funny twang to her accent and I felt very relaxed in her company. She’s very bubbly and talkative, and she loves champagne. Continue reading →