Melbourne: here I am.

Once I'd booked my tickets and knew I was finally going, leaving Kangaroo Island wasn't hard and so while I'd been a bit stressed deciding when I was going to go, by the end, I was all excited about the next bit of my journey.

I got a lift into Kingscote on Sunday and had the afternoon there as the shuttle bus wasn't picking me up until 5.20pm. There's no public transport on KI apart from the twice daily bus to the ferry. It was a beautiful sunny day - although if anything, a bit hot and I was glad that I was leaving as I don't think I could cope with the weather much hotter. Anyway I walked along the beach and saw a couple of baby penguins in their nests, lots of pelicans resting on the shore with their heads tucked into their bodies and some black swans swimming in the sea, all pretty neat.

I then walked to the museum which had a hotch-potch display of old photographs, newspaper cuttings, lace, shells, stuffed animals, bottles as well as tractors(including a little grey Fergie), a forge, butter-making equipment and a lighthouse. It was quite fun and I especially liked the photo of Rachel's homestead circa 1861.

After that I walked up the hill and had a great view of the beautiful blue bay with sand banks and fishing boats. I then caught the shuttle bus to Penneshaw and had half an hour to wait before the ferry so thought I'd go and see Ray, the youth hostel guy. I wanted to go and thank him for keeping Rachel's note about work, for encouraging me to go and to tell him what a great time I had. I wasn't sure he'd remember me as he obviously has lots of guests staying but as I walked up to the hostel, he came out and said: "Is that Lucy?" I was so happy.

He'd told me to come back so I explained that I didn't come back to the hostel because I was having so much fun. He said he thought I'd get on well with Rachel and expected to see me in Kingscote someday and I'd say I was living there now. In fact, he was a bit surprised that I was leaving the island. He made me a cup of tea and we had a nice chat and it was the perfect ending to a great holiday.

I sat on the deck of the boat on the way back to the mainland watching the sun set over Kangaroo Island and I wasn't sad at all. I was so happy and had this big grin on my face. I thought how successful the trip had been, I really couldn't have planned it better. I'd been stressing a bit over the past few days that maybe I'd stayed there too long but that doubt then evaporated. It had been amazing. It was amazing. It is amazing. I would say it was perfect, but I'm beginning to overuse that word now. (Who'd have thought it?) Ray told me I had to go back but right now, I have no idea if I will.

When I got to the youth hostel in Adelaide I was still really happy. I thought about how I'd been on the train with Rob and David, I'd been so nervous and panicky, wondering how I was going to cope on my own but they assured me that I could. So when I left Maureen and Andrew and Lucy, I was confident but nervous and I sat in the park in front of the youth hostel with all my stuff and thought, this is me now, travelling on my own, this is IT.

This time, when I got to the youth hostel I felt like a hostelling pro - so confident and relaxed, and yet, I couldn't believe I'd been there six weeks ago - it seemed like I'd been there only yesterday. Six weeks, six weeks is ages. Now it seems weird that I'd been on KI for so long. But it did feel good to be travelling again, especially with such a successful few weeks behind me. I was on the move, only with more confidence now and with a glow of excitment, wondering where it will take me.