My final two days passed in a whirlwind of learning curves, successes, failures and phone calls.

Thursday night my sister had dragged me shopping, a horror all to its self.

But on the upside, I was able to swagger into the office on Friday with lovely new shoes.

So with my feet feeling rather pretty, I finished up some articles and rang 25 people to help out a journalist with hisarticle.

And though I did feel a bit like a phone operator I learnt that persistence is the key. In the end, it was that 25th call that gave me what I needed.

I also got to speak with the king of puns.

The king of kings!

The deputy editor gave me the opportunity to see some page planning.

His dedication was amazing – every Saturday he gets into the office at 5am and doesn’t leave until middnight.

And in amongst all his work, he writes fantastic, punny headlines.

He even won an award recognising his headlines!

It was extremely interesting to speak with him and a great opportunity to see the planning software that is used.

At one point in the day, I can’t remember exactly when, I ran to the electoral office to get an address.

It was a crazy busy day but somehow I got to leave half an hour early! Luxury!

Saturday meant everyone is dressed down, the sub-editors opting for hoodies and jeans instead of the usual black pants and jackets.

Saturdays at a Sunday paper always mean a late night at the office and this week I was invited to watch the frantic last minute scrambling together of the paper.

So, I headed into the office at 10am, ready to work until 7pm.

Let in by my friend the security guard, I walked up the stairs (the ‘you never have to wait for stairs’ advertisement gets to me a lot).

And, like a pro, I walked into the office, grabbed a cup of tea and joined the news conference.

But I wasn’t there for long, whisked off to interview locals at a drive-by shooting at Murray Bridge.

Terribly exciting!

The drive to Murray Bridge afforded a good conversation about ethics, my future in journalism and how much we both enjoyed Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, despite it being severely overplayed.

When we arrived at the scene, I again learnt that it pays to hang around and wait. The longer we waited, the better the situation became, with more neighbours getting home and us even getting the opportunity to speak briefly with the family.

And as I door-knocked the neighbours, I realised with a start – they didn’t know I was just an intern!

I knew what I was doing and felt like a real journalist. Marvellous!

On getting back to the office I followed up a story, gave out thank you chocolates to the office and helped the assistant editor sub-edit some pages (okay, helped is perhaps a little strong).

I even got a photo of me sitting at my desk!

Casually pretending to use the phone...

And at 7.30 I walked out of the office, clutching my glowing report and sad that I was leaving.

Conclusion?

An amazing two-week experience, I had a great time, learned a LOT and can’t wait to get back into the field!