It’s always slightly surreal when someone who features so prominently in your social feed becomes a real person standing in front of you. Technically, Kiriakos and I had met before, but it was such a brief, jet-lagged whirlwind that it barely counted.

This time, we reunited by the Opera House on the evening he landed. What began as a cute sunset catch-up somehow ended with fireworks over the harbour. It was one of those unexpectedly beautiful Sydney moments that felt almost too perfectly staged for Instagram.

This time, we decided to escape the city. After considering a few different parts of Australia, we settled on the Blue Mountains and brought our photographer, Scott, along for the adventure. We found spectacular scenery and captured some incredible photos, although the kangaroos we’d promised Kiriakos were nowhere to be found. We also managed to get ourselves locked inside the national park after losing track of time and had to pay someone to release us.

Behind that enormous online presence, Kiriakos is warm, hilarious and also remarkably generous with his advice and guidance. Watching him work was a genuine masterclass in the craft of social media, and I learned so much from seeing how instinctively he can turn a simple moment into something people want to stop and watch.