The Hunter Valley

We spent the past weekend in the Hunter Valley region of NSW. It's well-known wine country, full of rolling hills and many vineyards -- all very picturesque. There are also olive groves and cheese factories. We went with some friends of ours, Keith and Laura. None of us had ever visited a wine region before.

Through extended friends, we heard about a little cottage resort we could stay at. We left Wollongong late Friday afternoon and arrived at the destination about 4 hours later. The drive was very scenic. The cottage was nicely done, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen with all the basic items, a fridge stocked with a small assortment of food, a living area, and an outdoor grill.

For the first half of Saturday, we drove around to a couple of cheese and chocolate shops, in addition to visiting a couple of wineries near those stops. After having lunch, we drove to a bike rental shop and rented bikes so we could all enjoy the wine tastings and not have to keep one person sober for driving. Nearly all the wines were good, and vineyard staff quite helpful. We learned lots about the local wines. Prices varied greatly, from A$10 to A$70 per bottle. We also went to the Blue Tongue Brewery and sampled several different beers. Blue Tongue makes a good alcoholic ginger beer.

Sunday morning we rode the bikes into a retirement neighborhood with a golf course. Michelle and Laura reported seeing kangaroos the previous morning on their run. About twenty kangaroos were munching grass and playing when we arrived. Two young ones were boxing, which we thought was just an urban myth. I got several videos of the matches.

Overall, we had a great time and would definitely consider doing a trip like that again (though next time I might bring my own bike). We bought a couple of bottles of sparkling white wine, a white dessert wine, and a white and red fortified wine. As the local food shops are all very expensive, we saved lots by bringing our own food and cooking at the cabin.