Stephen and Vanessa in Hunter Valley
The veranda at our B&B at Hunter Valley
Lake in Hunter Valley where we had our lunch
Another view of lake
Hunter Valley sky
If you are going to travel in Australia then choose a cloudy day. We did just that on Thursday as we set off for Hunter Valley – a wine making region a couple of hours north of Sydney. The other important advice is “don’t forget to stop as you pass the best coffee shop in town”, so we did that too, even though we’d only been on the road for half an hour. Elaine thinks that her choice of custard brioche with raspberry topping was best, but she only had a tiny taster of my blueberry cheesecake so doesn’t really know how good it was. Vanessa and I shared the driving through the rain which came from some dramatically dark clouds so we were all fresh when we arrived. The sky had been clear enough, though, for us to see the miles of bush on either side of the freeway for what seemed like over 100km - wonderful and very different from anything that we had seen previously.
We had lunch at a small winery, but didn’t stop to taste the fruit of the vine. There were going to be plenty of other places for that and first we had the important tasks of going to the cheese factory and the chocolate shop to sample and buy some of their wares. Vanessa then carefully guided us to three of the innumerable wineries. The first specialised in champagne and I tried a pink champagne for the first time – very pleasant, but the bank manager decided against me having more than a taste. Then we went to another winery where we were disappointed with their offerings, so quickly moved on. Elaine had been refraining from drinking so that she could drive, but after I had assured her that I’d had no more than half a glass in total she decided to join Vanessa in testing out a variety of white, red and dessert wines at our next port of call. Amid much banter with the man there we decided that nearly everything was too young, too dry or even according to Elaine “dancing”. However the good humoured member of staff had the last laugh as he sold Vanessa and Elaine a bottle each as well as letting me beyond the No admittance sign to photograph all the barrels.
By now the sun had arrived and we drove to our B&B which had exquisite gardens and then after a shower we went into Maitland for dinner. As with the wine, much was rejected, the Thai restaurant, the noisy Irish pub, the food stalls in the late night market, until just when we were about to abandon hope of good food in Maitland we found a lovely little restaurant at the far end of town. Enormous starters and first class lamb and salmon went to make a very good evening. What a shame we had to hop over cockroaches as we made our way back down the High Street, but we did need the exercise after such a good dinner.
Lake in Hunter Valley where we had our lunch
Another view of lake 
Hunter Valley sky
If you are going to travel in Australia then choose a cloudy day. We did just that on Thursday as we set off for Hunter Valley – a wine making region a couple of hours north of Sydney. The other important advice is “don’t forget to stop as you pass the best coffee shop in town”, so we did that too, even though we’d only been on the road for half an hour. Elaine thinks that her choice of custard brioche with raspberry topping was best, but she only had a tiny taster of my blueberry cheesecake so doesn’t really know how good it was. Vanessa and I shared the driving through the rain which came from some dramatically dark clouds so we were all fresh when we arrived. The sky had been clear enough, though, for us to see the miles of bush on either side of the freeway for what seemed like over 100km - wonderful and very different from anything that we had seen previously.
We had lunch at a small winery, but didn’t stop to taste the fruit of the vine. There were going to be plenty of other places for that and first we had the important tasks of going to the cheese factory and the chocolate shop to sample and buy some of their wares. Vanessa then carefully guided us to three of the innumerable wineries. The first specialised in champagne and I tried a pink champagne for the first time – very pleasant, but the bank manager decided against me having more than a taste. Then we went to another winery where we were disappointed with their offerings, so quickly moved on. Elaine had been refraining from drinking so that she could drive, but after I had assured her that I’d had no more than half a glass in total she decided to join Vanessa in testing out a variety of white, red and dessert wines at our next port of call. Amid much banter with the man there we decided that nearly everything was too young, too dry or even according to Elaine “dancing”. However the good humoured member of staff had the last laugh as he sold Vanessa and Elaine a bottle each as well as letting me beyond the No admittance sign to photograph all the barrels.
By now the sun had arrived and we drove to our B&B which had exquisite gardens and then after a shower we went into Maitland for dinner. As with the wine, much was rejected, the Thai restaurant, the noisy Irish pub, the food stalls in the late night market, until just when we were about to abandon hope of good food in Maitland we found a lovely little restaurant at the far end of town. Enormous starters and first class lamb and salmon went to make a very good evening. What a shame we had to hop over cockroaches as we made our way back down the High Street, but we did need the exercise after such a good dinner.
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