Things you see everywhere in Australia

Hunter Valley

• vineyards
• Americans
• tourists
• happy people
• tourist trap

Newcastle

• uni students
• country town

Day 3 6/5/07 - Australia

Newcastle -> Sydney

Highlight

• Wow, the first holiday I haven't enjoyed for a long time. I'd forgotten why I don't go on holidays with my family...I swear when I have a family, I am not going to annoy them!
• After another restless night, with the front door alarm going off constantly and drunk uni students patrolling the halls, we set off for the Honeysuckle Markets, Newcastle's premier market. Well, put it this way, there were about 10 stalls that's about it, so we were able to buy some bread and veg and go home to have brekkie.
• On the way back, drove past some of the "sights" of Newcastle, the Red-Light District, and the Newcastle Steelworks.
• After our "lunch", it was time for the long drive home, watching a game of soccer, before finally arriving home.

Food

• Fosterton Farm Linseed sourdough ($4.80)
• Fosterton Farm corn sourdough ($4.80)
• Fosterton Farm farmhouse sourdough ($4.80)
• Fosterton Farm pumpkin, fetta and rice parcel ($3)
• Mayan Coffee cappuccino ($3.20)
• Bionnarie Dairy labna, duetto
• Hunter Valley Cheese Company gold washed rind cheese
• omelette with mushrooms

Day 2 5/5/07 - Australia

Newcastle -> Pokolbin -> Newcastle

Highlight

• Woke up really early because of the bird calls outside the dorm room, so we ended up having breakfast really early and leaving the house by 8:30am. As a result we got to the Hunter Valley around 9:30 am, so of course nothing was open yet.
• First stop was the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, which wasn't opened yet, so we had a wonder around the Pokolbin Chocolate & Jam Company General Store at the Pokobin Village Resort.
• Too impatient to wait, we went to the Hunter Valley Gardens Village (HVGV), where there is a beautiful church with stained glass windows overlooking the gardens (incidentally there was a wedding there too).
• There are plenty of shops around HVGV to poke around in, my favourites were The Waiters Friend, selling all manners of kitchen stuff, and of course The Hunter Valley Chocolate Company, where they craft some delicious chcolate, my favourite being the chilli chocolate. They didn't have the dark coffee beans we wanted, so the girl was kind enough to call their other shop and store some aside for us.
• We hadn't actually tasted any wine at this stage, so we thought it was time to give it a go.
• We started off at the Bluetongue Brewery, but since we had to pay to taste the beer, so we just had a look before moving on. You can go on brewery tours, but seeing we've been on tours before, we gave it a miss.
• Across the road was the Binnorie Dairy, it was very crowded, but the setting as beautiful, overlooking a lake and vineywards, so we didn't mind waiting around. When we finally did, we got to taste test the whole range of their cheese, duetto, marinated fetta, labna, mascapone. Their cheese offering was excellent, we were really pleased so bought up big.
• On the way there, we passed a really nice looking winery, set in the valley and they had a huge balcony, so we decided to use that as our first wine tasting stop. I am so glad we did. The Keith Tullochwine Winery was excellent, a small brewery that only makes a small collection of wines, on sale at the cellar store or at the Small Winemakers Centre, and restaurants only. The best thing about this place is the way you do tasting. You pick your spot on the spacious balcony or inside, and they bring you glasses and the wines one by one. They only produce 2 whites, three rds and a dessert wine only. The wines were of pretty good quality, and the service was excellent. Each wine was explained to you and you can relax with your tasting, reclining on the comfy couches. There are also newspaper and mags to read. We spent over an hour there and ended up joining their wine club as well as buying a dozen.
• We went back to the Smelly Cheese Shop but it was so crowded that we didn't stay there long. They have a whole range of their own cheeses as well as cheese from all around the world. If you're here on a quiet day it's well worth a wander, especially in their cheese room.
• The Hunter Valley Cheese Factory is located at McGuigan Cellars. We walked through the range of their cheese, including the marinated fetta, fresh herbed cheese, the smelly Gold Washed Rind, 2 goats cheese: the Branxton White Mould and Grape Vien Ashed Brie, a strong blue and a cheddar from Queensland. The marinated products were not as good as Binnorie Dairy, but we really enjoyed the washed rind. We also managed to pick up some excellent olive oil.
• Across the road for some lunch at the Australian Regional Food Store, but alas, the lunch menu was boring and unimaginative, not to mention expensive, so we made to with 2 mediocare coffees, before heading next door to the Small Winemakers Centre for more taste testing. Not only was the person rude and slow to us, but the wine was pretty ordinary. We left there in a hurry, plenty more cellar doors where they are more welcoming.
• Finally we made our way to the reason we went to the Hunter in the first place, the Meander on Marrowbone Road event as part of the Harvest Festival. Unfortunately it was a bit late in the day, and also because we'd drunk our weights worth in wine, we only managed to make it to 2 out of 5 wineries. Draytons Family Wines where they were offering a winery tour. But before that, we got to taste a few of their offerings, and picked up a dozen reds for the price of $4 each! The wineary tour was pretty informative, and covers the whole process - I've been to a few winery tours in my lifetime, and I actually never remember much of it...
• Our 2nd stop on Marrowbone Rd was to the McWilliams Mount Pleasant Estate, one of the oldest winery in the Hunter. They had a photo exhibition, showing wine making there in teh 50s, taken by famous photographer Max Dupain.
• Our last stop was to get our chocolates from the . I never realised why this was the last stop, as the girl mentioned the shop was just down the road. As it turned out, Slokky had "misinterpreted" and thought we had to go to the factory at Lovedale instead. So 20 minutes later, we found ourselves at the factory shop, where we watched two workers making chocolates. A few taste of fudge later, we came away with bags of chocolate treats.
• We wanted to go to Restaurant II, but it was booked out. So Slokky suggested Honeysuckle Wharf, the supposed Newcastle equivalent to King Street Wharf. Well, in terms of architecture, that's correct, but in terms of shops and people, there were like 1/4 of the people. Since we were with mum and dad, we didn't really get ot eat at where we wanted, so ended up at Twist Cafe Bar, which is not a highlight. Read about it in my review here.
• Got forced to go to Coles to buy soap, even though there were still heaps left, then got forced to eat "yam dessert", even though there is no sugar in it at all.
• As usual, Elaine refuses to sleep early and also refuses to keep the noise down when other people are sleeping, so had to stay awake even though I was really really tired.

Food

• baked beans, scrambled eggs and cheese on toast
• porriage with fruit and nuts
• Bliss Coffee Roaster cappuccino ($3.50)
• taste testing olive oils, jams, chutneys
• taste testing wines
• Australian Regional Food Store latte ($3.80)
• taste testing chocolate and fudge at Hunter Valley Chocolate Company
• mandarin
• Twist Cafe Bar dinner:
  • seared blue eye cod fillet in South Indian aubergine and potato curry topped with seared scallops and riata ($26)
  • pan fried yellow fin tuna served on sauteed kiper potato, asparagus and sundried tomatoes with wild roquette, basil oil and essence of balsamic ($26)
  • roased whole spatchcock with french lentils, currents, speck and merlot glaze ($24)
  • chargrilled bangalow pork cutlet with roasted parsnip and thyme mash, sauteed dbaby spinach and caramelised apple jus ($26)
  • seared atlantics salmon with beurre blanc, asparagus spear and potato rosti ($26)
• yam potatoes "dessert"
• peanut butter fudge

Day 1 4/5/07 - Australia

Sydney -> Newcastle

Highlight

• We started with dinner at Flemington's Saigon Pho, before taking the 2+ hour drive to Newcastle. The road was more crowded than I expected, but the road is nice enough.
• Elaine's campus dorm is very nice. The building is very new, the room is ver yspacious and there are some very beautiful BBQ area as well as a common room with a huge TV and Foxtel! Slokky might be spending more weeks here afterall

Food

• Saigon Pho dinner:
  • beef noodle soup ($7)
  • seafood combination in fried noodles ($9)
  • special fish with rice hot pot ($8.70)

Hunter Valley 2007

Simple Plan:
Oz

Expaneded Plan:
Sydney - Newcastle - Hunter - Newcastle - Sydney

Date:
4/5/07 - 6/5/07

Flying:
or not

Cost:
$$

100 Great Things To Do In Australia

001 Explore Kakadu’s little brother Litchfield
002 Be cast for eternity onto salty Lake Ballard
003 Swim with wild seals at Baird Bay
004 Go on holiday save 100 lives at Mapoon
005 Reach the oasis of Ormiston Gorge
006 Visit the other remarkable pebble Mount Augustus
007 Open a half-million-year-old treasure chest Naracoorte Caves
008 Visit one of the world’s oldest art galleries Carnarvon Gorge
009 Go swimming with tuna at Port Lincoln
010 Hear a great set of pipes at the Undara Lava Tubes
011 Walk to Art in Melbourne
012 Stay the night in a light on Montague Island
013 Lose yourself in the bluest lagoon at Fitzroy Reef
014 Call the birds in on towering Mount Gower
015 Take a vow of silence in New Norcia
016 Be among the first to paint the hills in outback SA
017 Celebrate Australian biodiversity at Australian Garden
018 Adrift on a Dead Sea at the Pool of Siloam
019 Rent your own island in the Mackerel Islands
020 Get dragged around with Sydney by Diva
021 Look! Up in the sky! It’s your round! Flying Pub Crawl
022 Bathe in convict history at the Bogey Hole
023 Live the life of a keeper on Gabo Island
024 See Sydney from a VERY different angle
025 Paddle under a convict prison in Fremantle
026 Play catch with sharks on the Undersea Explorer
027 Lose your blues at Greens Pool
028 Be a postman for a day on the Outback Mail Run
029 Take the longest sheer plunge down Wallaman Falls
030 Stay at Kangaroo’s lighthouse trinity
031 Dive into the world’s purest cleanest water Mount Gambier
032 See the world at 300m per second in a Mig Jet
033 Gain some extremely remote access at Garig Ganuk Barlu
034 Find food for your soul at Flames of the Forest
035 Stride among the city of Gnomes
036 Watch over Australia’s moodiest lake Blue Lake
037 The Sound of Music at Mount Scoria
038 See blind shrimps and a million stars at Cutta Cutta Caves
039 Fly to the ancient source of Australian art
040 Visit our most haunted house Monte Cristo Homestead
041 See the other side of the rainbow Rainbow Serpent Tour
042 Twitter with the Twitchers at Coffs Coast
043 Stroll along the seabed with Seawalker
044 Find a home among the Banksias
045 Bathe in a boiling outback lake at Dalhousie Springs
046 Spot some of Australia’s oldest graffiti on Chambers Pillar
047 Get on your soapbox Australian Billy Cart Champs
048 Travel in a clattering time machine the Afghan Express
049 Take tea with the Morning Tea Ladies on Tiwi Island
050 Go French for a hidden tourism gem French Island
051 Go to sea in a tinnie at the Beer Can Regatta
052 Hold your breath for the dive of the century Fish Rock Cave
053 Fly in raft out on the North Johnstone River
054 Run with white lions in Mogo Zoo
055 Win your wife’s weight in beer Wife Carrying Champs
056 Don’t fence me in at Cameron’s Corner
057 Watch spawning cuttlefish off Whyalla
058 Proclaim yourself King for the night Kings Plains Castle
059 Walk through untouched lands Kakadu Hawk Dreaming
060 Visit an outback slice of the ’50s at Bells Milk Bar
061 Imagine the land before maps on the Great North Road
062 Catch your own seafood platter at Black Point
063 Prepare to circle the wagons in Bendigo
064 Hop on Tasmania’s newest ride Piners and Miners Tour
065 Play polo in Banjo country at the Geebung Polo Match
066 Make your own wine at Penfolds
067 Tinker with Tilba Tilba’s trinkets
068 Walk among the dolomites in the Hastings Caves
069 Make like Moses at Burning Mountain
070 Go deep underground with Douggie’s Mine Tours
071 Boogie-woogie on rails in the Blues Train
072 Rent your own cave in the Upper Blue Mountains
073 Visit Australia’s unknown Grand Canyon Capertee Valley
074 Share your secrets with the Whispering Wall
075 Find your way among the roses at Ashcombe
076 Bomb the Perry Sandhills on the banks of the Murray
077 Have the perfect family day at Parsley Bay
078 Stumble across Beautiful Betsy
079 Crawl through a goldmine at Arltunga
080 See the giant water babies at Point Ann
081 Crawl through a convict tunnel in Clarence
082 Visit a country within a country Principality of Hutt River
083 Back your favourite cane toad on Magnetic Island
084 Twirl a brolly from a previous century Old Umbrella Shop
085 Delve into your immigrant past at the National Archives
086 Visit Hans Heysen’s home among the gumtrees
087 Spot Australia’s rarest mammal at Two Peoples Bay
088 Dive into surfing heartland’s Blue Pool
089 See the walls come alive at Kurri Kurri
090 See the world’s largest acrylic painting at Broken Hill
091 Sail the postman’s run up the Hawkesbury
092 Join the outback pest war against the Yellow Crazy Ants
093 Roll with the pumpkins at Goomeri
094 Wander through the scarecrows in the vineyard
095 Step through the looking glass National Art Glass Gallery
096 Get the best coffee in the galaxy at Tidbinbilla
097 Ride fly eat and learn on the Flying Camel Tour
098 Pay your respects to Tom Roberts’ Big Picture
099 Drink the world’s most expensive coffee
100 Set your spider senses tingling at Australia’s Venom Zoo