Hunter Valley

Yesterday, bright and early, we headed up to Hunter Valley Wineries with a few people from work. We took the scenic route there, crossing the Hawthrone river on a car ferry. The ride there took about three hours, but it was really nice. On the way home it only took about and hour and half, since we took the highway home. We had a random hot day of 90 degrees, but there was blue sky, sun, and a slight breeze.

We had an enjoyable time sipping on different types of wine, and joking around with friends. There are over a hundred wineries available to visit, overlooking fields of bare grapevines at the moment. Don't worry we did not even come close to visiting 100 wineries! :) One of the couples are members of three different wineries, which allowed us to buy wine at member prices, and at one place (Peppertree) we were able to have a private tasting in a setting that was all to ourselves. This time was very relaxing, with great company.

In the midst of the wine tasting, we also visited the BlueTongue Brewery and tried a taste of six different types of beer. Ray really enjoyed this part of the day.

Each winery was a bit different than the next, all claiming that they do something different with their wine. At the Gartelmann's, there was a gentleman there named York, who walked us through each type of wine available, and explained how each one was made. He was a talker, and caused us to be late for our last appointment at Blueberry Hill. All of the wineries close at 5pm, and we past the man on the road who owned Blueberry Hill. This man (John) was kind enough to come back, and share his wine with us. Throughout the day Ray and I picked up a few of our favorites, and we headed off to a nice dinner at "Shakey Tables."

Ray and I were excited to see our first live kangeroo! We actually saw at least a dozen of them. It was pretty neat seeing them in the wild. We really felt like tourists then! Unfortunely, our camera went dead so we did not get any good pictures! Maybe next time.