A day trip to Hunter Valley

When I changed roles at work a few months ago, the team I left gave Toby & me and gift certificate for a day tour to Hunter Valley. It was such a thoughtful gift, so I booked in our tour for the weekend after my bday - just to extend the fun a bit longer!

Our tour left the CBD a little bit before 8 on Saturday morning. We got lucky and were on a tour with just two other people: a mom and daughter from Connecticut. They have been here since Christmas to watch the brother/uncle race in the Sydney to Hobart race. They were nice and it was great being a small group because we got extra snacks and wine at all the stops!

 

 

Our guide for the day was named Jim. He was hilarious and also really knowledgeable. He told us he's always wanted to visit Tennesee, specificially Chattanooga. He said his fascination with Chattanooga comes from his love of soul music, and I think he was a little disappointed that we didn't know any Chattanooga facts to discuss with him. He shared plenty with us throughout the day though! He also called me Christine, Christina, and Caroline interchangeably, so we just rolled with it.

 

We visited three wineries during the day. These were smaller, independent wineries that aren't part of some of the big company-owned ones in the valley. At each one, we had a nice little seating area and got to taste five or six wines. Some of them were really nice and then some of them weren't to our taste.

 

 

 

It had been raining for almost a week before our trip to the Hunter, and we learned it was really bad timing for the grapes. Most of the varieties are almost ready for harvest, but the rain and warm weather = mold on the vines. Obviously moldy vines are bad, so the wineries we visited told us that they anticipated throwing out most of their crop. It was very sad, but they are hoping for some hot, sunny weather over the next few weeks that will help recover some of vines. 

 

 

For lunch we stopped at a little village full of shops and cafes. We found the Australian version of Cracker Barrel and had our lunch there.

 

 

 

We've yet to make a trip to Hunter Valley without seeing some kangaroos, and even this short day trip was no exception! Toward the end of the day, we saw a group of them hanging out under some trees. It was the perfect way to cap off our fun little day out of the city. 

 

Although sometimes, after a full day of activities away from the apartment, this can happen. 

 

Often this can be cured by a macaroni and cheese dinner. So that's what we did!