Started off early with a walk down the beach and around the town of Port Macquarie. It’s a sweet little beach/lake/port town, and we’d really like to spend more time here. But, today, we are headed out to the Sydney area to tour the Hunter Wine Valley and then the Blue Mountains.
Headed out about 8 and found our way south to the Hunter. Made it there just before lunch time and gathered tons of information from the main info center in Cessnock. Mapped out our strategy to hit a few wineries and the cheese factory. The Hunter Valley was just lovely. You would have thought on a Saturday in the fall, with perfect weather (70 degrees and not a cloud in the skies) that the place would be packed. It wasn’t.
The little lanes that run in and along all the vineyards had few cars on them. They were all 2 lane little country roads with picturesque vineyards on each side. Tall trees lined most of the roads, and it was really a lovely, relaxing drive through the hundreds of wineries. We chose to visit Pepper Tree, which is a beautiful little vineyard with their processing center right on sight. I liked their wines the best – they have a Verdelho varietal that is excellent. Their Semillon is also very good. After Pepper Tree, headed to Lindeman’s (of course, they are one of my favorites). Tasted a bunch of wine, Semillon and Verdelho – but nothing as good as Pepper Tree. Did have some cheese samples there as well as fudge (oh boy, was that good – step away from the fudge!!! Remember you’re going on a cruise where you need to fit into your ball gown!!!).
Next stop was the cheese factory, where all the buses were! Yep, we found the tourist hub. Original plans were to buy some cheese, have a snack somewhere along the route and then head to Blue Mountains. Ended up just tasting all the cheese they had (brie was excellent and the marinated feta the best!), then leaving without buying. Filled up on the samples and figured we didn’t really need any more!
Headed out to the Blue Mountains the “back way”. Instead of re-tracing our steps through the Hunter, we went out through Broke – and into the Yunga National Park. Road was brutal – turns, switch backs, rocks jutting out of the sides of cliffs onto the road, motorcycle demons flying up and around you at any given time. Beautiful through the mountains, but really tough on Ed driving. It was the most direct route from where we were, but it was a tough drive.
Finally made the turn onto the Great Western Highway toward the Blue Mountains. This area is also a weekend retreat from Sydney. Beautiful mountains that have a blue “sheen” to them from reflected sunlight, loads of small mountain villages (now turned touristy), lots of scenery and nature walks. We arrived at our hotel/apartment early and walked through tiny little Leura to get our bearings. A handful of boutique gift shops, bottle shops and restaurants. Quaint and cute.
Tired of the 30 Aud entrees and 18 dollar salads, we decided to go Chinese tonight. Had two excellent combinations – one sizzling (kind of sweet and sour) and one satay (ginger/peanut). Very good, quick, and filling. Back to the hotel for TV and reading, then bed. Off to Sydney tomorrow! Our Australian adventure is almost done – can’t believe that we’ve been here this long already.
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