Aussie Wine Country
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
1
8
22
Trip End
Aug 10, 2008
Where I stayed
Hunter Valley YHA
Hunter Valley,
New South Wales,
Australia
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Australian wine country is beautiful--all rolling hills, lakes and mountains (the Brokenback Mountain Range, actually--it naturally sparked a few jokes from our guide), and we enjoyed the scenery. Unfortunately for us, we also happened to arrive on the three coldest days in recorded history in the region. Although it wasn't Chicago winter cold, it was definitely chilly, and the wind was extremely wrong. In fact, whenever people found out we were from Chicago and would say "oh, the Windy City!" my response would always be "it's not as windy as here..."
On Friday, we set out on a wine tour guided by Michael, the owner. With us on the tour were Hudson and Leah, a mother and her college-aged son (the drinking age is 18), and three generations of a hilarious Aussie family (grandparents, their two daughters and son, and several bored grandchildren) who had us in stitches--particularly as the tasting went on. The grandfather was a charmer, but was frequently embarrassing the rest of the family with some of his comments, but Paul and I got a big kick out of him. Interestingly, he said I looked like an Australian singer named Christina Anu. Once I saw a picture of her, I actually agreed there was a bit of a resemblance. The rest of the family was funny as well, and the grandmother made sure to ask us if our parents knew we were getting married--I think she was a little horrified for a moment at the thought of us running away by ourselves. Her daughter said "oh, that's such a great idea!" and then immediately turned to her teen-aged daughter and said "you'd better not do that to me!"
On our tour, we stopped by four wineries: Drayton's Winery (the Valley's oldest winery), Rosemount Estates (a very large winery with phenomenal wines), Irongate Estates (I wasn't fond of the wines, but it had beautiful grounds) and our favorite--Hanging Tree Winery. My favorite part of the Rosemount Estates wine tasting was when Tina, our wine server, actually sang a few songs. Turns out she has a phenomenal voice. While that was a nice perk, the Hanging Tree Winery was truly a treat. It is owned by a couple--Colleen and Diamond--who seemed straight out of Wyoming or Montana in their dress (cowboy boots, hat and fringed jackets) and manner. Diamond, who is a horse whisperer, actually reminded me a bit of Sam Elliott. We spent a good hour there by the fire, learning about them and their wines, and it was such a great time, and their grounds were stunning. For those of you wondering, Hanging Tree gets its name because bush ranglers (outlaws) were allegedly caught and strung up from a tree in the front lawn. We also stopped at a place called "Smelly Cheese" for a cheese tasting (the cheese was phenomenal) and gelato (the Aussie Nut and Bush Honey was heavenly).
After the wine tour, we headed back to the hostel and immediately crashed from a mixture of food coma and wine fatigue (although Paul initially said he didn't want any wine, by the fourth winery he was swilling down with the rest of us). Unfortunately, we were awaken about 3:30 a.m.
Newcastle is very proud of Convict Heritage
by some loud partying and I was just to the point of getting up to yell at them to shut up (Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer at full blast was irritating me), when I heard a knock and they quieted down. Although I was certain they were Americans and was suitably embarrassed by my countrymen, I learned that they were in fact Irish. Which made me very glad that I am part Irish-American instead, which will come as a complete shock to everyone who knows how much I adore my Irish heritage. The next morning, Michael dropped us off in the town and we continued our journey north. Next stop: Coff's Harbour.
