A Day in the Vines

Last weekend, I went with my friend Bree to the Hunter Valley (again), since I had been a bad friend and missed her birthday while I was home. Every time I go up there it just gets better and better. We set off at half past 8 in the morning, and for whatever reason, someone had set the nav system in the rental car to the 'go through every toll road possible' setting. Bollocks.

Anyway, the drive up there was beautiful - we couldn't have asked for nicer weather that day. Traffic was nearly nonexistant (as it usually is once you leave Sydney proper), and we made great time. Arriving at around 11, we headed to a few wineries before lunch - Pepper Tree, Blueberry Hill, and one other that I can't recall (we visited 8 wineries during the course of the day - I'm bound to not remember at least one). Oh wait - I just remembered. It was Tatler. Sweet.

Bree in front of our first winery of the day,

Pepper Tree.

Here we see Bree demonstrating the Vim Chatto,

the dance craze that is sweeping a very small

subsection of the nation.

This dog was laying in the path at Tatler, staring

at me. When I walked over to it, it rolled over

and just lay there like this. I naturally provided

belly scratches.

We went to lunch at this place I had been meaning to try called Leaves and Fishes. It looked like a small rustic cabin from the outside, but inside it had beautiful decorations with a sort of quirky touch to it. Half the tables were out on an enclosed patio area. The food was superb.

Entrees - a bread plate with oil and vinegar,

dukkah (spices), and feta with olive oil, and an

iceberg salad with cheese and rocket.

Massive plates of fush and chups. They

were a tempura-battered slice of heaven.

Me conveying my level of fullness after lunch.

After a leisurely lunch, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food, we headed off to some other wineries in the afternoon. Ernest Hill was next, followed by Iron Gate. The latter was by far my favorite winery of the day, and I had to refrain from buying everything that we tasted (I ended up leaving with 3 bottles, out of my total of 9 for the day). Iron Gate was started by a gentleman named Roger who was originally from England. Despite every person we met that day being exceedingly nice, he stood out as being even nicer. I'll definitely be back.

As a side note, Bree (who lived in England for quite some time), asked an Aussie earlier that day if he was British (he wasn't), but couldn't place Roger's accent either. Go figure - heh heh.

Standing in front of the vines at Iron Gate.

I sersiously had to stand like this for 30 seconds

while one of the winery workers took the picture.

The massive hamstring cramp set in at about 8

seconds.

Bon Jovi fan?

We swung by a few other wineries as the afternoon moved toward dusk - Drayton's, McLeish, Audrey Wilkinson, and I believe one more. Audrey Wilkinson was the last for the day, and we had about an hour and a half to kill before dinner.

One of the best views in the Hunter, taken from

Audrey Wilkinson.

The sky turned into a rainbow of colors

as the sun set in the evening.

It started to get a bit breezy and chilly as the sun

went down. My kinda weather.

We got to watch the lights in the houses turn

on as the sun went down, and both agreed

that it would be nice to have a holiday home

out here as an option.

Eventually it was time for dinner, and we drove across to Mojo's on Wilderness, where I had gone the previous visit with my parents. It's another one of the really stellar restaurants in the Hunter, not because of its extravagance, but just because the food, service, and ambiance are on a whole other level compared to most places. My entree was a flaky chicken and mushroom pastry with white truffle oil (I love the smell of truffles). My main was mouth-watering: steak wrapped in bacon. *drooooool* Unlike last time, I managed to save room for dessert - the pear tart I had mentioned in the previous post. It was spectacular.

Stuffed to the brim and tired, we made our way back to Sydney, hitting a couple more toll roads along the way. As a side note, the previous times I have gone, I haven't had to pay a single toll. Ah well. It was such an enjoyable day, that not even $12 worth of tolls could bring me down. Can't wait to go back again.