Armchair Travel

For Megan's last weekend, we had one big item to check off her "Australia To Do" list: wine tasting in the Hunter Valley!

Since the HV was hosting the Lovedale Long Lunch (a weekend-long party of food and wine tasting = super crowded accommodation), Megan, Paddy and I caught a three hour train to Newcastle to stay in the Cambridge Hotel Backpackers (luckily, the TexTours wine tour we'd booked was based in Newcastle, so we could easily be picked up and driven the 50 minutes to the valley.)

Upon arriving around 7 p.m., we checked in at the hostel, then walked clear across the town to Darby Street to find pasta. The street was lined with restaurants and bars, so after dinner we crossed the road to an Irish bar and enjoyed a pretty decent cover band with our beers before catching a cab back to the Cambridge. Being that the downstairs portion of the place was a bar and club, we got back in time to catch the last of four acoustic sets. The performer, a 28-year-old, shaggy haired guy from Canberra (?) named Michael Peter, was obviously very talented and into his songs, so after the show, Megan and I went up to him and chatted for a few minutes. Continuing mine and my parents' tradition of buying new artists' cds at their shows, I snapped his up and had him sign them. A DJ had taken Michael's place on stage and a group of girls were dancing all crazy in front of him, so the three of us kicked off our shoes and joined in before heading upstairs to try and sleep through the music.

The next morning, Tex picked us up outside the hotel just before nine. His nickname was quite fitting: had he not told us he was a Canberra boy, I'd have been convinced he'd moved to Australia straight from Texas. Before hitting the road, we stopped at the YHA across town to pick up a group of seven other people - all who were over 60. Oh man, this was going to be a good day.

A breakdown of the wineries we visited:

- First Creek, where the Semillion SB (I believe it was a blend) was the only one I really liked. This was also the day's first taste of Shiraz, which the HV is most famous for (it's good, just a a little heavy to drink without a big meal...)

- The Hunter Olive Centre, where we filled up on samples of oils, chutneys and sauces. (Brilliant, as we had run out of time to grab breakfast!)

- Pepper Tree, a sweet winery nestled in a forest. The 2008 varietal Verdelho rocked the house, as did the unwooded Chardonnay (I've decided I'm just not a big fan of the taste of oak. Don't tell Danville.)

- McGuigan Cellars, where I snapped up a bottle of the full-bodied Merlot.

- Kevin Sobels, the smalled winery we visited. I didn't like most of these wines either (the verdelho was too fruity, the semillion was too tangy, and the merlot was sour), but Megan and I split a bottle of the champagne to drink on her last night. I was pure sparkling heaven in a bottle.

- Rosemount, one of the biggest wineries in the area. Funny enough, the only wines I liked here were the dessert ones (which I don't usually enjoy at all. They all taste like syrup-y brandy to me - ick.)

After a brief stop at The Brewery (again) for burgers and Coronas, we boarded the train back to Sydney.

With Megan in town and my next week free of immediate assignment deadlines, the two of us (along with my flatmate Paddy) decided to be spontaneous, rent a car, and go on a road trip. Why not?

Paddy, a well-traveled Aussie (and a rare breed of the sort: he lived in Canada for four months after high school and has extensively traveled the Caribbean, Europe and Australia. Quite impressive), suggested we head north to the central coast (also known as the "holiday coast"). The three of us skimmed through guidebooks and googled different towns along the way, but after a few unsuccessful hostel bookings and a car rental bust, figured we'd just wing it.

Megan and I picked up a "no birds" Bayswater Corolla on Friday afternoon, and with a car full of snorkels and snacks, made our way (through traffic) out of the city towards Newcastle (about 1.5 hours north).

We had a map, but since we were on no time schedule, it lay forgotten on the floor as we stopped for random explorations: a gravel quarry at Peats Ridge (that's pretty much all we found there; I was curious to see it because I'd heard about a music festival that'd been held there over the summer), past The Entrance (that's actually what it's called) and to a random beach at sunset, then on to the Newcastle YHA. The town seemed pretty dead for a Friday night, but we had a great steak dinner and a few beers on the Hawksbury River at The Brewery, where we were serenaded by a young acoustic singer.

The following morning, we checked out of the hostel and headed further north towards Port Stephens. The road ran along the cliffs overlooking the beach, and since it was a beautiful day, we stopped for fish n' chips and brought them to Jimmy's Beach. The water was quite warm, but only Paddy went swimming (typical Aussie).

After lunch, we checked out the sand dunes further down the road and the beach at a place called Hole in the Wall. We tried to find a place called Seal Rocks, but ended up at a secluded beach where we found...a pelican! We poked around the rock pools for a while before heading back to the car.

By now it was getting dark, and with Paddy snoozing in the backseat, Megan and I made an executive decision: we were going to continue driving out of Port Stephens and head 100 km north to Port Macquarie. We figured it'd be funny if he woke up in an entirely different town.

After several minutes of winding roads, we finally found the YHA and proceeded to make a simple (free) pasta dinner before heading out to the Irish pub, Finnians, down the road with some of our fellow hostel-mates. We met some hilarious people: two English guys who'd had many bad experiences with their GPS system on their travels, and a nice guy from Toronto, Canada, who I talked to about places to see in Sydney. The nightlife was about as (un)exciting as Newcastle, but at least we were in good company.

The next day, we stopped at a bakery down the road for breakfast, then drove to the Billabong Koala Breeding Center (which was basically another wildlife sanctuary) to give Megan her first glimpse of Australia's wild animals. This may have been my fifth sanctuary visit (!!!), but somehow I still always get excited when I see the kangaroos.

With a long drive ahead of us (four hours without traffic, but since it was Sunday afternoon...), we left straight after the sanctuary. The three of us, along with several other friends from Geegal and UTS, were going to see Danny Bhoy, a Scottish comedian who was performing as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. The gig, which was held at the Enmore Theatre in Newtown, was hilarious: Danny kept "taking the piss" (making fun of) several people in the audience and Aussie lingo (I never realized Aussies say "literally" so often...), as well as the Irish accent. I recommend You-tubing him.

Great weekend!

Greetings,

I was on summer break for the past few months and it was glorious: my family came to visit for the holidays, I traveled across the country to Perth and explored the southwest (perhaps Australia's best kept secret), celebrated Australia's biggest party weekend (Big Day Out music festival and Australia Day) in the country with my friend Rob, visited my friends Dylan and paddy in Batemans Bay, and then went home with my friend Luke to his house in the Blue Mountains. Needless to say, it was a busy summer.

Since I got back, I've been working for Student Marketing Australia promoting subscriptions to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper ($30 for the academic year!) on campus and adjusting to the new semester that started this week.

I'll provide much more detail about my adventures, but I wanted to get a quick email out to let you know that YES, I'm still going to keep up with this blog this semester! I officially got wireless internet hooked up in my apartment this morning (FINALLY) so no more excuses: I'll start posting soon.