Brisbane to Barcelona: Hunter Valley

In the afternoon of the 9th we arrived in Maitland after another GPS created scenic tour of the areas north of Maitland. We did some laundry and waited for Trephon and Nikki to get home from work. We had dinner at this awesome little pizza place in Morpeth. As we were driving home we thought we recognised a runer on the road and did a quick u-turn. It was Tim Taylor - a guy who we went to uni with! We had a quick catch-up and then to Trephon and Nikki's. They have a beautiful old house and a gorgeous dog! We kinda had house envy and started missing Boots. Was great to catch up with Trephon who we haven't seen in over 2 years.

The next day we tried to get on a winery tour but as usual had left it too late. Lawrie graciously decided to drive Kitty around while she tasted the wines. We drove out to Pokolbin and started our tour at Blue Tongue Brewery. They made an alcoholic ginger beer which was very tasty. Next on to Binnorie Dairy where we got some strong but tasty goat's cheese.

Paddle at Blue Tongue Brewery

View from Binnorie Dairy

Our first winery stop was at First Creek. We were going to go to Bimbadgen but they were busy setting up for a Day on the Green. We got a bit excited at the 2 for 1 deal at First Creek and ended up with 12 bottles of wine. Very easy drinking though so we don't think it will be around for long.

Wine Barrels at First Creek

We went for a bit of a drive around the wine country and stopped for lunch at the Australian Regional Food Store & Cafe. We ordered a tasting plate, which was huge and full of great things like cheese, jams, olives, pates, sun-dried tomatoes, marinaded veges, cold meats, salad and bread. It took us a while but we got through most of it. The location was idyllic, next to a pond, with a very relaxed atmosphere.

Part way through lunch

After lunch we did a tasting at the Small Winemakers cellar door and bought another 6 bottles of wine from sparkling to red. We just have to drink them all before we get to the Barossa Valley!

We went for a walk to settle lunch and then to the Hunter Valley Cheese Company. We did a tour of the cheesemaking facilities and bought some Grapevine Ashed Brie - very tasty. We cruised past Lindemans for an opportunity photo and made our way slowly back to Maitland.

We caught up with Calee, Alex and Guy for a BBQ at Treph's, which was very well catered - thanks Nikki!

View from Toogarook

The next day we went wakeboarding on Alex's boat at Liddell Dam, which was nicely warmed by the power station right next door. Lawrie was a bit sore for the 2 days after! We had a quiet night at home whilst everyone else went to the Wambo Xmas Party

Lawrie, Dam and Power Station

Trephon at the Dam

On Sunday we went for a big drive to Barrington Tops. We drove all the way through the Hunter Valley and up yet another winding road with awesome views. We stopped at a pine plantation from 1966, which was really eerie. Then we did some off-roading down to a pretty creek at Junction Pools and a 10km walk up to the top of Mt Barrington.