HUNTER VALLEY
HUNTER VALLEY
We left Port Macquarie for the 3 hour drive to Hunter Valley. For a major wine area, Hunter Valley keeps itself well hidden. There are no signs to the wine region or to Pokolbin, which is the main town in Hunter Valley. Once we left the main A1 highway and turned on to the B56 it became more difficult to find our way as our GPS still wasn't working. In the end, we knew we were not far away so we stopped a man getting into his car and asked him directions. Luckily, he knew exactly where we were going and let us follow him most of the way.
We were staying at the voco Kirkton Park Hotel, owned by Inter Continental Hotels. The hotel looked very good, spread out in one storey buildings over a wide area. Very nice people on the front desk who answered most of our questions. We were surprised that there wasn't a shuttle or tour bus to take us to some wineries so we had to book a private wine trip with Gaz. We were shown to the Manor House, with a very pleasant room with a good scenic view (see picture right). We met another English couple who were not happy with their booking, so we said that we would meet them in the swimming pool (he needed to cool down). I got a bottle of wine (Semillon/Sav blend) from the bar and shared it with them. We agreed to have dinner together. He was still steaming, but the hotel gave him free wine for the evening, which we shared. The restaurant was not open, which was one of the main causes of concern but the Russian/Chinese chef was operating from the barbecue behind the bar. Linda had the least fatty duck leg she had ever had - delicious!
We had complained about a couple of things to the girl at reception to be passed to her manager next day. In the morning, we discussed these points and it was agreed we could cut short our stay by one day. We met Gaz, a retired entrepreneur turned wine tour guide, and started off at the Glandore Estate cellar door. Having tried 5 or 6 wines, including the excellent Hamish Shiraz at A$65, we settled on a really nice Chardonnay for casual drinking on our travels! Onward to Piggy Peakes where nothing really pleased the palette especially not the 17% Zinfandel. Final stop Hunter's Dream estate and finished up with the 2017 Estate Shiraz which was really nice and joined the Chardonnay in the car boot. We had not appreciated that the Hunter Valley was most noted for its Semillon and Shiraz wines. Shiraz we know well but Semillon deserves more research when we get home. What we needed now was some cheese accompaniment so a stop was required at the Smelly Cheese shop. Delicious. Quick swim, relax and then off to dinner at the Baume Cafe in another winery, David drank some Veltliner, an Austrian grape gaining popularity in Australia. Such enormous portions, we just had 2 starters between us.
The final event of the day was a visit to the Christmas Lights Spectacular with over 3 million lights laid out through the Hunter Valley Gardens. We had a great time wandering around for over one and a half hours surrounded by excited children young and old! Unfortunately, on leaving Linda had one of her own 'spectaculars' and took a flyer on the cement path resulting in grazes, bruising and embarrassment. No permanent damage but needed a visit to the pharmacy in the morning. Pharmacists deal with all minor injuries and patched her up really well.
The English couple we had dinner with the previous night had recommended Bannisters hotel in Port Stephens, so we took the hour and a half journey across country, stopping on the way for lunch at an Ugg factory, which also offered a tour, (which I didn't notice!?). Port Stephens is an attractive town on Nelson Bay and highly photogenic. Bannisters is a modern hotel and restaurant owned by Rick Stein. Yes, the same. We were impressed when we arrived at reception, situated by the infinity swimming pool (see picture below) and our room was similarly impressive, with a balcony that looked over to Nelson Bay (see picture left). We quickly changed for the swimming pool and then - ouch!! - it was freezing cold (apparently they are going to include heating as one of their improvements.)
We had a meal in the Rick Stein restaurant - of course - and that didn't disappoint. Breakfast was also one of the best we had on the trip.
Next stop Sydney.
We left Port Macquarie for the 3 hour drive to Hunter Valley. For a major wine area, Hunter Valley keeps itself well hidden. There are no signs to the wine region or to Pokolbin, which is the main town in Hunter Valley. Once we left the main A1 highway and turned on to the B56 it became more difficult to find our way as our GPS still wasn't working. In the end, we knew we were not far away so we stopped a man getting into his car and asked him directions. Luckily, he knew exactly where we were going and let us follow him most of the way.
We were staying at the voco Kirkton Park Hotel, owned by Inter Continental Hotels. The hotel looked very good, spread out in one storey buildings over a wide area. Very nice people on the front desk who answered most of our questions. We were surprised that there wasn't a shuttle or tour bus to take us to some wineries so we had to book a private wine trip with Gaz. We were shown to the Manor House, with a very pleasant room with a good scenic view (see picture right). We met another English couple who were not happy with their booking, so we said that we would meet them in the swimming pool (he needed to cool down). I got a bottle of wine (Semillon/Sav blend) from the bar and shared it with them. We agreed to have dinner together. He was still steaming, but the hotel gave him free wine for the evening, which we shared. The restaurant was not open, which was one of the main causes of concern but the Russian/Chinese chef was operating from the barbecue behind the bar. Linda had the least fatty duck leg she had ever had - delicious!We had complained about a couple of things to the girl at reception to be passed to her manager next day. In the morning, we discussed these points and it was agreed we could cut short our stay by one day. We met Gaz, a retired entrepreneur turned wine tour guide, and started off at the Glandore Estate cellar door. Having tried 5 or 6 wines, including the excellent Hamish Shiraz at A$65, we settled on a really nice Chardonnay for casual drinking on our travels! Onward to Piggy Peakes where nothing really pleased the palette especially not the 17% Zinfandel. Final stop Hunter's Dream estate and finished up with the 2017 Estate Shiraz which was really nice and joined the Chardonnay in the car boot. We had not appreciated that the Hunter Valley was most noted for its Semillon and Shiraz wines. Shiraz we know well but Semillon deserves more research when we get home. What we needed now was some cheese accompaniment so a stop was required at the Smelly Cheese shop. Delicious. Quick swim, relax and then off to dinner at the Baume Cafe in another winery, David drank some Veltliner, an Austrian grape gaining popularity in Australia. Such enormous portions, we just had 2 starters between us.
The final event of the day was a visit to the Christmas Lights Spectacular with over 3 million lights laid out through the Hunter Valley Gardens. We had a great time wandering around for over one and a half hours surrounded by excited children young and old! Unfortunately, on leaving Linda had one of her own 'spectaculars' and took a flyer on the cement path resulting in grazes, bruising and embarrassment. No permanent damage but needed a visit to the pharmacy in the morning. Pharmacists deal with all minor injuries and patched her up really well.
The English couple we had dinner with the previous night had recommended Bannisters hotel in Port Stephens, so we took the hour and a half journey across country, stopping on the way for lunch at an Ugg factory, which also offered a tour, (which I didn't notice!?). Port Stephens is an attractive town on Nelson Bay and highly photogenic. Bannisters is a modern hotel and restaurant owned by Rick Stein. Yes, the same. We were impressed when we arrived at reception, situated by the infinity swimming pool (see picture below) and our room was similarly impressive, with a balcony that looked over to Nelson Bay (see picture left). We quickly changed for the swimming pool and then - ouch!! - it was freezing cold (apparently they are going to include heating as one of their improvements.)We had a meal in the Rick Stein restaurant - of course - and that didn't disappoint. Breakfast was also one of the best we had on the trip.
Next stop Sydney.
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