Hunter Valley

Hunter Valley: April 6 - April 9, 2007

This is a trip for the books; what a weekend this extra long Easter holiday turned out to be. Before I start, let me introduce the players:

Adam- me
Jason- The half English half Portuguese guy from work (now a roommate as well)
April- Scottish lady from work as well
Lynda- Canadian lady from work whom extended the invite
Phillipa- Australian lady in charge of organizing all of the food
Lorrie- Canadian that has lived in Australia for five years. Friends with Phillipa and Lynda
Zaid- Iraqi decent but grown up in Canada, UK, and Australia (I think); Lorrie’s boyfriend.
White Thrifty Van- Rented van with three seats removed so it would only be a 12 passenger van versus a 15 passenger van, which would require Lynda to hold a special license (her first time driving in Australia on the left hand side of the road)
Wandin Valley- The beautiful vineyard where our villa was located (I forgot its name, but it started with a P).

Everybody but Jason and I left Thursday evening (we had to work until 23:00) via two cars. Jason and I caught the 10:15 am train from Central to Maitland, transferring at Hamilton. The journey was approximately 3.25 hours and took us through some large bodies of water (had a hard time distinguishing them from a large river, lakes, or some unknown coastal type of water formation). Jason and I had a couple good chats varying from religion to our educational backgrounds. No major incidents to report from the journey other than almost missing our connecting train because our first one was running 10 minutes left (our transfer time was 11 minutes). When we got off at Hamilton we really had no idea which platform we would catch our train. Fortunately Hamilton only had two platforms and we saw a train coming on the other side of the tracks. Jason and I sprinted up the stairs, across the bridge, and back down the stairs, just barely able to jump on the train and ask the conductor if we were on the right train. As the doors were shutting, he told us indeed we were on the correct train and that is was only a couple of stops. About 20 minutes later we chugged into Podunk Australia (Maitland). Being it was Good Friday, everything in town was shut; I seriously thought I was in a ghost town. Zaid, Lorrie, and Phillipa rolled in about ten minutes later and we crammed into the little hatchback. Prior to their arrival, we had a nice little chat with some good old fashion Australian “hicks.” They were from the back country and had come in for the day to find something to eat, but everything was closed; an interesting insight to life outside of the big city.

The car ride was a short twenty minutes through the hustling Maitland and then into the heart of wine country. We passed vineyard after vineyard in the lush green countryside of New South Wales. We arrived to our villa and took a quick tour: two bedrooms, a loft over looking the living room, a large kitchen with a dining room attached, a back porch right next to the vines, and a massive bbq. I must not forget the swimming pool right outside our front yard. April and Lynda were awaiting our arrival and everyone was hungry. Phillipa had Friday lunch set: fresh cheese, olives, grapes, two fancy cheese spreads with garlic and other seasonings, bread, and wine. We gorged ourselves and I learned what a proper cheese knife looks like (the culture I am receiving).

The weather was some what off and everyone was looking for a chill afternoon, we started a fire in our fireplace and watched Rain Man. Using our little stove top we popped some popcorn, melted butter over it and applied a nice little coat of salt. During the movie I was able to fall asleep and get come much needed rest. After the movie Lynda, April, Jason, and myself explored the vineyard by moonlight. We returned and put on dinner: homemade lasagne, garlic bread, and a tossed salad with a beautiful vinaigrette dressing, and of course red wine. Following dinner we played Imaginif, a game based on stereotyping other players and trying to match the stereotype people would select for themselves. The game was quite humorous. Jason pulled out the guitar and serenaded the group for the rest of the night. Then off to bed on the pull out for me.

Saturday morning we woke up and had left over lasagne for breakfast. At 9:30 we left for an hour and a half drive to the rainforest for our planned bushwalk. With a detour to the grocery store, petrol station, a bathroom break in the countryside (where one of our ladies accidentally pulled up her pants to avoid be spotted by a passing truck before she actually stopped peeing), 50 kilometres on a dirt road rampant with free grazing cows, and a river we forged five times (yes, it was like the Oregon Trail with no option to take a raft over) we arrived four hour later at the top of this rainforest hill/mountain. We walked a trail for an hour which granted us views of a rushing river and waterfalls. Returning to our car for lunch (grilled chicken wings and ham and cheese sandwiches with salad) we gobbled up the food because it was starting to rain. Back into the cars and down the hill so we would not get stranded on the wrong side of the rivers we had to cross again. The journey took us the four hours with much discussion on house, techno, electro, free style, bass and drum, and a decent education into the partying drug scene. AND I SAW MY FIRST LIVE KANGAROO, standing on the side of the road like a stupid deer. Phillipa freaked out because we almost hit it and it would have totalled her little white car. I was all smiles!

For dinner we had steak (which I over cooked), chicken sausage, salad, and more wine. The night moved on with a dance party (all seven of us), more wine, truth and dare (hold old are we?), and a late night dip into the pool. An in-depth discussion with Lynda by the fireplace followed.

Sunday was the big day!!! Wine tour day!!! The morning started off a bit rough, Lynda, Lorrie, and Zaid got lost and went to the wrong van rental office and took almost two hours longer than we expected. With our extra time at the villa (waiting for them) I took a quick hike through the vineyard and then helped April make a full on English breakfast (eggs, beans, bacon, toast, fried tomatoes, tea…). When the van finally arrived, and a massive white one it was, we hopped in and headed straight on our wine tour (picked out previously by pulling the names of wineries out of a hat because there are over 100 of them). Through the day, we stopped at seven different wineries and one brewery, sampling several varieties at each. Lorrie and Phillipa are wine connoisseurs and know all about the earthy tastes, the citrus smells, and all the etiquette associated with it. I learned a great deal from them and enjoyed watching them at work (both in tasting and buying). The van was so big we had another crazy dance party and creative photo shoot all while Lynda drove on her non-native side.

Dinner was next on the list with steak fajitas and tacos (every North American’s dream when outside of North America). I took a quick nap on the couch next to the fire, everyone went for a random swim (except April and Lynda), and then we were all in bed by 22:40 (wine tasting for seven hours is an exhausting activity).

Monday was a morning filled of packing, eating left overs, and leaving. Jason, Phillipa, and I were car buddies again, this time returning to Sydney. I had door to door service from Phillipa and arrived back in Sydney around 13:30 (about a 2.25 hour drive with some heavy traffic entering Sydney). I made it home with one bottle of red wine and a new found taste and appreciation for red wine!

A much needed relaxing weekend!