TASTER OF THE WINE COUNTRY IN HUNTER VALLEY & THE STUNNING PORT STEPHENS BEACHES
With the holiday season fast approaching, Renata's parents came to visit us in Sydney. After recovering from the jetlag, Renata took them to see some of our favourite spots in and around Sydney as day trips, and we then planned a longer journey together to the picturesque Hunter Valley, which also happens to be a famous wine region to the North of Sydney with plenty of boutique and brand-name wineries, good restaurants and the occasional jazz or classical music concert. It got its name about the Hunter river, and it covers a large area of about 300km x 120km - plenty of space to enjoy scenic views with slopes covered with vine. Traditionally it's famous for Shiraz and Semillon, but by today it offers a much larger selection of high quality wide including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, some of our favourites!
Apparently the best way to experience the Hunter Valley is to rent a car with a driver and go wine tasting from vineyard to vineyard (which are evenly spaced around every 500m). Luckily for us, Renata's father doesn't drink, so he volunteered to be our designated driver. Interestingly, all the wine tasting is for free (a sip each from around a dozen different wines with some explanation and recommended meals to go with each of them), as long as someone in your party buys at least one bottle of wine in the end - which costs around $20-25, not that different from what you'd pay in the supermarket for a better bottle. Be prepared that you won't be able to make stops at numerous cellars, because 12 times even just a sip adds up very quickly, and you'd also better get some food in between! We ended up stopping at the Scarborough Winery, which is considered as one of the most picturesque ones on the top of a hill overlooking the hilly region covered with vine. Besides the whole tasting experience, we also loved the kangaroos who came to lie in the shade of the huge tree outside the porch.
Scarborough vinery tasting
The next stop in our culinary tour was at a very special restaurant, the Tallavera Grove - Bistro Molines to celebrate a few special family occasions. It's sitting among stunning vine hills with one of the best views of the region where the scenic route to the destination - partly on dirt roads and with a handful of cars who all come and go to the same place - is already part of the experience! We filled our stomach with delicious French-style fare in a rustic setting, while gazing over the lush hills and vineyards. The restaurant also has a cellar and it offers their own as well as other regional wines which, naturally, we could not miss to taste with the lunch. All meals and the wine delivered our high expectations based on the reputation of the place - it's said to be one of the best restaurants in the area with exceptional panoramic views and customer service.
View from Bistro Molines and on the way here
In preparation for the festive period and atmosphere, in the evening we took the opportunity to visit the Hunter Valley Gardens' Christmas Light show in Pokolbin, a botanical garden decked out in over over a million lights every year around Christmas. It's great for families with Santa's Grotto, animators and concerts to entertain the little ones and plenty of other Australian-style Christmas cheer for all age groups. The most entertaining example was Santa in a sleigh pulled by "Rudolph the Red-nosed Rein-roo".
In the evening we stayed at a little farm nearby (where the owners, naturally, also make their own boutique brand of wine - it seems everyone in the area does), and tried to imagine what daily life was like for the people who lived here. The couple owning the place said they had moved out to the countryside when they got tired of the bustle of Sydney and wanted a quiet place to raise their children - they got that for sure! The benefits include a kangaroo family that live in the little forest by their farm and graze around the house every morning!
After spending the day inland, the plan for the second day was to move closer to the seashore, starting with a visit to Port Stephens (consisting mainly of a quaint marina and a couple of nearby beaches), and hiking up Mount Tomaree to get a view of the city and the tiny land-bridge connecting the mainland to Shark Island which gets submerged when the tide comes in - actually walking the spit will have to wait for next time though! It's a spectacular view along the cost from the lookout which is worth the one-hour hike up the hill.
View from Mount Tomaree over Port Stephens and it beaches
Not far from Port Stephens we also made a stop at the One Mile Beach, which, I must say, is my favourite one in Australia so far, with an endless stretch of white sand, beautiful surf and only a smattering of people. You can walk along the beach and its sand dunes or just sit on some of the rocks by the shore and totally forget about time or the world. Visiting this beach was the best way to wrap up this weekend and to get into the relaxed Christmas mood in the week before the holidays. Such a shame that we were experiencing an unseasonably cold afternoon so it was a bit chilly to go further than ankle-deep - we will just have to come back next time!
Strolling and chilling on One Mile beach
