Hunter Valley in Two Days

This post have been updated in April 2015 after our third trip to Hunter Valley, this time with my wife's mother and sister. 

The air tastes better in wine country, it truly does.

The absence of smoke spewing monstrous vehicles, the jacket-wearing cows and horses, the mountains in the distance and the green that envelops the landscape, Hunter Valley has come to be one of our favorite weekend places to go. The only thing that puts us off from travelling there twice a month is the distance. Hunter Valley is located approximately 250 kilometers away from Central Sydney where we reside, and it takes slightly more than three hours if one were to drive in adherence to the speed limit of the motorway (which is highly recommended, if not for your own safety then at least for the health of your wallet - the speeding fines here are extremely punitive!)

Without waxing poetry about this vino-paradiso, I lay bare below the suggested itinerary for those who plan to make a trip there by your own goodself, that is, without the crowds of bus tours.

One tip, you may be tempted to drink copious amount of wine, so if possible, have a designated driver, pace yourself and eat and rest along the way with the valley's many cafes and cheese shops.

Without further ado,

Where to Stay

We have been to the valley twice, and both times we have spent the night at the luxurious and cozy Sebel Kirkton Park. It has comfortable rooms with all the amenities that you would expect, an indoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi, a gym, and in the winter, a fireplace at the lounge area.

Before you make any reservations, do make a quick check online for any potential coupons which will give you substantial savings.

You can also check out some of the accommodation provided by some of the more boutique cellars, like one we stumbled upon at the end of Halls Road. Seems to be smacked in the middle of nowhere, with a view you have to be there to believe.

We decided to stay in something a little different our third time to the Hunter, a 2 years old boutique hotel right in the middle of Cessnock town called Vine Valley Inn. This unique, antique themed, hipster-ish hotel finds its home on the first floor of a shop-house, and is owned/managed by the ever friendly and helpful Simon and his wife. Here, you'll find an old record player side by side with a 50-inch flat screen television and an iPod dock, a mounted deer head over a fireplace, an airplane turbine converted into a lamp, beakers used as flower vase and an old mixer bowl turned into a goldfish bowl. It somehow pulls off being trendy without being pretentious and I think that is due to the warm personality of our host.

We managed to book the family room with a king sized bed and two super-single beds, with plenty of empty room in the middle (good for if you have kids and you just want to stuff them on the floor in their sleeping bags). There is also a clean, fully stocked kitchen for you to fry up some late supper.

My only complain is that Simon keeps all the best vinyl records in his own home. I wasn't able to find any Beatles records, so I whiled the night away to a mix of Richard Marx, Whitney Houston and U2's Joshua Tree, and the only thing missing for a perfect night was a glass of good scotch.

Simon says "Welcome to your home away from home" and it was, indeed.

Where to Dine

If you enjoy big breakfast served right, as in BIG, then you must not miss Taste of the Country, situated at the Hunter Valley Gardens. Here, you get breakfast food like the aforementioned Big Breakfast with sausages, poached eggs, mushrooms, bacon, and delectable pancakes with a sinful serving of maple syrup, Chantilly cream and ice cream! Choose the Banana Pancakes for the mouth watering caramelized bananas. Also not to be missed are their gourmet burgers (try the beef with caramelized onions, beetroot and cheese).

Another favorite of ours is the cafe at Lindeman's 1843 Harvest Cafe. The restaurant is right next to its cellar door, so you can have your wine tasting there (which is also highly recommended, but more on that later) before sitting down for a meal while deciding if you would leave with a few bottle of their finest (you will, but again, more on that later). We had their antipasto as well as pizzas and we were not disappointed. Fuss free and friendly environment.

For a little bit of la-di-da for dinner, go to 221 Restaurant and Bar at the Royal Oak Hotel, Cessnock for a fancy seafood on huge warm white plates. Not to be missed here is the seared Atlantic Sea Scallops, and the lamb shanks.

The only place you should go for dessert is Sabor in the Hunter, a dessert bar which is known for serving a huge variety of desserts, with recommendation of pairing with wines, dessert wines and ports from the valley itself.

A place to check out which we did not have a chance to due to it being closed when we were there is Muse Kitchen. Friends and strangers whom we got to know at the valley highly recommended this place for food. Be prepared to pay though, there is a minimum order of 2 course per person, and this comes to $75 for each diner. 

And Most Importantly, Where To Go For Wine

Start at Tempus Two. Here you can find some of the best moscato in beautiful bottles. Try their Copper Series Moscato.

After Tempus Two, the next reasonable stop should be McGuigan, which is just across the road. Here, if you are a fan of full bodied red wine, try the Summer Shiraz 2013. It cost just a little bit more than the other wines, but at just $40 it is still very much a steal. If you love sweet wine like we do, try their Late Picked Traminer with its hint of lychee.

Tower Estate which is just down Broke Road, and is worth a visit too. While we were there, there were barrels of grapes fermenting in the room next to the wine tasting counter, and the smell there was delicious. We got another bottle of dessert wine from Tower Estate too, one where its sweetness is not overbearing, the Off Dry Semillon. 

Of course, one of our favorite places for wine and food, Linderman's, where we got a bottle of Viognier sweet white (I think you can tell we are a couple of sweet wine lovers, not the most sophisticated palates maybe but too each their own I say!).

And if you do drop by Kevin Sobel's, do say hello to the owner's pet dog Archie, a 5 year old St. Bernard the size of a small pony. This place also sells a beautiful sweet red wine called "Sweet and Luverly". Give it a try - it has became one of our latest favorites.

For a wine cellar with a view of the valley, try Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard situated atop a hill which offers a spectacular vantage point.  Say hi to the man-in-charge Ross and listen to him tell you the history of the place, and if you happen to have some lying around, bring him a durian and tell him an auditor sends his regards.

So there you have it, a simple easy two day one night itinerary for those who prefer a little planning in their weekend getaways. If not, then just dump these information, throw away that magazine and map, and just drive around getting lost among the aroma of the grapes, stopping wherever and whenever you want!

(Photo Credits to Guo Ming & Candy)

Quotes on Social Media by JT

Risk your life doing something and live to share it on Facebook and you get a hundred likes, comments and shares.

Don't survive it and you get a thousand.

Quotes on Failure by JT

How do you win $1 million in the lottery? You don't win it by winning $1,000 one thousand times, you win it by losing 999 times and getting the 1000th one right.

So don't fear failure.

A Quote By Charlie Chaplin

"We think too much, and feel too little."

The Great Dictator, 1940

The Man In The Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Extract from the "Citizenship in a Republic" speech

Quote on Things Left Undone

Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what"
- Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

It Is Never Too Late To Fly

“Dear God. Make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far, far away from here”

Do not fear the open world. Never in the history of men has the world been so vast, where human knowledge of each continents, land and sea increases every day, and yet, no corner of the world is too far away or isolated that it is inaccessible by a determined and imaginative man.

Within many of us lies a desire to travel, some more so than others, to see the majesty of what the world has to offer, to experience living in cultures far from our own, to witness the miracle of nature in its untainted, unhindered state, and to stand agog at the prowess of human science, technology and engineering.

And yet for most of us this dream is never fulfilled. We delay the pursuit of adventure and although the desire itself never goes away, the will to do something about it dies a slow sure death. We make self-defeating excuses for which we hold up as a worn-out shield against the dogged belief that we are short-changing ourselves in living a fuller life. It could be monetary limits; it may be constraints of familial obligations; maybe it is an unwilling partner who doesn’t share this dream. Whatever the excuse is, I submit that it all boils down to one thing – fear. Fear of facing the consequences of a wrong decision. Fear that there is no longer time to move to a country not of your birth as youth slips away, as they always do. Well, let me tell you, it is never too late to fly. The only time when it is too late is when you are dead. Some people may be privileged enough to be given opportunities when they were younger, but there is no law that prohibits an older person from seeking for pastures of a different type and colour, across the fences we call oceans and seas.

There is no stronger prison in the world than the prison of our own construction. We allow our fears to form steel bars and brick walls around us, and our excuses, the wardens. Only when we stop making excuses for ourselves do we regain control of the direction of our lives. And only when we regain control of the direction, can we point it towards the places we want to go.

And oh, the places you can go.

One of the giants in literature, Dr. Seuss, wrote:

“You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose.”

The things you will be amazed by, the experiences to be experienced when you travel, and really travel, not just sight-seeing or holidaying, is limited only by your imagination. Write your bucket list today, share it with your loved ones and your friends to make it real, make it a part of the world that you live in, rather than just a vague intangible list residing in the back of your heart and mind.

God did give us wings – we just call them feet.

Of course, you will certainly meet challenges along your journey. One cannot enjoy the view from the pinnacle of a mountain without enduring and conquering the ascension. This is when your creativity and ability to adapt is tested. When you are out of your comfort zone, you may surprise even yourself in discovering fortitude and talent that you would have never known you had if you had not set out on your voyage. Do not give up easily, and most importantly, do not let fear handicap you. If there is ever one advice that I hold dear to me, it is that I will always have a home back in my own country. What is the worst that I have to fear, then?

Make me a bird so that I may fly far away.

The first line of this little piece of musing is a quote from the movie “Forrest Gump”. A young Jenny prayed to be taken away from the abuses of her father. I may have hijacked it for my own purposes, but everyone has a reason to pray for flights to where their hearts desire.

What is your reason?

(Recommended reading for the young and the old, and everyone between young and old, Dr Seuss “Oh, The Places You’ll Go)