Wine and cheese.

It was a real gourmet day today – or should I call it a “gourmand” day? We were eating and drinking all day!

Once again we were in the Hunter Valley, this time to sample the wines of the area.

We visited two of the wineries, McWilliams and Mcguigan.  I do not drink alcohol so the tasting was entirely in the taste buds of my fellow tourists – and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the counter at the McWilliams winery – but I am getting ahead of myself!

After first wandering around on our own we were all marshaled into a tour group and outfitted with bright yellow safety vests that made us all very conspicuous and off we went with a very knowledgeable young lady (whose name I forget) to learn about growing vines and making wines.

There were acres of pruned vines that we could see from where we were standing and it was pointed out that the grapes growing closest to the trees on the hill in the next photograph were the original grapes vines from France from when the winery was first started

A huge double tanker was loading up with white wine while out the front of the main building waited a second vehicle the same size. The hose you can see on the ground in the picture I have here is transparent and you can see the wine traveling along it. Well, you can see there is a golden colour to the hose.

We were taken to see where the various stages of handing grapes and converting them to wine, happened. Then it was into the tasting room where the other members of the group had a wonderful time going through the different white and red wines. I think that all of them bought a few bottles.

Then we were taken into the restaurant and given a huge and very delicious meal. None of us is used to eating big in the middle of the day so we did anticipate falling asleep in the bus on the way back to the hotel! The food was far to good to leave any!

Our next stop was another winery. 

To begin with we called into the cheese making area of the Maguigan winery and were invited to sit at one of the tables.

Two large platters of cheeses and a couple of baskets of water crackers were brought to us and we were able to sample five different cheeses.

My favourite was a fairly strong cheddar that was encased in a green wax. After the tasting I bought a whole cheese. Pretty expensive but I was assured that I could cut it into blocks and freeze it. That decided me! It would take a long time to eat my way through the whole cheese and it would go “off” long before I had got half way. So I shall freeze it in portions!

After the cheese we were invited into a tasting room where a young fellow guided our tasting group through the different wines. This time the amount of wine was small (since it wasn’t self administered) and directed from dry to sweet and finishing with a tawny port. I think that everyone was exhausted by all the wines and cheeses by this time and I don’t think that anyone purchased any wines from here.

So our week of touring is now over.

Tomorrow everyone is taken to the airport and they make their way back to their respective homes. The Steven and I will drive up to Coolangatta in the bus, expecting to get there around 10.00 pm. From there I will then follow the bus by driving Steven’s four wheel drive to where it the bus is stored and from there the two of us will drive back to Mudgeeraba. I am not sure when we shall get home – it will depend on whether Steven cleans the bus when we get to the bus shed or not.

The week has been fun; I have seen and done a lot. I will need a holiday to get over it!

AJ

Horses in the coal fields

Our group was taken way into the Upper Hunter Valley today to see where the big horse studs are situated. The scenery was beautiful and after a rather foggy start the weather turned out to be perfect again. We had a guide with us from “Upper Hunter Tours” who was not only a local but he was also a horse owner and breeder so we were given plenty of information we would not have gathered except from an expert.

I knew there were coal fields in this area but from Craig we learned about the size of them and the way they are encroaching on the arable lands of the Hunter. As time goes on there will be less and less of this beautiful country left. Already many of the vineyards have one as have horse and cattle studs. The land has been acquired by the coal mines.

We were taken in to see the layout of one of the horse studs owned by the Sheik of Dubai, “Woodlands” The entrance was quite impressive but not ostentatious.

This place is for breeding mares and as we passed the different paddocks we were told, “In this paddock on this side the fillies have two weeks to go before foaling” and “On this side they have two days before they foal” and “They will be moved into this paddock when they are within 12 hours of foaling”. We were told how the veterinary nurses knew when that was.

We all stopped to take a photograph of a fiberglass statue of the horse from this stables that won the Melbourne Cup. 

We were taken to the top of a small hill from where we could look out over the property, what glorious country! The Hunter River runs through the property and no one photograph could contain all the land in the property. 

After lunch we went further afield to see another horse property and to see how close the coal mines were getting to it. 

The little town of Denham where we had our lunch.

Quite staggering! The dust from the coal is over everything and in spite of assurances to the contrary by the mining bosses, the dust is definitely affecting the health of the animals and humans living close to it.

To finalise our day we drove to the tip of Soldiers Point, near to our hotel and watched as the sun went down. Since there were a few clouds the sunset was quite spectacular.

A fellow was just finishing cleaning his fish as we arrived and his audience of Pelicans looked so hungry!

 The sun was not down at this point but the fish cleaning was almost finished.

Rather than show you a sunset I will show you the effect of the sunset on the boats in the marina at Soldiers Point. 

I thought they looked so beautiful.!

AJ

Good for the soul

I just love gardens so today was “right up my alley”! We visited the Hunter Valley Gardens. The gardens were opened in 2003 so are very new when compared to many of the large famous gardens to which tourists will flock. Our visit happened after all the rose trees had been pruned and all the deciduous trees – which actually is most of the trees – are still bare of leaves and buds are barely showing. In spite of that the gardens were beautiful. This photograph shows the formal garden and was taken from an elevated platform.

There are a number of different (very different) gardens within the 16 hectares of garden.

A little train is an excellent way to get the first taste of the garden and the train driver gives a running commentary as the train passes the different features. Anyone who is not so nimble will still be able to see most of what is in the gardens this way.

There are many topiary shapes that are really eye catching and even some that are shaped like animals! They are very clever!

The storybook garden is full of fascinating sculptures that would appeal to the child in anyone! This is more a garden of sculptures than a garden of flowers.

The time passed too quickly in the gardens but there was another interesting place to go and visit so we clambered aboard our mini bus and made our way to Singleton and to a convent where we were greeted by Sister Monika and given a fascinating look into the life of nuns in Australia. A little video was shown to us that gave the early history of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy and how the order started in Ireland before spreading across the world. Our guide had spent most of her life in this Convent and she was able to answer any questions we asked on any aspect of life as a nun.

Life has changed dramatically for nuns – they no longer wear the black habit and live in seclusion – but we were shown a Spartan room that showed how a nun’s bedroom (cell) used to be.

 

In the grand old buildings there were many beautiful stained glass windows. These have been repaired and strengthened without compromising their beauty. This is one of the glorious examples taken in the large dining room.

Just before we left the convent we were taken into the chapel – and this was definitely the “piece de resistance” The interior of the chapel is exquisite. The altar is Italian marble and breath-taking in its translucency and form. This is a very special place and I found out that I shouldn’t really have been taking photographs of it – but who could resist? I certainly couldn’t.

I felt so privileged to have been able to see this amazing convent, one that is still inhabited by nuns, albeit a small number of aging nuns, and to learn something of the contribution these ladies have given to Australia.

AJ

Guns and planes

What a busy day for the eyes it was today! The tour start was not particularly early but we managed to fit in three different experiences. To begin with we drove from our base Hotel at Soldiers Point to Newcastle. The drive through the countryside on this perfect clear winters day was fantastic. Everything looked so bright and healthy, the grass and trees are all green and lush and the grazing animals all looked so fat and healthy. There seem to be a lot of horses in this part of the world and on some of the small holdings there were different breeds of sheep that are not usually seen further inland.

Our first stop was at Fort Scratchley on the mouth of the Hunter River, a place of canons and sandstone buildings.

We were met by Len who was to be our guide through the tunnels of the fort. We had an interesting history lesson on the activities of the fort and its one moment of glory during the 2^nd world war when four shots were made in response to a submarine attack.

I know it is really a “Mans” thing but the women in the party all showed their interest in the gun emplacements and narrow tunnel passageways!

After we emerged to the daylight we were taken into town where we were “let loose” to amuse ourselves. Fantastic! A whole hour and half to find lunch and to take as many photos as I wanted! Newcastle seems to have so many interesting old buildings and historic homes that you really need much longer – and a car to take you further afield!

Even in the short distance I managed to walk during that hour I collected several very stately buildings – built from sandstone that had been brought out from the UK because at the time they were constructed, suitable sandstone quarries had not been found in Australia.

We were to meet the “Talking tram” close to where the ferry crossed the river so of course I just had to race around and take an action shot of the ferry as it left!

What a brilliant way to see the city – traveling around on what looked to be an old tram but was really not so old and was actually riding on a truck chassis. Our tram driver took us up to see the lighthouse, traveling up a one car wide track up to the top of the rise.

Once on the top, beside the no-longer used lighthouse, we alighted and were able to take lots of photographs of the views from up there.

I could write reams about the things we saw from the tram and show you dozens of photographs – but I will control that urge!

Back into our mini bus we clambered and off we went again. This time to Williamstown where we pulled up in front of a place called “Fighterworld” which is next to the military air field of Williamstown. Another wonderful place for the males in the group! One of our party was in the air-force during WW2 so he was in his element! Here were two hangers containing military aircraft

 

There were all sorts of military planes both on the ground and suspended from the rafters ranging from small prop planes right up to the F111.

 With such a visual overload from today’s tour you would have thought that we would all have a quick meal and go and put our feet up – but instead we sat around the table after the meal was finished and talked “until the cows came home” until the noise from the bar became too loud for us to hear conversation! Could tomorrow bett

Open water and sand

The grey clouds had all disappeared by the time we arrived at Nelson Bay to board our big cruiser. Today we were to chug out into the Port Stevens waters to see some of the dolphins that live out there. It was warm enough to shed fleeces and jackets but once we made our way out onto the open deck of the cruise boat and were underway it was certainly cold enough to put them back on again.

It wasn’t long before the first dolphins were spotted. A pod of around seven swam across in front of us. They didn’t do anything dramatic but they were beautiful as they did their formation swimming. The majority of people on the boat were young tourists from China and they were at first quite excited at the sight of the dolphins, however their enthusiasm soon waned and their interest switched to taking photographs of each other in poses around the boat! Fun to watch!

There were not too many dolphin sightings, so watching the young people perform for their cameras became far more interesting. I did take two still photographs of distant dolphins – the ones that were closer to the boat I took with my little video camera.

Unusually the boat pulled back into the marina and tied up before lunch was served. I guess it makes sense that the boat is not bobbing around on the water while people are wandering around with plates of food. We had out meal and left as the afternoon dolphin watchers boarded and started their tour with the second sitting of lunch on board! I think I prefer sailing before eating!

In the afternoon we drove only a little way north of Nelson Bay to where the beach reached for ever – inland! It looked as if we had arrived at the Sahara desert! Huge concrete pyramids reinforced that impression.

Our chariot was a regular looking street bus on a four wheel drive chassis. To negotiate the soft sand a special vehicle was imperative – we did see just how useless a two wheel drive car is on the sand – when we were leaving the beach we watched through the windows as a group of people valiantly tried to get their car un-stuck!

Our little group had fun being driven over the beach and up and over sand dunes. All of us “chickened out” at sand tobogganing. I was tempted but since I am accident prone I resisted the urge! There are a few more days to this holiday that I want to enjoy.

From razor wire to paint brush

I think tours for “oldies” are more strenuous than any trip I have organized for my family! I am “bushed” and I have done none of the driving! Where do I start to tell you of today’s adventures? Hmm! I will leave out the preliminaries (great breakfast!) and the drive to Maitland and tell you about our experiences in Maitland Gaol!

The grey skies and cold wind set the right mood for a visit to a disused gaol.

We were all given headphones and an ipod each and shown how to operate the self guided tour – there are numbered markers that correspond with the text on the ipod and by touching the right text we are given audio information and inmates’ stories of that part of the gaol. I thought it was such a clever idea and it gave the freedom to follow the map and do the tour sequentially or go in any direction and start the audio when you encountered a numbered marker.

As well as learning about the miserable side of jail life we had a few laughs too – one of our group is full of fun and he manages to make all of us laugh and he wanted his wife to take a photo of him as a prisoner but of course I was ready for him too!

The guide who accompanied through the gaol (the place is called a gaol, not jail but is pronounced the same way.) changed his outfit to black top hat and cloak and rode with us to Morpeth where he explained the former use of many of the old houses and stores in that fascinating town. What a fascinating place is Morpeth! There are so many old places that look amazing in a photograph and there are so many fascinating little shops filled with the most unusual items.

I loved looking over fences and discovering very special scenes – like this one!

From Morpeth we hopped back on the bus and went to a town called “Kurri Kurri”. I had never heard of this place before but it was a real surprise – it was quite a large town that had at one time been a very busy larger town. It was a coal mining town once upon a time but the coal mines had closed and huge numbers of unemployed drained the town of its energy. Ten years ago townspeople started a venture to draw tourists to their town – they started to decorate the large blank walls with murals.

A local guide joined us on our bus and guided us around the town to show us several of the murals. My photos had to be taken through the windows of the bus which pulled up but only stayed stationary for a few short minutes. It would have taken far too long if we had stopped completely and climbed out to take our pictures.

Kurri Kurri loves and reveres the kookaburra and has adopted it as a symbol of the town. A gigantic kookaburra made from recycled materials stands in the park in the centre of the town and when we finished our tour I persuaded everyone to go over to it so I could take their photograph with it.

By the time our group returned to the hotel we were all ready to sit down and relax for a while! The last stretch in the bus back to Soldiers Point made the eyelids feel very heavy!

 AJ

First time on a new coastline

Thank goodness the sun does not come up early because I was able to step outside onto the veranda of our motel room and take a photograph of the view with beautiful half light and the distinctive sound of a flock of galahs passing by on their way to their feeding grounds. Sorry I did not think to record the sound for you!

  click on the photo and you should be able to see the birds!

We are staying in a large three storied motel that is situated right on the edge of a bay but sheltered from the winds from the water by a strip of trees. The motel also has a restaurant and convention rooms which should give you an idea as to its size.

The sea facing side of part of the Salamander Shores Resort

While my son was away with the bus picking up more people who are on this tour with me, I wandered off with my camera and had a wonderful time taking photographs and exploring the beach front properties. I had just emerged from a bakery where I had picked up a cinnamon twist for our morning tea when the Bombora bus sailed past – with big waves to show that I had been spotted. A few short minutes later it returned and my son Steven stopped and picked me up and we went off on our own private tour of Nelson Bay. The couple that had just been picked up from the airport had been deposited safely in their room and the bus needed fuel for the next few days touring. (Today is arrival day, not a touring day). Before stopping for diesel we looked around.

Port Stevens coastguard and light house cottage

I didn’t think the narrow road was wide enough for our bus – a coach certainly would have struggled! But we drove up to the lighthouse.

We didn’t see a lighthouse though! We did see lots of coastguard radio aerials that created an interesting skyline and the old light keeper’s house which is now a museum and café. The view from the lighthouse hill is rather stunning and well worth going up to see.

Views do not get much better than this!

Further round Nelson Bay we drove and again I exercised the shutter release on the camera but will only show you one of the shots – The sky is rich blue and some of the bays are sheltered and smooth as glass while others are exposed to the wind and have small white capped waves on them. All the water in these bays is sheltered water though. There is a small gap between two headlands that creates a bar between the bays and the open sea.

 Another beautiful beach - and no one on it!

So that is how I have spent my morning. My son has left to pick up the remaining members of the tour from the airport in Newcastle (only 35 minutes away) and I will head off to find more things to aim my camera at!

AJ