Hunter Valley, NSW

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October 11-12, 2012 Swirl, Sip & Savoring in the Hunter Valley New South Wales

Thursday morning we drove the little MoHo north to a world famous wine region know as the Hunter Valley. Another good day’s drive through some typical Australian countryside. The weather was more pleasant and most of the day was sunny. What a fantastic view: driving into the valley and being overtaken by acres, acres and acres of vineyards – the vines here were well broken out in their spring greenery. We got a wine tour set up for the next day and enjoyed the afternoon relaxing a bit and getting the MoHo a bit ready for the “cleanup” to happen in a couple of days.

Friday morning we met the “Wine Rover” out front of the campground about 9:40am.  We drove quickly to our first stop – wine tasting at about 10:15am. Hmmm a bit early perhaps, but we joined right in with the festivities. We were greeted with a tasting of 15 different wines – yikes!!! We quickly realized we must only sip a tiny bit of each one or the day would get away from us quickly. We then went on to one other vineyard and an olive tasting before lunch. We ate lunch at the Hunter Valley Gardens, a nice stop, chance to get a bit of nutrition to set us up for two more afternoon stops at good winery cellar doors plus a tasting at the Hunter Distilleries – Vodka and liquor tasting. Back to camp by about 4:45pm, we headed out to find Peter Lesson’s, (Peter is Linda, our Melbourne friend’s brother) home in Paterson.  It was a bit of a drive, but with only 1 or 2 wrong turns we made it their lovely country home. The house sits on about 25 acres of Australian bush, so very picturesque. That evening we enjoyed a wonderful Aussie style dinner of steak and roasted vegies. Peter’s wife Linda is a master cook. It was great catching up with Peter after 40 + years.