Newcastle and the Hunter Valley

From Sydney we took the Greyhound 2 1/2 hours up the coast to Newcastle. Stephen's friend and former Ford colleague, Gordon, and his wife Tracey were kind enough to put us up for a few days. They were great hosts and we had a lot of fun with them. They fed us, gave us bicycles and cars to use and Gordon even stayed up late to play the guitar with Stephen.

We used Newcastle as a base to explore the Hunter Valley, birthplace of the Australian Shiraz. Stephen drove Gordon's car out to wine country. We visited three of the most scenic wineries. We ate a picnic lunch in the New England style gardens of the Pepper Tree winery. Then we took photos of the panoramic views from Aubry Wilkinson and finally we enjoyed cream teas a sunny views of growing grapes at the Drayton winery. They had a nice museum about the Drayton family. It was glorious and sunny. We finished the day with a swim in the sea back at Newcastle.

The next day, we borrowed the bikes and took a nice bike ride along a disused railway track. It was a really nice trail. We decided to turn around when we noticed the sky becoming black. Unfortunately, our timing was not quite right and we got stuck in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. We took shelter under a tree hoping it would pass quickly, but the rain was relentless. By now, we were thoroughly drenched so we decided we had nothing to lose by cycling home. Besides, we were getting attacked by pesky mosquitoes seeking shelter under the very same tree. We made it back 20 minutes later, took warm showers and set about hanging everything out to dry. Unfortunately, our much-beloved camera did not survive the deluge of water so well. It was in a case in my bag, but unfortunately, the material was not thick enough or waterproof enough to withstand an hour of heavy rainfall. Sadly, we have had to purchase a new camera after the man at the shop pronounced it completely dead. We are still hoping to possibly get it repaired in Hong Kong, but in the meantime we have a new Cannon to replace it. Hopefully, the pictures will be just as nice. Lessons learned: 1. Always bring our South American ponchos with us wherever we go and, 2. Always keep the camera in a good case inside a plastic bag.

And Stephen says...
Newcastle - Their Newcastle football team that actually won something this year and without Kevin Keegan.
We were collected from the bus station in Gordon and Tracy's brand new super mum car and taken home for showers, tea and sandwiches. I worked near Gordon for around 12 months at Ford which entitles me to turn up at his house in Australia every 4 or 5 years, kick the kids out of their bedroom, borrow their car, borrow their bikes, abuse the internet and telephone; get all our washing done and drink a month worth of booze in 3 evenings. We also managed to relive a few glorious guitar workshop numbers until the small hours but the singing doesn't get any better even if we know all the chords.

Hunter Valley Nice hills with wineries but needs a casino for something else to do
Drove inland to find wineries and pretty landscape with Gordon's car and mobile phone and the Mrs on naviagtion which always adds to the entertainment. These wine making people always choose nice places to set up their vines. Well you might as well if it's going to be your life's work. Found the best one by accident and stopped when proffered Devonshire Cream Teas. The wineries here give you free tastes of wine but you feel compelled to guzzle a few glasses, buy a bottle and then disappear quickly. At the least one we could slurp a few of their favourites and then order a cup of tea and sit down and have time to look at the nice scenery. Still like wine, good.

Good things
Abusing Gordon and Tracy's hospitality
Watching enourmous bats leave in formation and flying over the garden during dinner
Walking around a free wildlife park with kangaroos, koalas and lots of parrots
Playing the Proclaimers until 1am - the lyrics are really funny
Doing stupid Bob Dylan vaccum cleaner accents to any Dylan song
No need for an alarm click with 3 children under 7 years old

Bad things
Getting stuck in huge rainstorm on a bike ride into the countryside. Wetter than an otter's pocket. Tried to shelter under some trees but the leaves just funneled more water over us and the mozzies nibbled our legs. Shoes were full of water and so was our pet camera that died an early and upsetting death. Why couldn't it stop working in Hong Kong? Could have repaired it cheaply or got something at preshipped to the rest of the world prices. No more photos on the blog!