When we left Brisbane, we decided we’d have two long driving days so we could have a couple of days in the Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s wine-producing districts. On the way, we took a side trip to the Gold Coast but were glad that we had decided not to stay there. The towns (especially Surfers Paradise) were very crowded because it was a spring break and all the “schoolies” as they are called had headed to the Gold Coast to party for the week. This stretch of Australia’s coastline reminded me of the Spanish coast with all the ugly high-rises and beachfront development.

Later that same day, we had a major sighting of kangaroos in the forest along the roadway. There was no place to pull over to document the sighting but this experience really made up for all the time we’d spent watching for wildlife every time we saw a kangaroo or koala warning sign at the side of the road.

The next day, we arrived in the Hunter Valley and stayed for two nights at a rustic lodge with vineyards, a fabulous restaurant and kangaroos on the property. We saw the kangaroos a few times but unlike the deer on the Gulf Islands, the Roos won’t let you get very close. Although the lodge rooms were well appointed, they were not fancy. Each room provided all the usual amenities, overlooked the vineyards and a pond with geese and lily pads and even offered a selection of local wine. Our accommodation included breakfasts and one dinner in the restaurant – Shaky Tables (winner of top restaurant in Australia every year since 2001). The restaurant was really cool with brightly coloured walls, furniture and artwork (by the chef), and there were no shaky tables. The food was also delicious and well presented.

We took a wine tasting tour so husband could enjoy himself and not worry about driving. The tour consisted of only 10 people - 4 Tasmanians (called Tazies) and 2 couples from Scotland. We visited 5 cellar door wineries - these are small wine producers that only sell at their winery. Each winery gave us about 8-12 wines to taste and I threw caution to the wind and joined the tasting, although I didn’t try any of the reds. The Hunter Valley gets very high temperatures in the summer of 40+, so they specialize in heat-loving grapes that are used to produce Semillon and Shiraz. We also tried a young, white wine called Verdelho that we hadn’t heard of before but found to be very pleasant. It was tough not buying a few bottles of wine but we knew that the only way we could transport them home was in our suitcases. We did however pick up two small (375 ml) bottles of dessert wine that I wrapped in bubble wrap for travelling.

The next day, we had to drive back to Sydney and instead of taking the normal route, we took a winding, hilly country road through “mountains”. For most of the way, we drove along a ridge with valleys and hills in both directions. There was almost no traffic, which added to our enjoyment of the drive. In all our travels around Australia we had no problem finding accommodation but that was about to change when we arrived in Sydney. Normally, we pre-arrange our hotel for our final night but this time we hadn’t and when we arrived everything seemed to be booked due to the ARIAs (Australia annual music awards). Luckily for us, a very helpful reception clerk at an Ibis Hotel near the Sydney Airport began calling every hotel she could think of and found us an oceanfront room in a town about 20 minutes south of the airport. Phew!!!! Then we were able to relax and enjoy our final night walking along the beach and watching the sun set.

Our travel home went well (12 hour flight from Sydney to San Francisco and another 2 ½ hours to Vancouver), except for my full body search as we left Oz and for our missing luggage when we arrived in Vancouver. Our suitcases had been mislabelled in Sydney, so they weren’t on our flight. About 11 p.m. that night we were woken by a call from the airport to say they had arrived, so we were able to pick them up the following morning on our way to the ferry.

Now we are back home and enjoying the quiet life for awhile.
I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our travels in Australia. We have certainly enjoyed sharing them with you.

Cheers!!!!!!