We have seen a lot in our first full week in Australia......little bits of the big city (Sydney), wine country (Hunter Valley), mountains (Blue Mountains) and beautiful beaches and scenery along the south-eastern coast......along with some mixed weather.
We figured a rainy day was a perfect time to visit some wineries in Hunter Valley, only 2 hours from Sydney. One of Australia's oldest wine regions, specializing in Semillon wines which appealed to me, we stopped at 6 of the 150 wineries in the area over our 2 days there, and enjoyed their tastings which are still provided at no charge. We had a fabulous lunch at Margan, and stocked the van with some of our favourites along the way.
The next day we hooked up with our Aussie friends Bill & Bobbie (Roberta) who drove down the coast from Yamba to join us at a campground just north of Sydney, near their infamous former 'mushroom' house in the Mona Vale area. We had not seen them since our trip to Greece 7 years ago, so it was good to catch up with them again........none of us looked any older (we all agreed). Having moved here from Canada 30 years ago, they are now our official tour guides on our way down the coast and around to Melbourne. We have encountered more rain along the way but we have used our time wisely, stopping for shoreline hikes and ocean swims in the nice weather, and driving or shopping in the foul weather. Some of the highlights have been the Grand Pacific Drive (along the coast), Jervis Bay (and a nice hike to Hyams Beach), Perpendicular Point (where we had to drive thru the Beecroft Weapons Range which is still in use by the army and navy, and told to stay on the trails to avoid unexploded devices) and a shore walk at low tide where Bill showed me how to use a foot wedge to disengage oysters from sea rocks and then crack them open for a fresh snack. Our overnight stays have been at both National Park campgrounds and Holiday Parks (more services). They almost all have community BBQ's and covered seating areas that have come in handy when it has been raining at night. We have also used B&B's slide-on camper (more space than ours) for some after-dinner drinks and games.
We are now in Eden, a former whale fishing town, and tomorrow we will spend time at their museum before heading further south towards the SE tip.
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| Hunter Valley |
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| Re-union party |
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| Sea Cliff Bridge along the Grand Pacific Drive |
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| Not just in our campgrounds |
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| But watch where you walk! |
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