Day 1, Friday
The Road to Hunter Valley
We have been to the Hunter Valley Wine Country countless of times before. It is only a two hour drive from our place, and a go-to place to take Sydney visitors. However, the Hunter region is not your usual place for a winter break. We should have gone to the Snowy Mountains. That’s the name of the snow region in New South Wales, Aussies are literal like that. But a snow holiday costs an arm and a leg. Day ski lift passes can cost me more that $300+ for four and that does not include ski gear and equipment and lessons and… They say that a snow holiday in New Zealand even with the airfare will cost less. So NZ for next time it is. For now, let’s go to Sydney’s wine country. (Check out what we did in our 2011 snow holiday.)
I wanted this break to be different from previous visits. More than the usual wine cellar tours and gourmet food tripping.
Well then first up is the road trip. Instead of taking the F3 freeway, we went through the back roads via Scenic Route 33 called the Wollombi Trail. So quiet and remote this passage was, only bikies frequent this route. Them, the local residents, and people on adventure like us. Within 30 minutes of leaving Sydney we found ourselves amongst towering trees, farms on both sides of the road, horses and cows dotting the horizon. My sunshine Migo was stoked. He absolutely loves road trips and animals, watching from a distance that is. “Oh look! There’s a cow right here!“, says Migo in his queer speaking cadence. Coming up close and touching is a big no-no however.
Bushland. We were right in the middle of bushland, an area that is prone to bush fires. But there hasn’t been any fires last summer, I don’t remember, so it is beautifully green all around. The back roads meander, take longer but more picturesque. Ariel noticed that we were low on petrol. What? But didn’t we just go past a petrol station not 10 minutes ago? Why didn’t we gas up then?
“Where is the nearest town?” asked Ariel. “It’s in Cessnock” I responded. I was eating my M&Ms, so good an indulgence that was, while checking out the Hunter map plus taking pictures of the sceneries. Ariel decided to veer driving towards Cessnock. That meant getting off the scenic route and cutting short our languid sweet pace. Sigh. He abruptly stopped by the side of the road right in front of a place called Stonehurst Wines/Cedar Creek Cottages. He wanted to punch in Cessnock on our car GPS and make a beeline for it. “No”, I said, “Let’s have a break now as you have been driving for two hours. We are here anyway and it’s eleven a.m. Time for morning tea.” This Stonehurst winery had a lovely picnic table under maple trees bursting in orange kaleidoscope, its buildings so rustic and wooden and old and postcard perfect. I also see a Toilet sign. It’s time for me to go to the loo. Plus a coffee/tea sign, even better.
“Let’s buy some coffee so we can use their toilets. Let’s have a pit stop here.” Ariel quietly nodded.
And what a nice rejuvenating place it was. They were selling wines, preserves and chocolates. Autumn maple leaves cover the backyard behind the store cottage. Well, they probably are not maple trees, let’s just pretend they are. Sculptures dot the surrounds of the property. It was an artists’ haven. I am thinking of a painter painting the storybook view as below, all yellow and orange and vermillion hues. Or a photographer snapping, looking up, zooming in, macroing, clickity clack. Or a poet waxing lyrical poetry about a lost love. Or a singer with a voice that soars over the golden maple trees and above the hills yonder.
This pit stop will not have occurred if we weren’t low on petrol. I silently thanked my muses. Sometimes things happen for a reason. OK. Most times, but not all the time. We watched Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai later that night.
Ken Watanabe’s Katsumoto: “You believe a man can change his destiny?”
Tom Cruises’ Algren: “I think a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed to him.”
Late lunch was at the “Sabor in the Hunter”.
“Gab, we are going to have lunch at a dessert place”, says I.
“You mean we are going to have dessert for lunch…?”, quipped Gabo.
Freida says
I-add ko yan sa bucket list ko, nyahahaha…..
Norberto says
Enjoyed this lunch at a dessert place… Love the last samurai …