WorldTravelReynolds

Our day here in Newcastle was a much easier day than yesterday in Sydney. Not near as many steps or stairs and the majority of our time was wine tasting or shopping! It was a nice break from the steps and walking from the day before. We walked 6 miles and more than 1/2 was up and down stairs at the Sydney Opera house so we welcomed the fact this was an easy day. We are finding that we aren’t as agile as we used to be.

Our tour guide was nicknamed our Uber driver because he didn’t really create a tour for us. They just drove us from one winery to another so this post wont have a lot of information about Newcastle’s history other than it’s a major wine country.

While there aren’t a ton of wineries within Newcastle city limits where our ship docked, the world-renowned Hunter Valley wine region lies just about an hour away.

Hunter Valley is renowned for its semillon and shiraz grapes, the region boasts over 150 wineries. It reminded me of California wine country!

Our first winery was the best of all. It had cheeses to match the different wines, 6 in total that we tasted. The landscape of each winery was so beautiful. Similar to our home back in Virginia, the rolling landscape was beautiful. The main difference was the animals here are kangaroos and not horses or cattle. Although the kangaroos are actually wild and are everywhere in the Hunter valley or wine country. We took many photos, even one mama with her baby in the pouch. So cute!

One of our stops was at a liquor tasting. It was vodka and gin. They don’t offer whiskey due to the extreme alcohol content. However this vodka was so strong I think it would qualify. I only tasted one and it was ice tea. It was ok but Jane said the bubble gum was the best. The interesting part of the vodka brand was the fact it sparkled. Very interesting how it looked in the bottle.

While others were tasting we wandered around the shopping area for a Christmas ornament. Not only did I find a kangaroo ornament but found some more Alpaca yarn! Chuck is always finding things. Bought some more yarn, of course.

Our lunch stop was at a Brick oven Pizza joint. It was so tasty and the walk around the grounds was beautiful. The interesting part was we parked in the back so we had no idea what type of restaurant we were dining at until they brought the pizza to our table. Really good pizza. As we walked around after our meal we found a sign at the entrance stating it was a pizza joint.

The next winery not only had wine but dozens of wild kangaroo. They were just hanging out in the shade and keeping a good eye on us. We didn’t get close. They are wild and have a pretty strong kick. So fun to watch though. This was the highlight of our day.

Our last tasting included the most amazing chocolate. The best thing about this area is the majority of the nuts are macadamia nuts so if we buy chocolate with nuts, it’s macadamia. Fine with me. I love them. We bought one bottle of wine at the first stop and lots of chocolate at the last stop.

We had a nice day and even though it wasn’t a great educational tour, we did enjoy the beautiful countryside in Newcastle and the animals of course!

We are now headed over to Brisbane, home of the Koala Sanctuary. So excited!

May God bless you always.

Chuck & Lea Ann