#1: Hunter Valley. HIGHLIGHTS: Hunter Valley, Wild Kangaroos. Woke up at 6am today to get ready for our Hunter Valley trip! Hunter Valley is Australia's premier wine growing district. It's located 120km north of central Sydney, and it takes about 2-3hrs to get there. There was a mild storm last night so it was really cold this morning. After about 1.5hrs of travelling, we stopped for toilet break. A cup of hot latte from McCafe really save my life. It totally warmed up my stomach.
#2: Pastries available at McCafe (left counter).
#3: Pastries available at McCafe (right counter). The ride was so long... All of us ended up sleeping on the bus... Just when we were about to reach Bimbadgen, we saw some kangaroos! A pity that they were so far away from us, can't take a close look at them D:
#4: Wild Kangaroos.
#5: Hunter Valley, Bimbadgen. Bimbadgen is an award-winning winery and vineyard. They are the winners of Australia's Best Tourism Winery in 2002, 2006 and 2007.
#6: Bimbadgen.
#7: Vineyards of Bimbadgen. We learnt a bit about wines and had some wine tasting. The views up at Hunter Valley were sooooo awesome. It feels so relaxed! Basically, white wine is made by pressing out the juice from the grapes and being fermented in a large steel tank. Red wine is made by crushing the grapes and fermenting it together with its skin in an oak barrier. The grape skin contributes to the colour of the wine and oak helps to add flavour to the wine. #8: Bimbadgen Cellar Door.
#8: Wine Tasting at Bimbadgen. BIMBADGEN Site: http://www.bimbadgen.com.au/ Address: 790 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin NSW. Admission: FREE. Opening Hrs: 1000 - 1700hrs (sun to thu), to 1900hrs (fri and sat). Lunch: 1200 - 1600hrs. Dinner: Wed to Sat, from 1800hrs. If you were to buy wines from Australia, you will realised that they have screw caps instead of cork. Screw caps help to prevent oxidation (browning) and ensures that the standard of the wine is kept constant. Finishing up the winery experience is a scrumptious 3-course meal at Bimbadgen Estate. For amuse bouche, we had beetroot with onion and tomato. For main, we had mackerel with potato, peas and lemon gel. And for dessert, there were two choices. Either pecan pie with butter ice cream, cinnamon-poached apples, caramel and grounded cinnamon almond, OR creme brulee with vanilla ice cream and profiterole. I really love the vanilla ice cream. I think this is like the best vanilla ice cream that I ever had.
#9: Bimbadgen Estate (restaurant).
#10: Some starter bread.
#11: Amuse bouche, Beetroot with Onion and Tomato.
#12: Main, Mackerel with Potato, Peas and Lemon Gel.
#13: Dessert, Pecan pie with Butter Ice Cream, Cinnamon-poached Apples, Caramel and Grounded Cinnamon Almond.
#14: Dessert, Creme Brulee with Vanilla Ice Cream and Profiterole.
#15: Pretty flowers at Bimbadgen. After a fresh-up, we headed down to George St for some simple shopping, before heading to Pepper Lunch for dinner. I had curry chicken pepper rice, it's so good! But not spicy enough... D:
#16: Curry Chicken Pepper Rice. On our way back to YHA, we stopped by Woolworths (supermart) for some grocery shopping! I bought some Swiss bar chocolates, they were 2 for $5. The storm got really bad at night. The wind and the rain were so strong. You can literally see the rain moving in the sky like waves in the sea. There were also hailstones, so there were lots of 'clicking' sound on the windows. The wind was so strong that it seems like the glass can break anytime. It's either the ambulance or the fire engine... Alright, that's all for today, hope the weather would be better tomorrow! EXPENSES OF THE DAY: Transport to Hunter Valley - AUD63.64 per pax Hunter Valley Lunch - AUD30 McCafe Latte (standard) - AUD4.15 Chocolates at Hunter Valley - AUD19.80 Dinner at Pepper Lunch - AUD13.20 Knitted Dress - AUD7.99 Bar Chocolates - AUD5 Train back to YHA - AUD3.40