Hunter Valley

Sunday, 31 May 2015

The last day of autumn and it RAINED!  Very heavy rain during the night continued until mid-morning, with the sky remaining very overcast and threatening all day, with a corresponding drop in temperature as well.

With great excitement on Cat’s part, we set out late this morning to visit a couple of wineries, with our first stop at Lindeman’s.  With so many wineries to choose from, we decided to stick to a couple of labels we are familiar with.  Being early in the day and unpleasant weather, there was only one other small group at our first stop, so the nice man was very helpful – and generous with his offerings.  Nor did the offerings stop, more and more bottles were produces for “just a taste.”  Fortunately, the nominated driver exhibited great self control.  It was at this point that I realised the camera was still sitting on top of the frig in the caravan – which might have been just as well!  Our next stop was at the village bakery to buy some bread rolls to soak up some of the alcohol before visiting McGuigan’s.  I think the nice lady in this winery must have been related to the nice man at the previous winery.  Once again, we did our bit to help the Hunter Valley economy.

With the morning well past, our next decision was where to have lunch.  Peterson’s Winery, which specialised in sparkling wines, also had a restaurant attached.  After discovering that this was mainly occupied by young girls enjoying their bubbles and talking loudly and shrilly, plus at least a 20 minute wait for a table, we decided to check out the Muse Restaurant at Hungerford Hill across the road.  So glad we did – it was superb.  The service commenced with the door being held open for us to enter, a completely different type of clientele, lovely décor, silver service …  After being shown to a table and offered water, a different waiter arrived with the menus and wine list – we had a choice of two or three courses.  We both decided on a main course and dessert.

While waiting for our first course, a waitress came round with breads, served with silver fork and spoon - some sort of "ordinary" bread plus a caramelised onion brioche.  These were replaced after we had eaten them, of course.  The butter was a special house blend with garlic and olives (I think).  Next, we were brought a large wafer thing with sumac on the top, a sipper of mushroom tea (yuck) and in individual bowls of seeds and spices, a spiced maccaron (for him) and pork crackling with apple and fresh ginger sauce (for me, as the maccaron had chilli in it).  Yummo!  I had seared scallops with crumb sprinkles served with clam butter, tamarind paste, rolls of canteloupe and honeydew, as well as nasturiums.  Himself had pink lamb with roasted sweet potato, lentils done a special way and some dark green paste stuff, with fluffy goat cream (or something like that).  Every part of the dish was explained in detail.  Naturally, to refresh our place, we were offered a clear jelly of rhubarb and goat whey with lemon sorbet.  We both had the same dessert - caramel with chocolate sorbet, meringue shards, fresh figs, caramelised date, nuts and croutons in something scattered around the dish.  Needless to say, I wont be preparing an evening meal.

Cat has retired to bed with a headache.

Cheer, Cheer ...

Saturday, 30 May 2015

Dorothy Cat

Arnie Reindeer

Fox Studios Clock Tower

Some of the boys lined up with Cat

Waiting, waiting ...

Here come the Swans, complete with fireworks

Quarter time at the Sydney Cricket Ground

Pokolbin Village

Yesterday was our final day in Sydney and the morning was spent catching up with housework and laundry, before finding our way to the Macquarie Shopping Centre – this time without a 250 metre stretch of toll road!  Friday was also the day someone had been anxiously waiting for – Sydney Swans versus Carlton at the Sydney Cricket Ground.  The nice parking attendant at the SCG (when we visited on Tuesday) had warned us to be at the ground well before 4.00 pm, otherwise we wouldn’t find a parking spot.  So, after skyping Trevallyn Grade 2 and introducing them to a very friendly scrub turkey constructing a mound, we set off about 3.00 pm for the 20-30 minutes drive.  Doris handled the trip very well, even though 75% of the trip was underground, and we were at the SCG BEFORE the parking grounds were even open!  A nice man directed us to the Fox Studios multi-storey car park, which was the same cost.  After a short wander around the grounds (the old show grounds), which were mainly bars and restaurants – and some interesting statues which were obviously related to some in Salamanca Square – we spent the remainder of our wait sitting in the car and reading.

Time for the gates to open and we discovered a real carnival atmosphere in Driver Avenue, outside the venue, with a Navy rock band playing, plenty of stalls and activities for children – we could even sit in the back of a VW and sing the Swans theme song and possibly appear on the big screen in the ground.  Cat said “No.”  We had tickets for the Bill O’Reilly Stand, perfect position to watch football, but were a bit higher (but not too high!) that we would have preferred.  However, we had a perfect view and thoroughly enjoyed the game.  Driving home wasn’t too bad; we weren’t held up in the car park but traffic in the local vicinity was very slow until we entered the first tunnel.  It only took us 40 minutes from the time we left the car park until we arrived home.

This morning it was time to pack up for the drive to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley.  The weather remained mild and calm, with high, hazy cloud.  Driving through the heavy Saturday morning traffic wasn’t the most fun we had had for a while, but the motorway made driving conditions much more enjoyable.  We arrived at the Big4 Hunter Valley shortly before lunch and were allocated a site and given the appropriate instructions, etc.  The site was on the end of a row, with a rounded corner; it would have been quite difficult to reverse in and then the towbar most likely would have extended onto the road.  As the park was nearly empty of caravans, I walked back up to reception to request a different site.  The nice lady did agree the original site was very tight to get into: why give it to us in the first place then???  This afternoon we made the short drive to the Pokolbin Village area, just to get our bearings and for one of us to have a coffee while the other one had a browse through the village shops.

I think Cat is going to enjoy his Sunday.

Sydney Harbour

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Opera House

City skyline

Harbour beach

Doyle's Restaurant

Harbour marina

Watson Bay

Sea plane in Rose Bay

Watson Bay Ferry

Admiralty House

Kirribilli House

Royal Sydney Yacht Club

Fort Denison

Enjoying the ride

Harbour control tower

Anzac Bridge

Luna Park

The skies were clear and sunny this morning and there was no wind, just right for our day on the harbour.  After study the brochure very carefully, we realised the $36 each for the hop-on hop-off ferry was a waste of money; our $2.50 train pass also included unlimited ferry travel, which was the same as the more expensive option.  We certainly had our $2.50’s worth today!

First it was into the city and then to Circular Quay by train, collected a heap of ferry timetables and boarded our first ferry for Watson Bay.  Conditions were beautiful and the Tasmanian catamaran handed the wash without any problems.  As it was too early for lunch at Doyle’s, we stayed on the ferry for the return journey via Rose Bay (where a sea plane landed beside us) and Double Bay – some magnificent houses were seen in these areas.  We alighted at Garden Island, the naval base, for morning coffee in the heritage centre before returning to Circular Quay and changing ferries.

Our next voyage was to Neutral Bay, passing close to both Admiralty and Kirribilli Houses, as well as Fort Denison.  Neutral Bay did seem to be another rather pleasant area to live in.  Our next ferry took us back to Darling Harbour, where we had a late lunch in one of the harbourside restaurants – followed by a long walk and an ice cream, of course.  With cloud starting to build up, and the temperature rising, we retraced our route to Circular Quay and then to Wynyard Station for the journey home.

We certainly received a different perspective of the city today.

Sydney Explorers

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Hyde Park

Library

Selfie

The Bridge

Visiting the Opera House

At the Opera House

YWCA building stones

Conservatorium of Music

Parliament House

Hyde Park Barracks

A building with vegetation

At Darling Harbour

All gone!

Yum!!!

Masterchef kitchen on a submarine

The engines

Hospital on a destroyer

Cat on a destroyer

On board the Endeavour

It's moving!

Midshipmen's Mess

The Krait

A big day today, we definitely needed our walking shoes!  We started with a 15 minutes walk to the station, purchased our $2.50 all day transport pass (being mature has its advantages), boarded a train and headed for the city.  After finding our way out of Wynyard Station, we joined the Explorer Bus for a tour of the city’s sights.

We continued along George Street, past the Queen Victoria Building and Town Hall towards Hyde Park, then continued to Kings Cross – we did have to cover Cat’s eyes as we drove through this area, as some of the business signs were very explicit!  We stayed on board the bus as we continued through Woolloomooloo to the Opera House, our first stop.  Our first stop was the rest room – unfortunately a primary school group arrived immediately before us!  Back outside for some photo opportunities, then a walk through the Botanic Gardens followed.  We came across a number of building stone relics, which we believe were the remains of the YWCA, built in 1924.  We had a quick look at Government House through the gates before another photo opportunity at the Sydney Conservatorium.  Back on the bus again for the next part of the trip, past the NSW Parliament House and the Hyde Park Barracks before ending up at Darling Harbour.

We thoroughly enjoyed our walk around this area, especially the beautiful, warm sunshine.  Then, joy of joys, we discovered Movenpick!  Cat wasn’t the only one with a big smile!!!

Instead of walking around the very commercialised Rocks area, we decided on a visit to the Australian Maritime Museum and we so glad we did.  With lots of boats to look at and board, we spent a couple of hours here.  We first boarded the submarine, HMAS Onslow, climbed down the very steep ladder through the very narrow hatch into the torpedo area and after learning about the torpedoes, continued back through the vessel.  I quickly discovered that submariners need to be slim and have long legs – getting through the watertight hatches was rather a challenge for someone with shorter legs.  One really has to admire submariners for living and working in such confined conditions.  The destroyer, HMAS Vampire, was much roomier and easier to move about on.  The highlight was probably being on board HMB Endeavour; even tied up at the wharf this little barque bobbed around like a cork.  After looking at all the ropes, etc on the deck, we ventured down the ladder (a knotted rope helped get down and up) into the crew quarters.  The poor midshipmen really should have been minishipmen as they only had less than 4 feet of headroom in their mess.  Captain Cook and Joseph Banks fared much better!

Then it was back onto the bus, which continued through the Rocks district and past Circular Quay on the way back to our departure at Wynyard Station.  We managed to find the correct platform and arrived home a bit footsore and looking forward to a sit down.

Sydney Cricket Ground

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

AFL flags outside the rugby/soccer stadium

Hoping for a massage

Keep off the grass!

Indoor nets

19th Century turnstile

Outdoor practice nets plus tennis court (Mr Waugh on the left)

Sydney Skyline

Sydney Cricket Ground

Media Room

Make believe brewery

Long Bar

Aussie's change room

Aussie walk to the ground

Walking on the grass allowed here!

Paul Kelly

We did drive across it!

Our goal this morning was to make our way to the Sydney Cricket Ground for a tour of Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground.  Doris TomTom took us through the Lane Cove Tunnel (7kms long) and then under Sydney Harbour without any hassle; we did miss the turn into the carpark road, so had to do a blocky.  A big thrill as we walked towards the start point was seeing Steve Waugh walking towards me.  The tour commenced in the rugby/soccer stadium (with all the Sydney Swans banners right outside) and a visit to the home side’s dressing room – very impressive with their hot and cold baths, medical room, massage tables and large warm-up space.  We walked down the race to the ground, but weren’t allowed stand on the actual grass!

Our tour continued to the indoor cricket nets, which have been set up to represent conditions at Perth, the remainder of Australia, England and India/Pakistan, the outdoor nets, which were under covers; we even spotted Steve Waugh’s father coaching tennis.  We continued along the Walk of Fame before entering the new Noble/Bradman Stand and being taken to the top level to see the television commentary boxes and the media room.  Going down in the lift was fun – the lift music was the Sydney Swans theme song!

Our next stop at the SCG was the Members’ Stand, with visits to both the visitors’ and home teams’ dressing rooms, a stand at the Long Bar – Cat was very disappointed that no drinks were being served – before walking down the Aussie’s steps to the turf.  We were allowed walk on this grass!  The tour finished with a visit to the SCG Museum, with its memorabilia and photos from 1852; Ricky Ponting’s helmet and bat were also on display.

Lunch was at a coffee shop in the showgrounds before we headed back to the car and asked Doris to take us to the Macquarie Shopping Centre.  All went well for a couple of hundred metres and then we missed the tunnel entrance immediately after turning right.  Not a problem, we thought, Doris will soon recalculate a route.  Unfortunately, the road we were on was directly above the tunnel and poor Doris thought we were actually in the tunnel.  It wasn’t until we were almost in the centre of the CBD and the road veered, that she realised we were somewhere else and panic set in.  We continued right through the centre of Sydney and approached the Harbour Bridge.  With about 20 lanes to choose from, Doris decided it was too much to cope with, instructed us to “Head towards Epping for 2 kms” and left us to work it out.  We did get to the shopping centre and we did get back to the caravan.  Doris has had a Bex, a cup of tea and a good lie down!

The weather has been mild and slightly overcast/hazy all day.