We have had an amazing last two days, starting off on Saturday and our Hunter Valley wine tour. We set off early in the morning and went for a morning stroll through a national park and had a nice cup of tea and delicious warm chocolate muffin, it was huge, no pictures I am afraid, but let’s just say it was bigger than the cupcake you can see me eating. We arrived at our first vineyard about 11.30 and stood around the bar while the owner poured over 10 ten different wines for us to taste, we even tried a very nice champagne. We had cheese and biscuits in between to cleanse our palettes and it was great to taste the same wine but from a different year and how everyone preferred something different. We ate lunch outside overlooking some vines and the valley below, even though it was cold the sun shone and kept us warm.
Ten minutes down the road and we arrived at our second vineyard of the day, this time we sat outside for our tastings. Again there was cheese and biscuits to cleanse the palette and a mixture of wines from Semillons to Shiraz’s, a dessert wine and a very nice port. It was great to hear about the process of producing the variety of wines and because the vineyards we visited are small boutique ones, they can vary the wines each year, whereas at the large producers they have to produce the same each year. Pete and I still managed to resist buying some wine, knowing we couldn’t take it on the plane and only having a few days to drink it.
We stopped off on the way to our last vineyard to see the stunning views of the valley and landscape around us. The last vineyard was busy and so we didn’t have someone t ourselves to explain enough about the wines. However the wines were fantastic, again we sampled around ten, trying whites, reds, sparkling and another dessert wine. More cheese and biscuits, a bought bottle in our hand and we were ready to head back to Sydney. Obviously after tasting over 30 wines I slept most of the way back.
Yesterday we had a lazy morning, I went to the cafe downstairs in my pjs and grabbed two cups of tea, seeing as it was Sunday, unfortunately no jammie dodgers!!! We had breakfast, made some sandwiches and headed down to the botanical gardens where we had our little picnic, surrounded by seagulls trying to get our crumbs. We watched the boats coming in and out, the jet boat getting all its passengers wet and walked along the waterfront, played I spy, until it was time for us to do The Discovery Bridge climb!!!
We booked this a few days ago, after Pete had heard how good it was, we opted for night climb, imagining the city lit up would be more spectacular. We weren’t sure what to expect, apart from that fact that we would end up on top of the bridge. We were kitted up in overalls, wind pants (don’t laugh Emma and Ben) and everything you might need, like gloves, hats, rain coats, fleeces etc, they all have to be clipped onto you and your harness, because of the risk of something falling onto the road below. We were introduced to our guide Mick (weird huh) and were taken through what we would be doing. At all times we were attached to the bridge by a safety line, as we walked through the inside of the bridge. We walked directly over the moving traffic, the choppy water and the railway line, it was amazing being so high up, but I didn’t feel scared. Unfortunately when we started the walk it was raining (where was Mr Blue Sky?), but it didn’t last long and soon we were building up a sweat walking up so many steps. The rain cleared the night sky and we had a brilliant view. We stopped for several photos which you can see, obviously we bought some, because they are so cool and we may not do it again.
We reached the top and it was such an amazing feeling, looking out at all the twinkling lights, knowing we were 134 metres up. The discovery climb is different to the classic bridge climb, with the discovery you walk inside the bridge structure rather than on the top all the way, making it better in my eyes because you can see all the workings and beauty of the bridge.
So as you can see we have had a fantastic time in Sydney and we will be saying goodbye on Tuesday when we fly to New Zealand. Thanks again for all your messages, it is great to hear from you.