Pulling back the curtains in our little campervan at dawn, we realised what a great idea it was to drive this part of the trip. Twelve hours previously we had no idea where we'd be spending the night, yet here we were waking up in the most beautiful landscape - the clear sky made for a beautiful sunrise; vineyards lined the wide open fields beside us, and the only sounds came from early rising birds. Good morning Australia. All we needed was a kangaroo or two... but we were yet to spot one!

Today the sun warmed up the van nicely, so we didn't wake up huddled in our sleeping bags - this time we were sliding open the door to cool down before heading to discover the ace this valley has up its sleeve…

There are so many vineyards here in Hunter Valley, with one main road running through the lot. And each of them is said to be refreshingly welcoming to wine novices like us. Although it was easy to get around as there were only a handful of other tourists driving around, there was no chance of seeing all of them - we'd have to be here for weeks. But, who's to say we couldn't give it a good go at seeing as many as possible?!

After some more of Niv's delicious banana bread, we were cranking up the air con in the van as we drove off 10 minutes down the main road to join a free tour at Tyrrell's winery and vineyard - you might recognise the company as it distributes its grapey goodness to the UK, including M&S.

Although the grapes had already been harvested, Australia has had lots of rain this year. Not so good for the vino, but for us it meant the fields in which the vines grow were a lush shade of green.

With just one other couple on the tour we took a stroll around the vineyard, with the guide telling us all about the wine making process and some history on how Tyrells, and the Hunter region, came about. It's actually the oldest wine region in Australia, with vines first being planted in the 1860s. However the wineries gradually declined, and it wasn't until the 1960s that wine making became an important industry. The Tyrrells vineyards started with the Tyrrells family stealing a cutting off their neighbours' Semellion grape many years ago. Wine is still being produced from the same vines today - and we got to try it!

That's when the fun stuff started - we were offered free tasting of any of their wines and they didn't seem to mind how many we tried, lining up more and more in front of us. Bret drew the short straw to be designated driver for the day so he was limited to small sips, but Nat was able to make up for it! After working our way through many of their delicious wines we ended up buying two bottles: a Semillon and a Shiraz - which is what the region is renowned for.

We decided to drop by an Irish pub for a bite to eat before heading to the next vineyard. This one was called McGuigan and it was recommended to us as its won wine of the year for the last few years. They weren't as friendly here though so we managed to slip away without buying anything.

Next we headed to an organic vineyard and after a few samples we came away with another Semillon. We decided we probably should leave it there before we spent too much, but we couldnt resist another winery on the way home which sold bubbly. And the sparkling red was delicious, so we accidently bought a bottle of it to stick in the fridge in the van!.. Oops!

Now we're back at the YHA carpark, enjoying the wonderful sunset. We know it doesn't sound romantic, sleeping in a carpark, but it really is a beautiful carpark!

Bret's cooked some spaghetti and meatballs in the hostel kitchen to accompany the yummy Shiraz we bought earlier. There's another Hippie camper staying the night here too. We were a bit miffed when we saw it was slightly smarter than ours - and it even has a TV in the back - but a few more glasses and we probably won't mind so much…