Holiday Season, 2010/2011
Located just two hours outside of Sydney, the Hunter Valley region boasts over 120 cellar doors – from small boutique vineyards to giant wine conglomerates. For the Christmas weekend, Hayley and I booked a room well in advance at Splinters Guest House, the #1 ranked B&B in Pokolbin. We drove the scenic route from Sydney over highway 33, a winding country road that meanders through a half dozen small towns with funny Aboriginal names such as Wollombi and Kulnura.
Our gracious host Reggie welcomed us to the guest house and showed us to our garden room. After laying down our bags, we relaxed under the garden gazebo with a bottle of chardonnay and a cheese and fruit platter, compliments of Splinters. A few hours later we went for a walk and found a family of kangaroos grazing along a nearby pond.
On Christmas Eve we attended the Hunter Valley Gardens light exhibition. While I’ve heard that the gardens are immaculate, I was disappointed by the very unchristian $18 admission fee into the gardens. Regardless, it was probably the most festive event in Hunter Valley. (On an unrelated note, I had a “California Churro” for a $4 at the gardens. It just didn’t compare to Costco or TJ-street churros.)
On Christmas day we opened presents in the morning, drank a few glasses of wine, swam in the pool, BBQ’ed and chipped a few balls on Splinters practice green. Christmas lunch was had at the Vintage Golf Course.
On our final full day we visited three wineries for wine tasting: Hungerford Hill, Tulloch and Draytons. We tried many wines, but after a while they all seemed to blend in to one. After buying several bottles of wine, we walked around some nearby vineyards and found more kangaroos. We also visited one of Australia’s oldest vineyards, Tyrrell’s, on our way back to Sydney the following morning. It’s a must-see for anyone visiting the region.
For New Years Eve, we walked across the street to Kurraba Reserve and found a patch of grass on the harbor railing. Just like NYE last year, the fireworks display was spectacular.
These fireworks photos are hosted on flickr. Click them for bigger versions.
We capped off our holiday break by spending three days in Lilli Pilli (near Batemans Bay, NSW) with our friends Ping, Dre and their families. The casual weekend stay turned out to be the highlight of our trip. We surfed every day, relaxed on a local beach, played card games and ate delicious home cooked meals. We even got up close and personal with an Aussie possum!
It was definitely a holiday season to remember.