And so for our first little side-trip. After setting off from home, our first stop was just down the road. Not very far at all, but we were pleased to take Pauline and Andrew to the Freshwater Brewing Company where we’d had one of our first coffees, what feels like many weeks ago, now.
The drive to Cessnock was uneventful, we chose to follow the ‘tourist’ route rather than stay on the main road. There was a lot less traffic, and some of the views were stunning.
I snapped the sign because that might well be the only wombat we see in the wild.
How exciting to be driving an electric vehicle though. What we didn’t realise at first was that we picked it up with the battery only about 65% charged. Here begins a week of time-consuming activity and anxiety, trying to find the next, convenient, fast charging point.
We stopped at a place in the middle of nowhere for a comfort break. The locals in the shop/café all stopped talking and turned around to look at us as we walked in. Just a little bit intimidating, and not at all what we’re used to in Australia.
As we drove off, Andew casually asked, ‘Where’s Pauline?’ The driver, Liesel, turned round to confirm that my sister was indeed missing from her customary back seat. While we were all getting back into the car, Pauline had wandered over to what turned out to be the actual toilet block. We can laugh about leaving Pauline behind, now…
I don’t know why, but we still laugh at funny place names: Convicts Trail, Blackbutt Creek and one that I don’t really want to report here.
To protect the Hunter Valley, its vineyards and grapes, we’re not allowed to take grapevines beyond a certain point. In other local news, there’s a huge campaign against
Wollombi Road being widened to four lanes.
The four of us stopped at The Valley Brewhouse for lunch and we knew it was the correct place when Helen and Brent walked in about ten minutes later.
It took a long time trying to explain what a shandy is. Especially since ‘bitter’ here is not the same as ‘bitter’ at home. What I got was very refreshing and a perfect accompaniment to my salad and chips. I didn’t want to consume too much alcohol yet, because later in the afternoon, our first wine-tasting session was scheduled.
Saddler’s Creek Wines has been going since 1990 so you’d think they’d know what they’re doing by now. And they really do. Our host, Scott, certainly knows his stuff.
Here’s Scott. He spent many years grooming that beard so he’d look like the picture on the label. He described each of the 13 wines we sampled, and in the end, Liesel and I bought three bottles.
I wish I could describe the wines using the same poetic, imaginative and even technical language that Scott used. He would talk about orange and lemon and water-melon, and all I could taste was a generic fruit flavour. I could tell the difference between ‘dry’ and ‘sweet’ but I couldn’t tell the difference between wine from an American oak cask and a French oak cask. This one is obviously French, not Italian in origin, he’d say. Oh really?! It seems so feeble just saying ‘ooh I like this’ or ‘nah, not so keen’.
Some of the wines were indeed ‘easy on the palate’. Some you drink on its own, and some goes well with a big fat beef steak, or sea food. Or in my case, a bag of crisps, probably.
We drove (yes, I said ‘drove’, not ‘wove’) to our gorgeous b&b in Cessnock. Just the six of us in the end, a couple of people had dropped out, but it accommodates eight people. It’s a great place, in a nice neighbourhood, quite close to the town centre, and with spectacular views. As sunset approached, we even caught some sunbeams.
Maybe because of having imbibed more wine than I usually do, especially during the daytime, I wasn’t very hungry. At The Goldfish I had double dip chips: black bean dip, hummus and corn tortillas. It hit the spot.
Back at the b&b, Liesel reversed the car onto the drive, so that we could attempt to charge the battery overnight. It worked, but not a lot of charge was added.
It was pretty much a full Moon tonight, so I didn’t hold out much hope of seeing many stars. But peeking between the clouds, I could see a couple of bright things, maybe satellites. But what a good way to end the day, by at least trying see the stars.
In the morning, the car’s battery was up to 38%, hardly a cause for celebration. And even though we were being driven about today, we couldn’t leave the car continuing to charge because you’re not supposed to leave the cable out in the Sun. And it did look as though it would be warm and sunny today.
Helen had spoken a lot about Robyne, who had the honour of driving us around today in her minbus. More wine-tasting was on the cards at three, yes, three more wineries.
First up was Domaine de Binet. Here we sampled 17 wines, if you include the gin and moscato, which, after all the wine samples, was different and refreshing. The host, Paul, knew his stuff and he was quieter than Scott
I tried to recall some of what I learned yesterday. Riesling is a notch up from Semillon. I’d learned a new word too: some wines have a high level of basic minerality: I didn’t ask whether this explained why some wines leave a chalky feeling in the mouth
As well as the wine, we were able to sample some of the locally produced chilli chutneys. Yes, we bought a jar of that as well as more wine.
The next thing I remember seeing is Brent lying underneath Robyne’s car, which was refusing to start. As a former car mechanic, Brent knew exactly what he was doing: bashing the starter motor with a big stick! It was a hot day to be fixing cars, and I did what I could to help, by staying well out of the way.
The second winery of the day was, I think, my favourite, being in a great location and, was I beginning to acquire a more appreciative set of taste buds? Elbourne Wines is a boutique family vineyard producing award-winning hand-crafted wine. Adam, the host, took us through eleven more wines and at the end of the session, Liesel and I purchased another three bottles. We’ve got to get these home somehow. Still, that’s a problem for mañana.
I can’t remember now who it was that compared Australian verdelho to Portuguese green wine: or maybe that was just a weird alcohol-induced dream.
And at all the venues, excess wine was poured into a bucket on the table, and nobody was offended. None of us embarrassed the hosts by spitting into the spittoons.
Someone said there’s no such thing as bad wine, just bad choice of company or food or environment. Well, I’ve had some vinegar that thought it was wine in the past, although that wasn’t the case with anything over these two days.
Poor old Robyne had to rent another vehicle to drive us around in, since hers would no longer reliably start. As it only had five seats, she had to ferry us around in two groups, twice as much driving.
Our delightful lunch was at Four Pines Brewing at the Farm, in Hunter Valley.
The final wine tasting session was at McGuigan’s. We’ve seen this wine advertised before Brokenwood on TV, a gentle police drama from New Zealand. After a couple of wines here, I realised I wasn’t really tasting it any more. I couldn’t even say a basic ‘I like it’, now. I think it was Scott yesterday who said that the more wine you drink, the sweeter your perception becomes. Maybe that’s why I thought I’d had enough, although at the time, I didn’t register that all the wine was tasting sweet.
Still, I sampled six wines here before giving up. That’s a total of 48 or something, over two days. But as ever, without looking at the notes we made, can I remember the names of those that I particularly liked? Nope. I certainly don’t have an oenophile’s memory.
Robyne was kind enough to drive Liesel, Pauline, Andrew and me back to our pad the long way round, so that we could see some kangaroos and other Australian icons.
This hotel has an interesting story. The convent was once in a different location, contructed in about 1876. When it was demolished, the parts were all labelled and preserved so that it could be rebuilt. It is now a hotel.
The sunset was gorgeous and it was interesting seeing stars appear one by one in the dark sky. I managed to capture alpha Centauri and the Southern Cross, after much trial and error with the phone.
In the end, the mosquitoes drove us back indoors. Helen and Brent, the young people, dined out while us oldies just snacked at home and had an early night.
Cessnock is a great little town, and that’s where we had breakfast, at a coffee shop which doubles as a Thai restaurant.
Helen and Brent both had work commitments, but we four ancients had the luxury of being able to stop on the way home. So that’s what we did, at the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby. Not everyone’s cup of tea, I know, so feel free to skip this bit, you herpetophobics!
It was a perfect day for a wander and we did see some intersting animals. They’re doing a lot for conservation here too. And not everything was reptilian either, there are plenty of feathered and furry friends.
I don’t suppose we’ll ever see a platypus out in the wild, so this was a good opportunity.
I don’t suppose we’ll ever see an American alligator out in the wild, either, but that’s mainly because it’s very unlikely we’ll ever visit the Mississippi or the Florida swamps. Today, the ‘gators were just lying in the Sun, which was rather pleasant.
I’d like to say I was playing Diamond Dogs when we saw these similarly named but very different creatures. But I wasn’t.
It’s that sort of day for a reptile, I guess, just lying around.
On the other hand, we’ve never seen such energetic echidnas. Several were running round like spikey dodgems. Very entertaining.
This poor old thing (the tortoise, not Andrew) had had an accident with some rocks, which damaged his lower shell. It hasn’t ruined his appetite though.
There was a reptile show later, after which we were invited to have our pictures taken with some of the animals, a python, a koala and a couple of others. None of us were seriously tempted. We were however tempted by lunch, which we enjoyed at a picnic table, not too far from Elvis.
He wasn’t moving around much, either!
We all thought dingoes were all sandy coloured, but no, here are two very handsome black ones. They enjoyed being fed, but as soon as the bucket was empty, they lost interest in their human companion and went about their own business.
Somehow, we missed seeing the cassowary, but we couldn’t miss this lovely chap.
It was trivia night again at the Harbord Hotel, and we took part. Later, joined by Jacqui and Nat, and we all had a jolly good time. But for even more late night entertainment, we decided to try and charge up the car. We found a charging point, eventually, and felt obliged to have a drink inside the establishment. Another misunderstanding. I got myself a ginger beer, and as requested, I got one for Liesel too. Only she didn’t want one. When Liesel mentioned ginger beer, it was to warn me that here, it’s alcoholic. So, I had two glasses of ginger beer, even though I was planning not to have alcohol for a while, because I felt there was still a healthy medley of wine flowing through my system. I slept well, though.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 