As I was sitting on the large wooden deck, sipping the strong coffee that I hoped would slowly start breathing life into my tired body, I came face to face with them. Skipping through the paddock, down through the eucalyptus trees that fringed the creek, and abruptly stopping on spotting me. Ears twitching. Alert at all times. And fast. Very fast.
Indigenous to Australia, estimates put the number of kangaroos here at 34 million. This morning’s visitors were a doe, and her joey, of the Eastern Grey variety. It is one of the highlights of our trips to the country, be it the Hunter Valley, or inland to Mudgee, that we get to see so much wildlife, including the roos, in their natural environment.
This trip was to the Hunter, and was our first there this year, in what has become an annual pilgrimage. As well as the wildlife, the wide open spaces, the lack of traffic, and the solitude, there is also the little matter of some of the world’s best wines to sample. And inevitably buy. Although, due to the number of bottles of wine stockpiling at home, we had told ourselves we would be very restrained on this trip.
Suitably fuelled up, both the hire car, and ourselves, and after a great breakfast at Cafe Mosman, we hit the road around 10.30am. Being a public holiday weekend, what we would call a Bank Holiday in the UK, we knew the traffic leaving the city would be bad. We didn’t expect it to be quite so bad. Coming up through the suburbs of St Leonards, Wahroonga, and everywhere in between, it took us 1 hour before we even hit the motorway. At least from here it was plain sailing.
Pulling off at Calga, and bypassing the Australian Wildlife Centre for once, we took the tourist route, up through the valley, and towards the charming little town of Wollombi. A place that I would definitely recommend for a coffee, sandwich, and a browse of the little arts and crafts shops. But today, we were just passing through. We had other things on our minds, and soon we were sat in the courtyard of the delightful Krinklewood winery, nibbling locally made cheeses, and working our way down the wine tasting menu.
It had taken us two and half hours, door to cellar door. I had expected the journey to be slightly quicker, but then I never expect the sheer volume of traffic that we encounter. But now, I had exhaled, took some deep breaths of the fresh country air, and was in chill mode. A mode I would not be exiting until around lunchtime on Monday.
What does take me slightly longer is regaining my sense of perspective. You see, on arrival at Krinklewood, I shuddered at how busy it was. Good lord, there were maybe 4, or 5 small tables occupied. Yes, only a handful of people in reality. That said, I was much happier after approximately 20 minutes, when we had the whole courtyard to ourselves.
Remember the promise we made ourselves about showing restraint with wine purchases? Cue us walking out the cellar door with the first 6 bottles. Krinklewood is one of our favourite vineyards, and knowing they rarely sell to bottle shops in Australia, we knew we had to take our opportunity to stock up the wine cellar. At least that was our excuse.
On the recommendation of Ruth in the cellar door, we then drove next door (which in the Hunter is quite a drive), and visited Ann of Greenway Wines. A vineyard we hadn’t visited before. How exciting. A new addition to the “wine tasting our way around the world” spreadsheet. Greenway is what you would call a boutique winery. Very small. But as with a lot of the boutique wineries we search out, it was quiet. In fact, we were the only ones at the cellar door, so we got a very good tasting, of some very good wines. The Pinot Gris was excellent but the stand out for me was “The Architect” shiraz. And yes, we walked away with more bottles of wine.
Experience told me that mobile phone reception is patchy in the Hunter. Some places non-existent. The same with wi-fi in a lot of the accommodation. This is one of the things that appeals about our trips up here. But, we do have to find our accommodation. Easier said than done with no phone reception. Google is our friend here, with the offline map download option. Driving back from Broke, along Hermitage Road, and into Belford, along several country roads, some just dirt tracks, had us feeling we were completely lost. Without the offline map on my phone we would never have found our accommodation.
Block Eight vineyard has one large house for rent, and 3 self-contained villas. We were in one of the villas. Very spacious. Wooden floors throughout. A double set of twin doors, opening out onto the balcony, with views down to the water. Taking pride of place, in the centre of the room, staunchly sat between the two sets of doors, was a squat, black wood burner. Not that we will be need it, based on the temperature, but I know that I won’t be able to resist throwing a few logs on tonight.
Dropping off our bags, we went for a walk around the very large grounds of Block Eight, saying hello to the resident pig, goats, chickens and peacocks, whilst each of us (Vik and I, not the animals) were secretly deliberating if it was too soon to start on the new purchases, (spoiler alert: the answer is always NO, in the Hunter), and which of them would be first.
Getting around the Hunter is easy when you are driving. Not quite as easy when you have been drinking, and want to drink more. One bottle in, and knowing we had a dinner reservation, we pre-booked a taxi. Later that evening, walking to the entrance of Block Eight in pitch darkness, the stars were amazing. Breathtaking. The lack of light pollution once you leave the city allows you to appreciate the world above us. The fun of determining what is a satellite, against a shooting star. We were brought back to earth with headlights, the only headlights, in the distance, signalling to us that our taxi was approaching.
Botanica Restaurant is in the grounds of Spicers Retreat, and only about 15 minutes drive from our villa. The food was good, but I somehow felt it was lacking the wow factor. Maybe because I had decided to have a meat free night, something that I very rarely do. The spanner crab and bisque starter were very good, as was the fish I had for main course. But, it just didn’t hit the spot in the same way that the pork knuckle did that I had recently at Riley Street Garage in Sydney.
Sunday morning dawned with my meeting the kangaroos. The early mornings are one of my ultimate highlights of our weekends in the country. Taking my coffee outside onto the deck. Watching the mist slowly rise over the water. Ducks splashing about. Kangaroos coming down for a drink. The unmistakable smell of the eucalypt trees. Life slows right down in these moments. Moments to cherish, and be thankful for.
One of the perks of staying in the country is often a breakfast hamper that you get. The eggs literally could not be fresher, as free range as they come, from the chucks here on the property. Bacon, fresh sourdough bread, and some black pudding I had brought up specially from our local butcher, and I was set up for the day.
When I tell you about lunch, you may feel that all I do on these weekends is eat and drink. You would be right. 100%. Lunch was at the Verandah Restaurant, on the Calais Estate vineyard. Tapas style. And very good. Complemented with a glass of their very own semillon. The Hunter is renowned for excellent semillons. And excellent I am sure they are. However, over the years I have realised I only really enjoy very young semillons. Anything that has been in the bottle over 2 years just develops into a “classic” semillon. Deep golden, nutty, with notes of honey. It sounds delicious. But the distinctive taste is not to my liking, in the same way that the disappointing, highly oaked chardonnays that used to dominate the supermarket shelves years ago.
Across the road was Gemelli Estate, a vineyard we last visited a few years ago. A brief tasting, and one bottle of wine purchased, we headed back towards the villa, stopping off at a place that had caught my eye earlier in the day.
Black Creek Farm has a fabulous cellar door, with a deck that sits out over the vineyard. Ably guarded from birds by Wilson the collie dog, Black Creek is run by husband and wife team, Jean and Nadine. Originally from France, but living the last 20 years in Australia, the couple decided to make the big change in the pace of their life by moving up to the Hunter once their children had grown up. They were now doing an excellent job running Black Creek, producing some very quaffable wines under the “Thélème” banner. I even got the whole back story to the name. Clearly very passionate about the wines they produce, we had an excellent, very informative tasting. Jean took us through the wine list, tasting wines side by side to better compare, whilst Nadine supplied us with cheese and crackers to help the palate. Yes, we walked away with yet more bottles of wine.
Monday morning brought October with it. The second month of spring. Slowly waking, and turning over, I tentatively gave the head a little shake to see if I was suffering from the excesses of yesterday. I should have been. We drank a lot of wine. What with the tastings. And the bottle of champagne we brought with us to celebrate being away, which we drank watching the sunset. And then the local wines we subsequently drank. I should have been, and expected to be, very dusty. I usually am on weekends in the Hunter. However, I felt great. So much that I jumped up, made a coffee, and lit up the BBQ to cook breakfast.
We reluctantly packed up, and checked out, and made our way to the vineyard with quite possibly the best views in the Hunter. Audrey Wilkinson produce some very good wines, but so early in the day we were only here for the views, and a little stretch of the legs. The fresh air did us good. So much so that after a short drive we were once again crossing the Hunter, on our way to taste wine. This time at Iron Gate estate. Our first visit. A new one for the spreadsheet. As with the boutique wineries, a quiet cellar door always allows for a more personal service. Once again we were given the opportunity to taste the same wines, of different vintages, side by side. Need I tell you that we left with more bottles in the boot?
I am always left with a feeling of sadness leaving the Hunter. But at the same time happy, and very grateful that we get the opportunity to spend time in a world-class wine region, almost on our doorstep. The sadness is the realisation we have to leave the tranquillity behind and return to the madness that is city life in Sydney. Horrendous traffic, a 3 hour drive, and we were once again back to reality. Packing our wine away, and checking our calendars for the next free weekend.
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