7 March 2024 Hunter Valley Wine Tour

 It was not clear where we were to pick this tour up in our itinerary instructions. After some back and forth with the travel agent we confirmed we would be picked up a couple of blocks away at another hotel. We arrived at the hotel lobby a little early and took a seat. A hotel bellhop saw us and asked if we were there for a tour and we said yes. He then pointed us to the back entrance three stories up as the location for tour pickups. As we waited, several tours operators came and left. Our tour, Hunter Valley Wine Tours, finally showed up, 20 minutes late. We were the last ones to board and there were no seats together. So, Leslie sat at the back of the bus while David sat up front next to the driver, John. We headed and to the north west, through the tunnel under the harbor, for almost two hours. Our first wine tasting was at Saddlers Creek. We all sat at a long table and the vineyards wine maker sat down with us and explained each of the wines we were tasting and some of the challenges of making wines in Australia. We were surprised to find out that the kangaroos generally will not mess with the grapes but will eat the vine leaves in times where there is not enough grass. This exposes the grapes to more sun than desired. Although they are allowed to kill the kangaroos, they don’t because it would hurt their tourism. Knowing we would be boarding the cruise in a few days, we knew we could not buy very much wine since we could only bring three bottles on board with us. But we really enjoyed their wines and bought a Rose and a Verdelho. Our next stop was at Mcleish Estates. We enjoyed the tasting an bought another bottle of Rose. We stopped for lunch at Cypress Valley Country Club before heading to the Hunter Valley Cheese factory where we did a sampling of locally made cheese. It was on to Earnest Hill Winery for another tasting. There we picked up another Verdelho and a Tempranillo. Our final stop was at the Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory where we picked up some treats for the cruise. On the way back, David made it his mission to keep the driver John alert while everyone in the back of the van went to sleep. We crossed the Sydney Harbor Bridge on the way. Since we had no Australian money left, we gifted John the Tempranillo as a tip. He was very appreciative. 

Approaching Sydney Harbor Bridge