Hunter Valley Day Trip

HELLO MY DEAREST FAMILY!  Boy do I have some wonderful adventures to tell you guys about.  I’ll start by filling you in on the ‘Hunter Valley Wine Tour’ that I took last weekend. 

Here’s the abridged version of this blog entry:  BEST DAY EVER!

Here’s the unabridged version:

It was rainy all last week in Sydney, so I decided to spearhead a trip to Hunter Valley (Australia’s wine country 2 hours north of Sydney) for the weekend to escape the dreary weather.  I found a great tour guide through my local student travel agency, and he helped me plan a fully loaded day trip for myself and thirteen friends.  This trip was no simple one-and-done wine tasting.  Here was the itinerary:

Wildlife Refuge
Belgian-Australian Chocolate Factory for a chocolate tasting
Molly’s Cradle Vineyard
Molly’s Cradle outdoor ‘barbie’ for lunch
Smelly Cheese Factory for a cheese tasting
Ernest Hill Vineyard
Hunter Valley Beer Brewery 

I’d have to say that the highlight of the day for me was our visit to the wildlife refuge.  Not only were there the expected koalas and kangaroos, but there were also emus, echidnas, flying foxes, pythons, exotic birds, and wallabies.  Despite my fear of snakes, I took a leap of faith and let the animal trainer drape a python around my neck! 

A kangaroo just chillin' out on the grass (all that's missing from this picture is a Coors Light..)

Mama kangaroo with her baby joey sticking out of its pouch!

close-up of the joey 

Map of the wildlife reserve

Emu!  This was the only one who wasn't afraid of humans...

Kangaroo brawl! Reminds me of fights I used to have with Aaron and Nafer...

the gang's all here!

Beer tasting at the brewery 

Our van got stuck in the mud, but luckily we had three intoxicated studs in the group to push us out!