Hunter Valley

Haha, this is going to be a long one. Hunter Valley, a 3 day 2 night trip conceived a month before the actual date. It turned out pretty well.

Day 1

Hong was late. He called to say he will be 15 minutes late but he turned up only half an hour later. In the end, we set out a full hour later than we anticipated. Not that it really matter since a 2 hour drive will get you to hunter valley. This time round we were fully prepared for the trip. We did all the necessary research like looking for the right wineries, accommodation and restaurants. Heh heh, Hunter Valley here we come!

A toilet stop halfway up to hunter valley, we found, or rather I found since I was the "leaking" one, this very peculiar toilet which every squatting cubicle was covered with a pot of plant. I suppose we are to pee on the plants? And gosh, the smell was over-powering, worse in comparison to Malaysia. Well, we very quickly did our business on the sitting ones and left. Upon reaching hunter valley, our most immediate concern was lunch which was uh... Subway. Coming all the way to hunter valley (aka wine country) to eat Subway is just like eating bangers and mash in Kyoto. Well, my only defense is we were hungry. Nous avons tres faim! After lunch, we went on to wine-tasting in the various wineries.

We visited 4 wineries in total if I am not wrong. We tasted some very good whites: Chardonnay, Semillon, Gewurztraminer, Botrytis. Reds were sadly either too tannin-ny or too dry. Port is the only red that I liked. I learned a great deal about wines. Like how port is a fortified wine and the few ways to make port. So cool. Though it is only wine-tasting and we even shared the wine-tasting glasses among the four of us, I did become very red and very bubbly but thank god I didn't go beyond any of that. Though I felt like it, I don't think Hong will appreciate any of that. ._.

At the various wineries.

Dinner on the first night was joined my Nicole and her sisters (who came for a day trip). They recommended Roberts, which is an expensive fine-dining restaurant. Sadly though the food didn't quite give us the satisfaction it should for its price tag. We spent $50 on maincourse alone.

After waiting for Nicole and her sisters to finish their desserts and wines (we didn't order any), we left and began our treacherous journey through the street-light-less valley road to our lodging.

Day 2

Stella and I found this super deal. $88 per room (2 persons) per night, breakfast and linens included. Sovereign Hill, country lodge and vineyard. As compared to other accommodations in the region where the norm is $160 per room per night, I didn't quite expect the Sovereign Hill to be so comfortable. It is a pretty clean and homely place with private bath and a communal kitchen. Super comfy beds too!

Breakfast includes orange juice, milk, whole-grain bread, yogurt, cereals, jam, butter and farm eggs. The eggs are farm fresh. I know this because I can actually see the chickens which most probably laid them, roaming about from the lodge. Plus they are not the monstrously big battery variety we see in the supermarket. A pretty wholesome breakfast yeah? :D

Have breakfast looking over this. To your left you see the vineyards, to your right, there is the water catchment with occasional birds swimming in it. haha, what a life!

Hong got lost. We spent 2 hourse driving in circles after breakfast that before we knew it, our appointment at the bimbidgen estate was due. We were recommended by one of the wineries to eat here because of its wine-pairing services. Well, with its poor service, we weren't too impressed.

Formality in gardens, how very English.

The most expensive bread ever. $2 per slice. Pokaras bread with fruity (acidic) olive oil.

Other than the bread, the rest of the dishes were pretty appetising. We shared the super petite white and red tasting platter. It did open my eyes to different ways to preparing food in general.

Red tasting platter.

We were so impressed with the pan-seared scallops in mashed peas ravioli in mussel sauce that we ordered another portion of it.

Ocean trout on a bed of herb salad and mash. It is really interesting how they combine the herb garden salad with the mash because the herbs they used were so oriental that I thought I was eating thai salad. This dish was a good choice. :D

It did seem to us girls that we haven't had sweet stuff in a very long time that we were quite irritable because of it. haha, Hong was quite perplexed by it. Therefore we went off to Hunter Village gardens in search for patisseries or cafes at least. We came to this cafe which makes really good coffee. Hong explained to us that good coffee does not need the addition of sugar for sweetness. It uses the natural sugars of the milk as a sweetener that complements the coffee that it taste infinitely better than sugar sweetened coffee.

Little church by the gardens.

Dinner: Mojos on wilderness. Recommended by my chef, several wineries, non-related people and myself. :) This restaurant is set in this deserted area with not much light and glamour but it is so so good! That night was run entirely by one chef (his wife was away) and one waitress. A 2 course meal cost $56, and a 3 course meal cost a little more. We had the 2 course since we didn't feel particularly hungry, which actually says something about the food. We finished practically everything we were given. Impeccable service, outstanding food.

Warm ciabatta served with dukhah, olives and balsamic vinegar made by the chef himself. We asked the waitress because we find it so rich in flavours that we also want one bottle for ourselves.

Hong's entre: blue swimmer crab cake.

Maincourse.
Stella's herb-crusted beef fillet with mash.

Cynthia's mushroom gnocchi with truffle oil and crisp pancetta.

My grilled ocean trout on mash with butter garlic white sauce.

Hong's grilled pork loin.

Side salad.

Desserts: fondant with white chocolate and pistachio ice-cream, cheesecake with pineapple sorbet.

Absolute food heaven.

Day 3

Straight after breakfast, we settled the bill and left for Pukara estate to get the olive oils and vinegar. And guess what, of all days to close, they were closed on Wednesday due to some immediate concerns. haha, what luck. After the hour long drive, we have to spent another hour traveling back. Next stop was bluetongue brewery. The first relatively peasant food we had in days.

Stella, Hong, Cynthia and ME!

My ginger beer. Ohh la la, they have the most amazing ginger beer. Imagine very light beer with ginger flavour and with the barest touch or sugar, served cold on a hot day. Heehee, I ordered 2 glasses ($4 each) and was very tipsy all the way. Right: the paddle ($12) which let you taste all the beer they produce.

Superb fish and chips since they really used beer for the batter, and tasty penne with chorizo. Pub food rocks.

The last winery for their sparkling muscat and we're off!

Voila!