Australian Road Trip: Over the Mountains and Up the Coast, to Hunter Valley We Go!
The morning after our hike through the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters, I woke up feeling rested and refreshed. I’m guessing that some of this had to do with the fact that our hotel had heated mattress pads, which helped keep the mountain chill at bay!
A Stop for Cider
This would be our longest day in the car. Instead of coming back the way we drove to get to Katoomba, we decided to drive north around the mountains to Bilpin to check out Bilpin Cider. They make a range of hard apple ciders, a perry (pear cider), and even sell non-alcoholic cider, which was quite delicious! We wandered around their farm a bit and met some goats and alpacas (and Dan saw some new birds) before buying a four-pack of ciders and heading on our way.
Getting Lost Looking for the Coast
After cider, we were on our way to Hunter Valley via Newcastle. The main motorway between Sydney and Newcastle is a bit inland; I thought it would be interesting to go a little further east and drive along the coast to see if we could see the water. Of course, the GPS we used didn’t really have the same kind of map intelligence than an app like Google Maps or Waze has, so instead of taking the easiest route, it had us travel along a bunch of tiny, winding roads before finally landing us on the A49 to drive up the coast.
Sadly, our plan didn’t go quite as expected. There were a few places along the way where we got to see the water, but mostly we were surrounded by trees. We did at least get to stop at a beach, where there were a few surfers despite the wind and the cold.
We also stopped at the shores of Lake Macquerie, where we spotted a couple of very large pelicans among other birds. Lachlan Macquarie, an early governor of New South Wales (NSW), named so many local sites after himself that it sometimes gets confusing, but this “lake” is among the most prominent Macquarie places. Lake Macquarie is actually one of the largest “coastal saltwater lagoons” in the world, located on the Central Coast of NSW, north of Sydney. The area of Lake Macquarie supports many species of endangered birds, including Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters.
Hunter Valley at Last
After a stopover in Newcastle for a few drinks and a cheese plate, we were on our way to Cessnock. Cessnock is one of the largest towns in the Hunter Valley wine-growing region, a few hours’ drive north of Sydney. We stayed at a very cute little place called the Vine Valley Inn that was on the main road in Cessnock. Did you know that they have Target in Australia? Well, we found that out because our hotel was right across the street from a Target! It was only open until 6:00 pm, which is crazy, but otherwise it was quite like a Target here in the States, just with slightly different brands.
After settling in to our hotel room, we wandered down the street looking for dinner. We decided on the Vincent Street Kitchen and Bar, a members club-style establishment with a restaurant, bar, lounge area, and a few slot machines. These types of things seem to be common in NSW, and while we weren’t members, we were able to get in for free for the evening. After a delicious dinner of brisket bao buns and Indian chicken tacos, we decided to head over to the bar/lounge to grab some drinks. They were supposed to have live music at 8:00 pm, but the musicians seemed to be having some technical difficulties, so around 10:00 pm, after Dan accidentally knocked half of my drink onto my shoes, we decided to call it a night.
All in all, this day was not one of our more exciting ones, but we did have a good time — and we were definitely excited to go exploring the Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s well-known wine countries, the next morning.
