We decided while in the U.S. to visit the wine country outside of both Sydney and Melbourne, in total ignorance of the kind of traffic that we would encounter in either place. We first ventured into Hunter Valley, outside of Sydney, and discovered to our dismay that Sydney is afflicted with some of the worst tieups, slowdowns, and just plain clogged highways of any place we have ever visited. Nevertheless, we soldiered on and eventually arrived at Cessnock in the Hunter Valley wine domain about 2 1/2 hours after leaving Sydney, just in time for lunch. We had been referred to Esca by one of the ever-friendly Aussies in Sydney, a superb restaurant on the Bimbadgen Estate, and the referral was spot on. See, www.bimbadgen.com.au. The Red Tasting Sampler, complete with three different tastings and three complementary wines, on an outdoor patio overlooking the vineyards, was a peak dining experience. We were particularly impressed with the Bimbadgen Sparkling Shiraz, and recommend Esca without reservation on your next visit to Hunter Valley.
There will be a few more pix of beautiful downtown Cessnock on the next post. And in case you were wondering, we cancelled our rental car for Melbourne -- there is too much to see and do to waste time in traffic. Moreover, it would be difficult to top Hunter Valley, Bimbadgen and Esca!
JOYCEE's COMMENTS: I had extreme high anxiety on the drive to Hunter Valley! Steering Wheel on right side, driving on right side, narrow roads, speeding trucks and cars and we got lost in some suburb of Sydney. But no worries because a friendly lady at the gas station set us right and after another traffic jam of about an hour we got to the freeway to the wine country. As Jules has described Esca was wonderful. They are just finishing their harvest because it is now autumn here.
We stopped off for coffee while on the freeway and one thing I really noticed about Aussie folks is that they seem to be always cheerful and happy. They all look quite healthy and happy and are ever so friendly. I love their accent too but could never develop the roll of the vowels. I just love to listen and appreciate the sound.
Will send pics of Jules on the next blog entry and of the aquarium in Sydney.
PS: I have not seen a snake nor spider yet. I do ask folks if they have seen any since as we all know Australia has the most venomous snakes and spiders in the WORLD! So far none have seen them, even while gardening. I have seen them of course in the Sydney zoo but have decided it is too difficult to learn to ID all of the snakes because there are too many. I will just consider every snake deadly.
1 comment:
Glad to see that the Aussies drive on the right side of the road. Perhaps there are so many cars that they have run-over all the snakes?
Did you see that a young Australian player had knocked Djokovic out of the tournament? Phoebe is upset of course, because now she wont see him next Tuesday.
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