Day 275
Saturday –
30 September 2017 - AFL Grand Final - Adelaide Crows 60 v Richmond Tigers 108
Cessnock – Wine and Beer tasting in the Hunter Valley
The morning arrived early for Paul, who was a wake and
reading before me. I slept until 730am and then read as well, before we both
ventured from bed at 8.15am. While Paul went for his shower, I cleaned up and
made breakfast. Once he returned we ate and then got into the homework that we
had not completed after our long day out yesterday.
When I was all caught up, I went for my shower. The
showgrounds was a hive of activity this morning with a poultry auction taking
place in the undercover area. The sound of cockerels and chooks was quite
deafening and they were competing with the auctioneer. There was also plenty happening on the track,
with trainers out with their trotters.
I returned to the van and we gathered our things together, along
with a plan and then we were off to the wine country. Our first stop was
Drayton’s Family Winery in Mount View. Paul believed there was a brewery here,
but as it turned out, it was at Peter Drayton Winery instead.
We took the opportunity to sample some of the wines they had
on offer. The young man behind the counter was very personable and
knowledgeable and was keen to find wines we would enjoy. He did such a great job, that we came away with a Moscato and
Shiraz.
With directions to the IronBark Hill Brewhouse, we were off
once again, this time heading into Pokolbin. We located the winery about 15min
later, parked and made our way inside. The brewery is only new and is an
extension of the winery. We spoke to the manager, who happily showed us through
before pouring out a paddle for Paul.
We decided to enjoy the outdoor area, the deck providing a
view over where young vines had been planted. As it was now 1230pm, we decided
to eat lunch as well, rather than fiddle around finding somewhere else. It was
a good choice as the burger we had was delish.
Once Paul was all done, we navigated back towards the Hunter
Beer Co, stopping for fuel on the way. We returned to the brewery, so Paul
could get himself a pint and then we found a place to settle in for the
afternoon.
There wasn’t much of a crowd interested in the footy, not
surprising seeing we are in NSW. We had the large TV almost to ourselves and
Paul was happy to be as loud as he liked, he was just missing the Crows
supporters to stir up.
The beers flowed as freely as the goals for Richmond and by
5pm Paul was singing the theme song loud and proud as we watched Dusty Martin
pick up the Norm Smith medal, the players receive their premiership medallions
and the cup held aloft by the captain Cotchin and coach Hardwick. With all the
past and current players in tears, I am surprised the cup wasn’t overflowing.
Once the ceremony was all done, we left the brewery and
returned home, happy to be in at a reasonable time. I cooked up soup for dinner
as we were still full from lunch. Paul wrote up his review, while I put things
up on line and then it wasn’t long before we were retreating to bed to read.
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