Day 276
Sunday –
1 October 2017 -
Start of Daylight Savings, back to being 3 hours behind Perth.
Cessnock – Pokolbin
The beginning of daylight savings had us all confused this
morning. Not realising our watches were smart enough to add on an hour during
the night, I woke thinking it was actually 9.15 am, adding another hour onto
the already forwarded time my watch was showing. We read for a while, but
feeling guilty when the watch is reading 8.45am and thinking it was now 9.45am,
we got out to start our day. I went for my shower, checking my phone for the
time, but as it said the same as the watch, I was still none the wiser.
When I returned, Paul was also questioning the exact time
and in the end I reverted to checking the clock in the car as it is still on
Perth time, 5.57am it read, ok 8.57am it was, much more acceptable and so glad
we got that sorted. Guess our electronic devices are smarter than we are.
We had our breakfast, cleaned up and then took advantage of
the gorgeous morning to walk laps of the showgrounds. The trainers of the
trotting horses were out in force putting their animals through their paces,
some were working really hard, their heavy breath being heard down the track.
We returned to our van, sorted what we needed, made lunch
and then took off for a day of Hunter Valley wine, beer, chocolate and cheese
tasting. Our first stop was Broke Road through Pokolbin, a main thoroughfare
were much of the to do’s reside. Once we had pulled into the street, we stopped
at Pertersen Wines where we first tried out the Hunter Valley Chocolates. We
wandered through the small shop front, enjoyed a tasting of their chocolate
buttons and then picked up some nut clusters and chilli bark.
We deposited the goodie bag in the car and then walked into
the cellar door of Petersens who specialise in bubbles. We muscled our way to
the front, set up our little spot and settled in to try their range. They are
known for their pink blush and it was very nice. I also enjoyed their moscato
range and Paul enjoyed the red bubble versions they make. In the end I came
away with a four pack of piccolo blush for ease of travel.
Next on the list was Hungerford Hill across the road. Like
Petersen, we visited this winery when we were last here in 2003. It is quite
upmarket and pretentious and while the staff didn’t come across that way, the
prices for the wines said it all, so we tasted and left.
Chocolate, bubbles and wine down it was on to a brewery.
Hope Estate is another winery that has expanded to beers. The estate itself is
huge and like Sandalford back home, it is used as a concert venue, today
however they were celebrating Octoberfest. We thought we would have trouble
getting in, or at least be charged $55 each, but Paul gave his spiel and we
were able to go through.
We chatted to the owner of the estate, checked out the
brewery, spoke to the head brewer and then the head barman walked through the
beers for Paul, all 12. In the end we came away with a souvenir stein, filled
with beer and a 6 pack of cans. Gad we didn’t have to fork out the $55.
Paul enjoyed his porter on the outside terrace, as we took
in the views over the staging area and the festivities of Octoberfest. When he
was done, it was time to head on and find a place to eat our lunch.
We made our way towards the Matilda Bay Brewhouse, hoping to
find a place to stop, but in the end we put our lunch rolls together in the car
and ate them before making our way inside. Paul was keen to get into brewhouse
seeing it was a great WA brewery way back when and before selling out to the
big boys, CUB. He was pleased to see they had Redback and Dog Bolter on tap,
though he noticed differences in their taste. It was also disappointing to find
only the cider was brewed at this site, so it really wasn’t a true brewery.
To keep me satisfied, I indulged in a banoffee tart, waiting
for the beer tasting to be over and once it was, I was happy to lead us away
from breweries and on to another winery, Capercaillie.
We visited this winery in 2003, after a recommendation from
a friend and were keen to get back and try some more. They are only a small
operation, not like the monster money makers we had passed on Broke Road and
you don’t often find their wine in the west. We enjoyed talking to Tina, who
was serving up the tastings, though the wines weren’t as great as we remember.
The bottle we had returned for was now $70 and we weren’t paying that. In the
end I bought a bottle of Verdelho and we came away with a list of must see
wineries and distilleries to check out in Tasmania, that we could pass on to
friends heading there in November.
With the Verdelho in hand, I felt like cheese, so we made
our way back up Broke Road to McGuigans winery where the Hunter Valley Cheese
factory has an outlet. The place was very busy and we were disappointed to find
there were no free samples. In the end we chose a couple of blocks to take home
with us. At $31 I figured it better be good stuff!
It was now 5pm and we were ready to make our way back to the
van so that we could enjoy a glass of wine and some of our expensive cheese.
Paul spoke to Ballsy, still revelling in the Tigers win. Paul was glad to hear
that Ballsy’s brother had managed to get tickets to the MCG and enjoy watching
his side break their 36 year premiership drought.
We set out our cheese despite having no crackers and then
prepared dinner. With the confusion with the time this morning we have found
that we are pretty much in sync with the new order of things.
After dinner we got out and walked the showground track
again, pleased that it was still light. We worked out what we would do tomorrow
and decided we would continue to hang around here and drive out to Newcastle
rather than up stumps and move on again.
Once back at the van, Paul completed his reviews and I did
my bits n pieces, before we finally figured it was time to head for bed and
read.
No comments:
Post a Comment