Trip to the Hunter Valley
Summer is a brilliant time to visit the Hunter Valley, just a few hours from Sydney, good food, good wine and the grape vines are at their lushest so the vineyards are picture perfect.
If you are heading that way for a little getaway or a day trip here are some spots to remember…
Tempus Two Winery Hall has restaurants, bars and a spectacular food hall selling delicatessen goodies, wines, gelato and local produce. They even have a separate “Smelly Cheese Shop” serving tasty local and international cheeses. All whilst looking out over the rows of vines over the lush grassy hillside. Definitely worth a stop.
For a delicious lunch why not stop at The Convent Hunter Valley, they have two restaurants Circa 1876 or Restaurant Eighty Eight. They also have accomodation, a barrel room selling wine and a beautiful garden leading to the spectacular blue weatherboard old nunnery. Which is also a wedding venue, I had painted it for a lovely customer a few months earlier, so it is always exciting to visit the actual location.
Circa 1876 is a Hatted restaurant, set in an old rustic workers cottage on the Roscrea Estate, it is truly beautiful. For a more relaxed time Restaurant Eighty Eight serves Breakfast and High tea in the Wisteria Courtyard at The Convent, which just sounds perfectly pleasant!
Another great stop is the Hunter Valley Gardens and village, very family friendly and perfect for a sunny day out. The gardens even have a special Christmas Lights Festival every year which is so magical! The gardens are beautifully kept and always change with the seasons, so they are different all year round.
At the little village of shops next to the gardens there are a variety of boutiques and cafes. There is the most beautiful paper and stationery store ‘Pulp Fiction’ it has beautiful papers, calligraphy bits and luxury notebooks from a range of interesting companies, it is a treasure trove.
Joel was pretty thrilled to visit the Cellar that has the International Beer Tunnel, which has an amazing selection of Beers. They also stock a lot of micro Breweries from Australia. So is definitely worth a visit.
The buildings alone are worth a lovely little visit, cute little stone cottages and walkways lined with trees or hung with Jasmin vines. It is lovely.
