Winetasting in the Hunter Valley

"Sydneysiders" (residents of Sydney) were treated to another pleasantly cool day, perfect for visiting wine country.  After traveling over the Harbour Bridge and through the suburbs, we proceeded along the Pacific Highway. Within minutes we were seeing what the English settlers saw when they first landed at Sydney Harbour 230 years ago. Even though Australia is the most arid continent on earth, the hillsides appear lush and green.  Therefore, the English thought that they were landing on fertile soil with lots of available water.  They did not understand that the flora and fauna of the country had adapted to the dry conditions over thousands of years.  The sandstone was not fertile and suitable for growing crops. Eventually by moving to the west, up the Parramatta River, they were able to grow their own food to feed the emerging colony.

Meanwhile, to the north, aboriginal people had lived for 65,000 years. We drove through Ku-Ring-Gai-Chase National Park named for the tribe that lived here for 30,000 years.  Aboriginal art on the rocks shows fish, whales, dolphin, kangaroos, weapons, and gods they worshipped in this place.

The English discovered the area when Governor King sent the worst convicts from Sydney north to collect coal, cut timber, and build the Great North Road between 1826 and 1836. Now four to six lane motorway connects Sydney to the Hunter Valley where vines originally imported from Europe in the 1820's flourish.

We visited three "boutique" wineries - defined as those that source their grapes from their own local vineyards, unlike large operations, like Lindemans,  that import fruit to produce large quantities of wine for export.  There are about 150 small boutique wineries on the Hunter Valley.
Many grape varieties are well suited to the climate - shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, verdelho, and semillon.

 Our guide, Jim, was very knowledgeable but, sadly, had to drink tea and coffee all day.  We saw kangaroos in the wild for the first time on our drive.

Our group included couples from Hong Kong, China, Sweden, Hawaii, Washington D.C., and Canada. After three tasting sessions, lunch, a visit to a cheese shop and chocolate shop, we were a quiet sleepy group on the ride home.

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Tour

Today we experienced a change in the weather - down to 20 C (68 F), cloudy with a few showers.  This was a welcome change after 38 C (88 F) in the interior yesterday. In the morning we walked to the harbour and booked our tour of the Sydney Opera House.

When the project was awarded in 1957 by an international jury to Danish architect Jorn Utzon, the prediction was that it would take 4 years and 7 million dollars to complete.  The opera house was opened in 1973 at a cost of over 102 million dollars.  It is comprised of three groups of interlocking shells covered in ceramic tiles which roof two main performance halls for concerts and operas. These shell structures are set upon a vast platform. Beneath the main halls are three smaller theatres.

The tour promises 200 steps and they are not kidding.  Only the most recent renovation of the opera hall provided elevators to assist those unable to climb steps.  

Our next adventure was a harbour cruise with Captain Cook.

Our two hour cruise with Elizabeth at the microphone gave us an appreciation of the history of the harbour from aboriginal times to present day. The harbour's 240 km shoreline is lined with golden beaches, gardens, vibrant neighbourhoods, historic buildings and vast treed areas of national parkland. 

We walked to Darling Harbour for dinner.  An Australian prawn (shrimp) is a meal in itself!

A Day In the Mountains

Millions of years ago seismic activity created a massive sandstone ridge about an hours drive west of

Sydney. Today this area is called the Blue Mountains.
Attempts to cross this ridge by early settlers proved fruitless until a route was found along the top of the ridge. The highway today follows this original trail in some areas to a height of 1000 metres. Deep canyons covered in eucalyptus trees radiate out along each side of the highway.

Our first stop of the morning was the Featherdale Wildlife Park where we saw many of the indigenous Australian animals.

Our morning drive included stops at many scenic lookouts overlooking the Jamison Valley.  At one location Jack and some of the group descended 250 steps to a better, more photogenic, spot. Unfortunately since it had not rained recently, the waterfall was a "water trickle".  

Our final stop was to view the famous "Three Sisters" before lunch at the Hydro Majestic Hotel.

 In olden days, people would come from the city for a week of clean air and hiking in the Blue Mountains.  As methods of travel improved, and day trips were possible, the grand hotels fell into disrepair.  Some are now being refurbished and are quite beautiful.

At Mt. Tomah Botanical Gardens, we saw only a small fraction of plants indigenous to the continent.  More about plants tomorrow after we tour The Botanical Gardens in Sydney.  However, one special treat was seeing the Wollemia Pines.  These were discovered in 1994 in a rainforest gully in Wollemia National Park. These are the only plants of this genus known and date back hundreds of millions of years.  Therefore, they are called "the dinosaur trees".

 Our trip home included a stop at the Olympic Park built for the 2000 Summer Olympics.  Then it was time for dinner at Hart's Pub and home after a long but informative day with Charles from AEA tours.

City Tour and More

Sydney is a city of almost 5 million people.  The terrain is reminiscent of San Francisco.  All walking involves hills or steps to get to another level.  We were thankful to be in a van with Rob of Diamond Tours and part of a group of six people. We revisited The Rocks and learned more about the history of the area.

Almost all of the construction of buildings, tunnels and walls from the local sandstone was done by convicts from England. Conditions were harsh as evidenced by the remnants of the chains used to bind them together while they worked. Originally the area was full of public housing units.  The former residents have now been moved to a different area, and the city is refurbishing the same units to be sold for more than 1 million dollars because of the harbour view.


Next stop on the east end of Sydney was the famous Bondi Beach.

Today was the last day of summer vacation from school so many families were enjoying the waves. Bondi is an aboriginal word meaning "water breaking over rocks".  We walked from one end of the beach to the other, about 1 km along the esplanade (board walk.)

Then on to another popular beach - Watson's Beach.  There we enjoyed grilled barramundi (Asian sea bass) and cold beer from Doyle's Fisherman's Wharf. With the temperature at 30 C (86 F) and high humidity the beer was essential for hydration.

Back to the city and across the Harbour Bridge where we saw people doing the Bridge Walk in their blue coveralls. Our guide has done this and said it is best to strip down to your underwear.
In the photo, they are two thirds of the way up on the right hand side.  The cost is between $250 and $400 depending on the conditions chosen.   No cameras or cell phones are allowed.  We did not opt for this activity.  (You have to pass a physical.) I believe that most Australians could do it.  Obesity has been addressed, especially in schools where all junk food has been banned from canteens (cafeterias) and all students must take part in at least one sport.

On the other side of the bridge we visited Balmoral Beach and Middle Head for a panoramic view of the harbour.  We asked Rob to drop us a Taronga Zoo, built on the side of a hill leading back down to the harbour and ferry terminal.

 After our ferry ride and walk back to the hotel, and more hydration, we showered and retired in preparation for another big day tomorrow!

Sunday Afternoon

In order to stay awake until evening we walked to the area known as The Rocks.  This is an area near the harbour originally settled by the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. In the 18th century, the area had the reputation as a slum and the point of arrival of convicts. Eventually time, gang activity, bubonic plague took a toll.  In the 1920, 3800 homes were demolished during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The area was taken over by the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Corporation in 1968.  Rather than demolishing the decaying buildings, the area has been reborn. It is the home of the Museum of Contemporary Art, artists studios, historic pubs, and a vibrant market.