Hunter valley, about 2.5 hrs drive from Sydney, famous for its wineries and vineyards is a must visit destination in New South wales for the wine lovers!

I have never been a wine lover, but our recent trip to Europe, especially Italy’s Chianti region has changed me. I still dont have an attitude for the white and Roses but I absolutely love the reds and as the hunter valley gurus say I have got a good I have heard that  knowing wine and appreciating it is an art. So the main purpose of our trip was to learn wine and to try and at least get a vague idea of  ”what makes great wines great?”

Hunter valley vineyards

We started from home at around 8 and headed up towards newcastle and got onto the freeway towards hunter valley vineyards. In about 2 hrs time we reached Cessnock where we stopped for some coffee and nibbles. We then headed off to the information centre to get a map. We finally made it to the first vineyard at around noon. We decided to give more importance to the smaller boutique wineries instead of the big ones and I am so glad about that decision. We met some wonderful inspiring people and heard their stories and tasted some great wines while doing so.

We stopped at Moorebank vineyard, which is a vineyard set out in a picturesque setting. We met a nice lady Susan who works here and you can learn quite a lot of things about wine, food, and life in general just by chatting with her. They dont hav a huge collection of wines here, but the 3 red wines they had, I totally loved them! Given that I am “red person” I started with a blend of Merlot and Shiraz which was quite good, but I felt that it was a bit “young”. I wanted something that was more strong flavoured and yet not too dry. I think I found it in their Merlot 2006, just something I was looking for and for $26.00 AUD it was pretty good on the pocket too!

Moorebank Vineyard at Hunter Valley

Apart from talking and sharing knowledge about great wines Susan is by far the strongest lady I have met so far in my life. Surviving a crash with a spinal injury and the subsequent health issues, she is a happy and strong lady who says that she tries to win the pain and its all in the mind! Such a strong person that she is, she is a true real-life inspiration!

Moving on, we headed towards Tamburlaine organic wines. These guys are the largest organic wines boutique.  I have tasted a wide range of organic red wines here, starting from a young to a reserve cabernet sauvignon. The lady explained to me how you should be tasting wine, the wine and the food match. I love their Shiraz but they usually run out of stock, so I ended up getting a Merlot reserve which I totally intend to reserve for a couple of years at least, hopefully!

Sandalyn estate is another great one that sells olive oils, puddings, wines and also does cooking classes. I loved their date and toffee pudding and am a big fan of their garlic infused olive oil! I also got Cuvee Pinot Noir from them. Pinot Noirs are usually light and easy, not too strong or heavy. So I usually dont end up buying Pinot noirs as I prefer to just have one glass of it when I dine out. As many of the people at the vineyards in the valley mentioned today, I have an intermediate palate and I like pushing myself to the edge, constantly in search of new flavours. But this particular Pinot Noir I got from Sandalyn is a “Cuvee” which means, apparently, is of a “specific blend or batch” and I must confess, the flavours in it are not like any other Pinot Noir.

Murali and Chris at Gartelmann Wines

My next buys, the two other wines that I totally loved but missed out on buying them due to the shortage of time are “Petit Verdot 2009 from Gartelmann wines” thats costs $30 AUD and “2006 Thomas Charles Reserve Shiraz from Adina Vineyard” for $35 AUD which I  especially loved for its woody flavours. need to hit back the valley to get these next time! Adina also has some nice olives, infused olive oils. But I wasnt very impressed by their customer service, so had to dash out to get the infused olive oil somewhere else.

CHOCOLATE! Who doesnt love chocolate? There is also a chocolate factory in the valley where you can try different kinds of chocolates and buy them. I ended up getting some dark chocolate for the chocolate fondue.

Chilli Bomb at the chocolate factory in Hunter Valley

Oh please be sure to try their “Chilli bomb” Yumm! This is my favourite, and I am so going to visit them for it every time I go there.

I also learnt some cool wine terms, techniques and wine and food relationships which I will write in my next post!

This time of the year in Australia is really nice, its ofcourse spring and its getting warmer! The best time to go hiking!

Blue mountains is one of the most popular tourist destinations in New South Wales. With its name derived from the blue haze, its truly an spectacular view of three sisters from the echo point. Apart from the views, the amazing rural settings in the surrounding villages like Leura, Katoomba there are quite a lot of walks and hikes for the adventure lovers.  A range of walks, starting from the very easy short walks to hard and only for experienced multi-day walks provide an adrenalin boost to the adventurers.

Valley of the waters in blue mountains

Me and my hubby are adventure lovers but are still noobs, so we decided to choose an intermediate category of walk “The Wentworth Pass”.  Starting from Sydney we drove to the Conservation Hut on Fletcher Street at Wentworth Falls and parked our car here. This our starting point. Oh before we move on with the walk, let me just quickly mention that the Rosemary baby potatoes are awesome at the Hut

Baby potatoes with rosemary and garlic

Armed ourselves well with coffee, almonds, boiled eggs and we started walking down! The first one hour or so is an easy walk and then the little hurdles start appearing! The small stones in the stony creek path instead of the steps, small creeks to long jump on (kidding, you just need to take a big enough step), the tiny walk paths on the edges of the mountain in the rain forest, a few places where you need to crawl or creep along the edges of the rocks, and the thousand or so vertical stairs that felt like they were going on forever!

Crossing a creek during Wentworth pass hike in Blue Mountains, NSW

The only major obstacle I would say, that we needed help from someone else, was a big boulder with a rope. We had to get on top of the boulder using the rope. I think this is the only step that you will need some help with if you are not used to rock climbing kinda activities.

But with all of the obstacles in place, the walk itself was totally worth it. We hiked right beside the falls, getting down into the valley of the waters, and up the mountain to the base of the wentworth falls and onto the other end of the walk. The views of the falls, valley and the forest were just breath-taking and the view of wild mushrooms on the side of the rocks was interesting!

Wild Mushrooms at wentworth Pass in Blue Mountains

While the length of the walk is only 5kms, the actual ascent itself is 900m and it took half a day for us, about 6-7 hrs, with frequent stops! The vertical climb does demand a bit of energy, so not ideal for someone with joint/knee issues! We ourselves had sore muscles for the next couple of days and had to hit the gym to stretch the muscles!

Overall it was bit of a challenge but we totally loved it and will do it again and might even decide to stretch it a bit more and do an overnight walk!

I’ve been on the hunt for family-friendly camping areas near Sydney and this one is a definite winner. If you are looking for a camping experience that suits young children, I highly recommend a trip to the Upper Colo River.

Colo River

The campground itself wasn’t the pristine camping area I was hoping for. Empty beer bottles in the nearby bush and a dirty toilet block reminded me of grotty caravan parks of old. The river was not visible from the campground and I had to do a bit of hunting to figure out exactly where it was – about 30m downhill walk through the bush. My disappointment turned to delight when I discovered it.

The river is what makes this place. Driving along the Upper Colo Rd we caught glimpses of a wide brown river – not particularly impressive or appealing. Up close I discovered the water is crystal clear; the river is ankle to knee deep, slow-flowing, and has a pure sandy base, perfect for little ones to splash around in barefoot.

Colo River

We hauled our canoe down to the river and spent the afternoon paddling downstream. It is shallow and crystal clear all the way along, lined with bush and the occasional sandy embankment. Our 3-year-old had a great time just playing in the sand and jumping into the water; other kids were splashing around and leaping off a rope which had been tied to a nearby tree. All despite the cool weather and icy water!!

The camp sites are generously spaced out and there were not many campers considering it was school holidays. The sites need to be booked in advance via the Hawkesbury council website. The ranger actually came round and checked the bookings whilst we were there, so you need to bring the confirmation form with you.

Our camp site

There is only a single BBQ to cater for the entire area so it’s best to bring your own camp stove, and you’ll also need your own firewood. The council website recommends bringing your own drinking water, however a water tank has been installed that near the BBQ area and the water is safe to drink. There is also a big grassy area where you can have a game of footy or cricket (there’s even a cricket pitch). Despite the previously mentioned beer bottles, the main areas are clean and safe to walk around in barefoot. There are rubbish bins provided so no need to carry your rubbish out with you.

Once you’ve set up get your swimmers on and go and spend some time in the river. You’ll see why it’s called ‘the last pristine river in NSW’.

We finally had a weekend to ourselves, leaving our little 2-year-old with the folks, and decided to make the most of it with a camping trip. The Blue Mountains is our natural destination of choice, close to Sydney with loads of walks. A hike down to the Cox’s River seemed in order!

We started at Dunphy’s campsite, situated at the end of Megalong Valley Rd. Head to Blackheath and turn left to go over the railway line. It’s about 10km from there, the dirt road winds through lovely rainforest then through farmland (you’ll need to get out to open some gates on the way). Eventually you’ll reach Dunphy’s campsite which is also a good place to car camp especially if you have kids (you’ll wake up with kangaroos around your tent!). There are some bush toilets here as well as BBQ’s and tank water.

The track along Breakfast Creek

We headed off on the track out of the campsite, following it to Carlon Creek, and then Breakfast Creek. From here you follow Breakfast Creek until it hits the Cox’s river, about an hour and a half of walking. You’ll need to cross the creek several times; look out for black snakes! The rocks were quite slippery as well so the walk took longer than we were expecting.

Warning: Make sure you take a topographic map as the track is not well marked.  We met some walkers on our way down who were ‘winging’ it; they were hopelessly lost and had no idea which way they were supposed to be heading!

Once you get to the Cox’s River there is a great spot for camping  20m or so to the right. We set up our fly and got a fire going to prepare our dinner.

A nice place to camp on the Cox's

The next morning we did a spot of fishing; unfortunately the enormous fish we had spotted the day before turned out to be carp rather than trout. Oh well! We decided to return to the car by bush-bashing up Ironmonger Spur to hit the track on Ironpot Mountain. It’s fairly steep but the bush is quite sparse so we didn’t end up with too many scratches. After an hour or so we hit the track and also found some of the aboriginal markings for which the mountain is named.

Groove marks on Ironpot Mountain

From there it is an easy walk back down Ironpot Ridge and along the dirt road to Dunphy’s campsite and the car. Altogether it took about 3 hours from leaving the Cox’s that morning. Just in time for lunch at the pub!

We were looking for some kind of action, a bit of adventure and a bit of a drive for the Australia day long weekend. After a bit of a research we discovered Minnamurra falls!

Just about 2 hrs drive to the south of Sydney, near Kiama, there is Minnamurra Falls which incorporates an excellent rain forest and a magnificient waterfalls! Its a pretty good drive and the last 20 minutes was through the rural areas driving through Jamberoo Village and was pretty nice with fresh air, cattle and horses in the farms aside the road!

Minnamurra Falls

The actual Minnamurra falls centre is pretty big and had a huge parking! The entrance ticket costed us $11.00 AUD! We parked the car, picked up our bag (packed with some water, coke and some junk food)! The centre had a small show which was also selling some souveniers! There was also a small cafe which was apparently selling some meals,c offee and drinks! The staff at the desk were very friendly and explained that the forest walk was 1.6 kms and was low-medium strained! There was also another walk called “Falls Walk” which was 2.6 Kms and was medium-high strenuous!

The Forest Walk was very nice, not hard at all! The 1.6 kms walk extended on the paved way and a narrow bridge stretching across a small stream! The forest was beautiful and had a vast variety of Ferns! There was different varieties of birds as well and was well worth the walk! The route then biforcated with one way leading to “Falls Walk” and the other heading back to the center.

The Falls walk was quite a bit strenuous and was very steep at places! You would need to be a bit healthy to do it. This walk led through spectacular views of the forest and then finally ended up near the Minnamurra falls! The falls was magnificient (though a bit dry as we went there during peak summer)! There were benches all through the forest and aside the walk so that you could take breaks heading towards it! We managed to take the views along with a drink and some beautiful snaps!

It took a total of about 2.5 hrs for us to do the total 4,2 kms walk including some picninc time near the falls! But it was a very worthwhile walk and was quite a fun and adventurous!