Aus Day 3 - Hunter Valley, beer and beachlife
Escaped the golf village and headed out for breakfast at a place called Oscars near the Hunter Valley gardens. Ordered a proper fatboy meal of French Toast which the bread was the size of my head, had about 4 strawberries, covered in maple syrup and bizarrely (though very Australian) came with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious and it worked. The shopping centre was a typical outlet tourist fare and very over-priced.
Next stop was the Blue Tongue Brewery to sample some beer instead of wine. We bought a paddle of 6 for $15 which allowed us to choose a complimentary midi sized beer of your favourite. The ginger beer had a weak flavour but strong with alcohol content whereas the other 5 beers ranged from light, crisp tasting lagers to a red coloured ale. It was a tough task in the heat of 30C!
The rest of the afternoon was traveling back to Corlette via Petersons Champagne place for some present buying and helicopter spotting.
A quick freshen up after returning from Hunter Valley, we took advantage of the hot early evening and headed to the local beach. Loved the way we could go barefoot from the car park to Fingal beach. Even though it was late in the afternoon there were plenty of families, fisherman and joggers enjoying the beach. Stunning views and a decent surf. We walked for about 15 minutes until the spit where the beach had tow tide directions crashing into each other. The water temperature for dipping was perfectly warm. As we walked back to the car Neil told me about the recent sale of a house opposite the beach. Looking more like run-down bungalow, the property was bought by a Hunter Valley farmer for over $1 million. For quite a sleepy but beautiful part of the country there's plenty of money around with the local mining industry.
For the evening's meal, Neil treated us to an Australian institution, dinner at the 'Bowlo' (translated: Bowls Club). It was good, honest pub-like food within the sights of the green but within a huge social club. For such a family-friendly place I wasn't allowed to wear my hat yet shorts and sandals were ok. I had the 'schnitty' (translated: chicken schnitzel) which was very tasty though we were becoming more aware of how expensive food was due to the exchange rate. After the meal, we gambled a few dollars on the chocolate sweeping machine. Bit senseless really as the vending machine next to it offered Cadbury's bars for $2.50 (that's about £1.75).
Back home, Neil entertained us with his telescope since there was very little light pollution. Otherwise, we enjoyed a new bird call (or it might have been a frog) which sounded like a squeaky dog toy. Nowhere on the internet could we find out what it was though.
Next stop was the Blue Tongue Brewery to sample some beer instead of wine. We bought a paddle of 6 for $15 which allowed us to choose a complimentary midi sized beer of your favourite. The ginger beer had a weak flavour but strong with alcohol content whereas the other 5 beers ranged from light, crisp tasting lagers to a red coloured ale. It was a tough task in the heat of 30C!
The rest of the afternoon was traveling back to Corlette via Petersons Champagne place for some present buying and helicopter spotting.
A quick freshen up after returning from Hunter Valley, we took advantage of the hot early evening and headed to the local beach. Loved the way we could go barefoot from the car park to Fingal beach. Even though it was late in the afternoon there were plenty of families, fisherman and joggers enjoying the beach. Stunning views and a decent surf. We walked for about 15 minutes until the spit where the beach had tow tide directions crashing into each other. The water temperature for dipping was perfectly warm. As we walked back to the car Neil told me about the recent sale of a house opposite the beach. Looking more like run-down bungalow, the property was bought by a Hunter Valley farmer for over $1 million. For quite a sleepy but beautiful part of the country there's plenty of money around with the local mining industry.
For the evening's meal, Neil treated us to an Australian institution, dinner at the 'Bowlo' (translated: Bowls Club). It was good, honest pub-like food within the sights of the green but within a huge social club. For such a family-friendly place I wasn't allowed to wear my hat yet shorts and sandals were ok. I had the 'schnitty' (translated: chicken schnitzel) which was very tasty though we were becoming more aware of how expensive food was due to the exchange rate. After the meal, we gambled a few dollars on the chocolate sweeping machine. Bit senseless really as the vending machine next to it offered Cadbury's bars for $2.50 (that's about £1.75).
Back home, Neil entertained us with his telescope since there was very little light pollution. Otherwise, we enjoyed a new bird call (or it might have been a frog) which sounded like a squeaky dog toy. Nowhere on the internet could we find out what it was though.
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