Good Wine Hunting (Part 1)

Sick of all the lame “I got stimulated by K-Rudd” puns and actually want to spend your moola on something fun? Enjoy eating and drinking copious amounts of wine and cheese? Then jump in the car and head up to the Hunter Valley, it’s only about a two hour road trip from Sydney. We did for the infamous Lovedale Long Lunch weekend and liked it so much that we have planned part deux for July.

The first important pit stop was obviously at Maccas drive through where we ate our celebratory weekend away Happy Meals. It was a great start to a salt filled weekend. We even acquired unexpected mascots in the adorable Hello Kitty watches that came free with our meal. Half the charm of these watches were that they in fact ran on their very own time system i.e.

ME: What’s the time?

SISTER: According to my Hello Kitty watch it is 1P, what about you?

ME: A-ha, according to mine it is 13A. Take your pick!

Most people favoured 1P and thus that was the time for the entire weekend. The Lovedale Long Lunch is a hedonistic, vineyard hopping two day drink and eat extravaganza. Regular shuttle buses ($45 for an all day transport pass) cruise around seven different vineyards and you may hop on and off as you please. Some people like to set up camp at one specific location, others try to sample every flavour (mind you this gets a tad hard after your hundredth glass of wine). Once you purchase your wine glass for a reasonable $5 you are entitled to free wine tasting, or as I like to call it swigging. The highlight of the weekend for us scavengers was that you get to keep your glass. Many people poo-pooed this idea and thanks to them I have a matching set! Alternatively you can cough up $95 for transport, a glass, two food vouchers, one dessert / cheese voucher and apparently save $9 but I think that is sneaky advertising and you end up spending more but each to their own.

Every location has a live band, consistent crowds, endless choices of wine to taste and buy and amazing gourmet food (the stand out for me were the heavenly profiteroles I had for dessert, I was tempted to smuggle some home in my handbag). A big group of us stayed at a gorgeous little cottage, which was quite central to everything called Blackthorn Hill Retreat. It had three bedrooms and could sleep around eight people – http://www.bhretreat.com/index.htm

A word of warning for cab trips into the local pubs – if you happen to jump in a taxi with a masculine looking lady and hairy moles she will rip you off! Don’t pay anymore than $40. Although the Love Dale only comes around once a year it is easy to organise your own “do it yourself” trip without the crowds. Stay posted for Part 2! Oh, and I am still wearing my Hello Kitty watch as I type.

TIP: Keep your eyes peeled while driving home to Sydney for cheap street side pups! We almost crashed the car with excitement when we saw a sign “Labrador puppies $500”. Although we didn’t buy any we were allowed cuddles!

- BELLA