Caught the ferry to Manly where I met John and Shanna, and Ryan. Ryan as it happens was in the same hostel as me in Singapore, but John and Shanna had subsequently met up with him in Thailand. Manly is a great place and it was nice to spend an hour or so having brekkie overlooking the ocean.
Ryan and I were treated to a road trip and tour of the wine regions of the Hunter Valley on our way to Newcastle. Stopped off at Wollombi and bought some Dr Jurd’s Jungle Juice (local port and brandy combo). We later arrived at the Hunter Valley Resort Vineyard.......and much to my surprise, and the others, I’d been there before. Out of all the hundreds of vineyards it was the same vineyard I had stayed at some four years ago. It was strange to return as it felt very familiar, nothing had changed. The four of us bought a beer tasting paddle (see photo), this was basically a wooden plank with 6 locally brewed ales together with a brief rundown of the flavours had gone into them. Needless to say they didn’t last long!
On the way up to Newcastle, in traditional Aussie style, we grabbed some food from a pie shop. It was quite refreshing to have something that didn’t have rice or noodles as it’s main ingredient!
Once at Newcastle, John gave me and Ryan a tour of his local stomping ground before meeting up with a few of his mates. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay long as I had to get the train back to Sydney. Must admit, I didn’t feel too comfortable getting the train since John’s mate had mentioned that someone was stabbed on it the other week. So with my hood up (yes it was a bit chilly) I minded by own business and settled down for the next three hours.
