Blogs from Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

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Excerpted from my book...OUR SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: AMAZON.COM Before leaving for Sydney we played a round of golf at the Hunter Valley Golf and Country club, a pretentious name that did not live up to its lofty promise. For example, at the time we visited there was no golf clubhouse, as the facility was alleged to be under redevelopment — but there was not much earth being moved that I could see. However, the golf course was fair and reasonable, with a round costing about $35 each. We also visited a resort development associated with Greg Norman. It had potential but oddly, although almost all the currently available lots were sold, only two houses had been built. As in the rest of Australia, there seems to be a lot of property speculation, with, ... read more

EXCERPTED FROM MY BOOK: OUR SUMMER IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: AMAZON.COM The Hunter Valley region lies between 150 and 200km north of Sydney…about a two hour drive. Today, one might compare it to Napa Valley, in relation to San Francisco. A premier wine growing region of many independent vineyards, numerous B & Bs, restaurants, balloon rides, music festivals, a few golf resorts and several wine tasting tours. That’s today. Yesterday was quite different. In 1798, coal was discovered, by a British officer, Lt. Shortland, while in pursuit of escaped convicts. It was he who named the region after then Governor Capt. John Hunter, R.N., But it wasn’t until 1804, following a convict uprising near Sydney, that the subsequent Governor, Lt. Phillip King, R.N. decided to establish a penal colony at Newcastle, where second offenders would ... read more

Pete and I woke up early since my ring was done and the store opened at 8:30am. We paid for the ring and it looks perfect, now that it fits on the correct finger. We walked across the street to another computer store but found out the computer we wanted only had an Australian warranty. No Go #2. All four of us then packed our bags, checked out of the apartment and took a cab to Europcar, rental car agency. We were headed on a somewhat thought out road trip up the coast to Hunter Valley, one of the many wine regions in Australia. Dad didn’t realize he was going to be the main driver, but I told them Mom knew since Pete and I don’t have car insurance on us. Mom knew Australia drove on ... read more