Day 47: Hunter Valley for wine tasting and local food produce‏

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Today I had to wipe my 'I only drink Pinot Grigio and it has to usually cost more than £8 but be on a half price special' slate clean, or should I say palette clean! We headed into Australia's finest Hunter Valley for a vineyard tour and some wine tasting. We picked one of the oldest vineyards in the region, McWilliams Mount Pleasant and had a very interesting tour. We were able to pick a grape, see the wine-making process in action and learn all the tips and techniques that they use. The Hunter Valley is famous for its Semillon (white wine), Merlot and Shiraz red wines. We had a very comprehensive tasting session. Grandad - James highly recommends the Mount Pleasant Rose Hill Shiraz! We also had a try of some sparkling wines and dessert wines. Next we moved onto a local food shop which sold a variety of sauces and jams etc. The lady who owned the shop was from Knutsford - small world!
Our afternoon mostly consisted of a long drive through the national parks down to Penrith, where we camped for the night, to allow us easy access into Sydney by train for Australia Day tomorrow. We are both pretty excited about seeing Sydney!


Bailey's bit:

The price of wine, and alcohol in general, is considerably higher than the UK. Our tour guide explained that after tax (28%!)(MISSING) and then GST (~10%!)(MISSING) they are paying around 40%! (MISSING)But in exporting it they don't have to pay the tax thus the same wine which is $64 (~£45) is sold for around £20 in the UK!
Yesterday I mentioned how Maurice was a little thirsty, our journey to Penrith took us through the hilly and winding national parks which isn't good for fuel efficiency. We realised about 70km into the 150km journey that there were not any petrol stations and our fuel situation wasn't looking good. For the next 60km we took on hyper-miling techniques knocking out of gear down hills and using the momentum as best we could. Luckily we made it to the next petrol station but I think we were very much running on fumes!


Daily mileage: 5 had a wander round Emu Plains and Penrith, stopped at the train station to figure out our journey for tomorrow.

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