Blogs from Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 5

The weather was still poor when we got up but we decided to make our way over to the main attractions in the Blue Mountains anyway. We started off at Echo Point where we had an uninterrupted view of the three sisters; three rocks standing side by side. In the background we could see the distant mountains and they really were tinged with a bluey purple haze. Unfortunately it started to pour down and within minutes the mountains were hidden under a shroud of mist. I was pleased to have my coat as all of the tourists wearing their shorts and t-shirts around us dived for cover. We had planned on walking down the Giants Staircase, then getting the train or cable car back up, but it was freezing cold and wet so we didn‘t. Instead ... read more

The first 'real' city that we had encountered; we found Brisbane to a pretty lively, cosmopolitan place and it roughly marked the halfway point for us and our epic road trip along the coast of Oz. We'd heard a lot of good things about the place and weren't disappointed. On day 1 we explored the botanic gardens (which is actually just a big park) and around the river making time to swing by some of the malls and squeeze in some shopping. We checked out Fortitude Valley, the up and coming bar and cafe scene was meant to be good here and we were lucky enough to catch some live acts performing in the last day of an annual mini music festival that's held out on the streets. As if Australia didn't have enough beaches, it ... read more

Wine. Vin. Vino! The Hunter Valley Wine trip. A day of drinking, basically yeh. It is a two and a half hour drive north to Hunter Valley from Sydney. THe Macquarie exchange group on campus arrange a bus for 58 of us to go to 3 wineries and bluetounge brewery. Friday, Sept 5 it rained all day. Our bus driver got lost going in circles around the vinyard maze and eventually took down a barbed fence turning around. We all laughed and yelled for him to stop, but I don't think he cared, and then we got scared a bit of going down a muddy slope. Thank goodness we did not. A group of wallabies (mini kangaroos) were in a field chilling with the cows. That was cool. No pictures though because the bus windows had ... read more

Zo, Australie zit er bijna op. We koersen verder richting het zuiden en overnachten in Port Macquairie omdat de stap naar hunter Valley net iets te lang bleek. In Hunter Valley naar Wollombi doorgereden en langs verschillende Wineries gekomen. Bij underCliff nog verschillende wijnen geproefd en meegenomen en door naar Mulla Villa (B&B door Gerian & Marnix getipt, nog bedankt!). We verbleven in een cottage naast de paarden en honden (zaten ook wombats maar helaas niet gezien) en hebben 's avonds heerlijk gedineerd met BYO formule (Bring Your Own wine). De volgende dag na een heerlijk ontbijt kregen we een tip om voordelig ons hotel in Sydney te boeken. Onze gastvrouwen hebben ons aan een mooi 4 sterren hotel geholpen via deze site midden in het centrum zodat we de laatste dagen per voet nog het ... read more

Relieved that we managed to sort out our tight schedule for touring Australia, we were back at work for another week with a slight skip in our step, dreaming of our upcoming travelling. On Monday after work I headed into town to pay the remainder of our bill with the travel agency. Banks in Australia not only charge for the simplist of bank accounts, they also make it extremely difficult for customers to withdraw anything over $1000 in any 24 hour period. Despite having internet and telephone banking with them, and asking permission for a larger EFTPOS payment, I was advised that the only way I could withdraw $1500 was by going into a bank. With banking hours here of 9.30 to 4.30 this is extremely difficult for the percentage of the population working 9-5 nowhere ... read more