[Sydney] Hunter Valley

our second day in Sydney was a full day tour to Hunter Valley.. Hunter Valley is an area located in north of Sydney and famous for its wineries.. apparently, one of my travel mate is a huge fan of wine while the rest are curious wine beginners.. we booked a Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Tour with a light lunch for AUD90.00.. we were picked up at our hotel with a Mercedes Benz mini bus on 6:45 in the morning then continued our journey to pick other travel mates.. the total tour participants was 14 people.. it was really exciting meeting other tour members as some of them was also tourists..

the beautiful bright sky

the journey from Sydney to Hunter Valley took around 2 hours and we stopped by a coffee shop for our morning coffee.. we visited 5 wineries, including Capercaillie, McGuigan, two other which I can't recall, perhaps I wasn't quite sober during the visit and lastly, Blueberry Hill.. let me spoil your eyes with the beautiful Hunter Valley :)

wine and cheese are a match made in heaven

remember, keep calm and drink wine

wine, wine and more wines

I think it's the pinkish Moscato

beautiful vineyard

McGuigan's wines: white, red and semi-vodka

the home of Pinot Noir

the vine

after four vineyards, we were escorted to Hunter Resort and Blue Tongue Brewery where we will have our lunch.. as we ordered a tour package with light lunch, we were free to choose from pepperoni pizza, mediterranean pizza, smoked salmon on sour dough with Thai salad or pumpkin and feta frittata.. not in the mood to take any risk, I picked pepperoni pizza while some of my other friends picked smoked salmon on sour dough with Thai salad.. we were given a number which will ring once our orders are ready to be picked up in the counter.. it was a very efficient way for the self-service experience..

pepperoni pizza

smoked salmon on sour dough with Thai salad

well, the pepperoni pizza was unexpectedly delicious.. a huge portion.. thin, crispy crust with generous pepperoni, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.. it tasted really good, at least way above my expectation haha.. the smoked salmon also tasted quite good, served fresh on top of sour dough (I don't know why Australian love sour dough), and some Thai salad with beansprouts and pink ginger served with some sauce which tasted like balsamic vinegar to me.. still edible though was not my personal favorite, the pepperoni pizza still won my heart.. 

anyway, near the Blue Tongue brewery, we found this black board.. I truly love what it says :)

overall, I had a great day at Hunter Valley.. it's really exciting to give yourself a chance getting to know more about wine.. at least, I managed to keep my consciousness after five wineries and I don't know how many glasses of wine.. the only effect I got was feeling very sleepy and light.. luckily I didn't get my face red.. anyway, cheers for a good, well-spent day :)