Hunter Valley & beyond (20/2/12 - 21/2/12)

We left Shoal Bay on Monday morning and drove 100km west to Cessnock in the south of the Hunter Valley.  We spent the morning with Natalie (Wal’s sister) and her son William.  The kids had a great time playing with William and his toys!  

Natalie then took us to her husband, Matt family’s winery, Drayson Family Vineyard.  Matt took us on a tour of the winery which was great, especially the cellar which was home to bottles of wine almost 50 years old!  We had a lovely lunch and then some wine tasting (and buying!) to finish the day off.  Thanks Natalie, Matt and William for your hospitality – we had a ball.

From Cessnock we thought we would take the “scenic” route north to Singleton and Gloucester.  The scenery was stunning, but the roads were terrible – the worst of the entire trip.  So instead of heading north to Gloucester we headed east back to the highway and north to Taree.  Then the rain decided to start.  We spent the night at a free camp at Wingham, 10kms north west of Taree.  Gorgeous spot next to the river.  Once the sun went down the sugar bats came out – in the thousands.  What a site, we have never seen anything like it.  Noisy things! 

We plan to head to Port Macquarie tomorrow.

Simon and Natalie

Natalie, William & Chloe at the winery

Lots of old wine!

Ben, Chloe, Simon, Natalie, William & Matt

Our campsite at Wingham

Our view

Some of the bats