Gently rolling hills covered in richly green vines marching up and down the slopes in perfect military lines. Rose bushes drooping with heavy, blood-red blooms standing sentinel at the ends of each row. Quaint guesthouses snuggled serenely into hillsides. If it wasn't for the backdrop of blue-grey gum trees, the screeching of cockatoos, and the tame kangaroo munching on grass outside your bedroom window, it would feel like Europe.
This is the Hunter Valley; two or so hours drive north-west from Sydney and home to some of Australia's best wineries and winemakers. To get here, take the F3 freeway north from Sydney and follow the signs to Cessnock. This is the main vineyard area and you can pick up lots of information from the visitor's centre on the outskirts of town. Head out of town to Pokolbin, Broke and Lovedale and follow the signs to whichever winery takes your fancy.
It's easy to get lost on the meandering roads among the vineyards. But like all unexpected journeys of exploration, it's the best way to find new surprises — who knows what new favourite red you'll discover? But with more than 120 wineries and cellar doors in the area, there is little chance you will get to see them all. And if you're driving, you won't be able to taste. Let someone else worry about it and take one of the many tours available. You can join a bicycle or walking tour, or opt to be driven around in style from winery to winery in a horse-drawn carriage. Many of these tours will drop you at a secluded picnic site with a gourmet hamper or you can lunch in one of the many vineyard restaurants.
Champagne and chocolates tops my list of favourite things, so we dropped into Petersons Champagne House for some very fine bubbles and then next door to Hunter Valley Chocolates to stock up for the weekend. From there, we visited three or four more cellar doors, including Mistletoe Wines, which along with a great, easy-drinking rosé, is home to the Pokolbin Gallery and Mistletoe Sculpture Garden. Putting away our now wounded wallets (but proud owners of a stunning original watercolour) we decided it was time to eat, so headed for the Hunter Valley Cheese Factory. Here you can watch cheese being made, go on a cheese making tour, or simply browse the well stocked produce room for just about anything you need to make a picnic – local olive oils, jams, mustards, spreads, pâtés, dried fruits, breads, and of course cheese, which you can taste before you buy. Their signature cheese – the washed rind is superb.
A brand new addition to the Hunter’s list of attractions is the Hunter Valley Gardens in Pokolbin. Originally part of a cattle grazing property, the 25-hectare gardens have been a work in progress since 1998 and finally opened on March 1, 2003. There are 8km of pathways to wander among the 12 themed gardens, including a storybook garden for the kids. More than 6000 trees, 600,000 shrubs and 1,000,000 ground covers, with more planned, have transformed the site into one of the most impressive gardens in the country. There is a cafeteria on site and a gift shop, and just next door is the Hunter Gardens Village – packed with 15 boutique and specialty stores –more than enough for any shopaholic.
But the Hunter Valley is not just all wine and roses. The small country towns foster some interesting museums and the valley hills hide some wonderful historic villages that time seems to have sidestepped.
The Walka Water Works in Maitland, built in 1887 and one of the oldest water works in NSW, is a restored pump house classified by the National Trust. The complex is a great example of nineteenth century industry. Inside the ornate brick building there is a working model of the original pump and a teahouse. Beside the lake there are barbecues and picnic tables and this is one of the best places to set a picnic basket in Maitland.
When in Maitland, drop by the Maitland City Art Gallery in historic Brough House and visit its mirror image, Grossman House next door. The gallery specialises in exhibiting local artists, one of which is Margaret Olley. These two buildings are both part of a meandering heritage trail of Maitland. You can pick up a map from the Visitors' Centre in King Edward Park.
The village of Morpeth, eight kilometres from Maitland, is also classified by the National Trust. It is now home to antique, gift and craft shops, and if you like to shop, this is the place in the Hunter to go. There are also numerous cafés and teahouses that serve a great coffee and diet-destroying, calorie-laden cakes.
On the other side of the valley, the village of Wollombi, 30km south west of Cessnock, is also home to antique and gift stores, but it has more of a rustic feel than Morpeth. In the early nineteenth century the village was established on the Great North Road, a convict-built feat of road engineering that is still visible today. The Endeavour Museum in the old courthouse has a fine collection of local history and is well worth the two dollar entry fee. Staffed by volunteers, they will lead you on a very personal history tour of the area as you uncover hidden delights in the masses of artefacts in the museum's collection. The museum is open Sundays. If all this rummaging through the past leaves you dry, pop into the Wollombi Tavern for a tasting of the infamous Dr Jurd's Jungle Juice. It's an acquired taste, but sipping a cold drink on the verandah overlooking the creek at the back of the hotel is a nice way to while away a few lazy hours.
The upper Hunter, bounded by the towns of Singleton, Denman and Muswellbrook also feature some great wineries, although not nearly as many as the Pokolbin/Cessnock/Lovedale areas.
In Singleton, visit the Royal Australian Infantry Corps Museum, just off the New England Highway on the Sydney side of town. Even pacifists will find this museum interesting as it tells the story of all Australian infantry involvements beginning with Sudanese service in 1885. There are lots of guns, but also some great exhibits giving charming snapshots of the human side of the infantry — such as the recorded tales told by of a pair of soldier's boots: the nightclubs they danced in, the battles they fought and the time they, and their owner, went AWOL.
Officially still part of the Hunter Valley, but a world away in feel and scenery, are the beaches and waterways of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens. Newcastle is a bustling seaside port with great beaches and a busy shopping precinct. Enjoy a breezy coffee at one of the cafés along Queen's Wharf or visit the wildlife at Wetlands Centre on the Pacific Highway at Shortland. There are also quite a few galleries in town; the regional art gallery is on Laman Street. For more information see our feature stories on this area.
Lake Macquarie a vast saltwater lake, offers safe beaches and a range of water sports. There are all sort of boats available for charter, from tinny runabouts for a spot of fishing — bream, whiting and flathead are likely catches — to luxury yachts. Hire a houseboat and find yourself a secluded cove, put your feet up and open some of your Hunter wine.
In Port Stephens you can take a dolphin-watching cruise and laugh as the bottle-nosed dolphins surf the bow wave of your charter boat. Port Stephens is more than twice the size of Sydney Harbour and is ringed with secluded, and often deserted, white fine sandy beaches. The shores are peppered with sleepy seaside holiday villages and the pace of life is relaxed and low key.
Nearby, in the rainforest-clad mountains of the Barrington Tops there are quite a few 'wilderness' retreats where you can get back to nature in five-star comfort. Take time out to walk or horse ride along ferny, green forest trails. Drive back to Sydney through the forests of the Watagan Mountains.
The little-known Yengo National Park is near Broke and is one of the State’s great true wilderness parks. The 4WD-only Old Settlers and Yengo tracks in the northern section of the park wind their way along the tops of two sandstone ridges above steep rocky gorges. There are some great Aboriginal rock carvings, lots of wildlife and extensive wilderness views. Once in the park, the track is well marked, but finding the right access into the park is very difficult due to a lack of roadside signs and a killer creek crossing just inside the gate. Contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service on (02) 4320 4200 for detailed directions and track information before you go.
March and April is harvest festival time in the Hunter and there are lots of special events, winemakers’ dinners and vintage parties, festivals and fairs. To find out what’s on this year visit Hunter Valley Wine Country and follow the Harvest Festival prompts.
If you like golf then you’ll love the Hunter. There are four premium courses in the Valley: the Hunter Valley Golf and Country Club, The Oaks, Cypress Lakes (which has the Golden Door Spa for those partners who prefer massages and pampering to hacking and chipping) and the newly-opened Greg Norman course ‘the Vintage’ (link to story ID 206) which is set to rank in the country’s top five.
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