The long weekend! in June!? Unheard of!
Apparently there is a bit of uncertainty about when the Queen’s birthday is. In Canada, it was a couple of weeks ago, Victoria Day, the May 24th weekend. But here, in Australia… it was this past weekend. June 11th, 12th, 13th… weird. When is her birthday, really? Should we ask her? It really seems more disrespectful than anything. However, I’m not going to argue, a long weekend means a day off work… or at least a day away from the office. Saturday called for some celebration…
A wine Festival of epic proportions.
One fixed fee for a day aboard the bus of dreams. Jump on and jump off at whichever winery you please and for an additional $6.00 you receive a bottomless wine glass. Okay, maybe not bottomless… but we were free to try all the wines on the tasting lists of any winery that we made it to within the day. We chose to go top to bottom with each list of the five lovely wineries that we eventually made it to. I’m not sure how many glasses that would add up to… but it’s more than enough for me. And I only drank whites…
The day kicked off with a two and a half hour drive South of Sydney to Laura and Whitey’s house in Gerroa. We had to leave bright and early to make it there by 10.30… but we were able to stop for a nice breakfast bite at a cafe called Clifhanger just outside of Wollongong. Had it not been raining and foggy, I’m sure the view would have been just peachy keen…
raisin toast, a mystery fruit muffin, coffees and a bacon and egg roll
It wasn’t the best breakfast I’ve ever had, but we definitely wanted to load up on carbs before the onslaught of wine.
Once in Gerroa, we drove into the town of Berry, where all the wineries are and there we waited in the train station parking lot for the beloved bus.
It was a chilly morning…
notice the face on the boy second from the left...
Once on the bus, it was a short ride to our first winery. We bought our six dollar glasses and it all began!
last on the right... I loveee that face. such content...
They served the widest variety that we experience that day, including liquer slushies, mulled wine and beer. Delectable. I tried a lovely array of white wine and port followed by a piping hot cup of the mulled wine and got back on the bus a little less co-ordiated then when I arrived.
Whitey... our host
To be honest, it was hard to keep track of things after this. There was more wine… this much I know for sure. There was a man named Ben who poured us a glass of white that tasted like lantana.
cheers, so many cheers
There were chickens, sheep and there was poop on my scarf.
poop
One of the final wineries we stopped at was equipped with sheep
(for grass control in the vineyard) and a lovely flock of chickens and roosters.
This was by far my favourite stop. Not only did they offer all organic wines and foods, but the owner invited us to come pet, feed and pick up(!) the chickens.
Samuel... he was the pooper... because we were bonded
Amazinggg. We also got to visit the sheep… who were rather rowdy, but very photogenic…
they knew who had the camera...
The day came to an end back at Whitey and Laura’s house where another friend cooked us an amazing italian inspired dinner. It was the perfect thing to help soak up some of that alcohol lingering in my stomach. So delicious…
sunsets in wine country...
Unfortunately, Sean and I were not able to stay for the breakfast the next morning. We had to wake up at the crack of 6am in order to make it back to Sydney. Boy o boy I was tired. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We had ended up in bed by eleven… everyone was full of wine and food, staying up later wasn’t even discussed.
All in all, it was a lovely weekend, with lovely people, and general loveliness.
xxx
...but can she bake 