I spent Tuesday in the Hunter Valley region, about 2 1/2 hours outside of Sydney...mostly small, family run vineyards where their wines are only found in the region and not in bottle shops. Caitlyn, Katie, and I all enjoyed MANY tastings! Our tour took us to four wineries, and tried at least 8 different varieties at each! Wow - needless to say, we warmed up fast :) It was a blast to try many of the wines grown in the region; of course there were the Merlots and Chardonnays, but the Verdehlo and Moscato sparkling wines were among my favorites. We enjoyed a great lunch along the way, which worked perfectly into our busy wine tasting day. Plus, it was so fun to catch up with Caitlyn and learn more about her life down here. She's doing great, loves it, and is a FABULOUS tour guide to be walking around with - talk about a great help from getting ferry tickets into the city to learning more of the ins and outs as far as getting around and such.
Didn't get back to the Murrays until about 8 last night (what a long day!) with a few bottles of souvenir wine and came home to a great dinner cooked on the barbie. Had lamb for the first time, of what sounds like will be many on this trip --- it was soft, but good and definitely worth trying. After sharing a bottle or two with the Murrays, it was time to hit the sac!
Today, Katie and I went for a nice walk along Curly Beach - the sun was out (thank God!!!) but it was really windy, so the beach was closed for swimming due to the rips. After some breaky, Dean and his girlfriend Maira drove us to see the world famous Bondi Beach about 40 mins away. Walked along the beach, which in the summer is usually beyond crowded with people. Found a great path that went along the cliff above the ocean - gorgeous views of the great blue-green water.
Then walked around the shops at Bondi Junction and soon headed back up to the North Shore beaches to beat the rush hour traffic. Dean and Maira wanted to have us try one of their favorite spots for lunch, so we headed straight to the Salty Rooster at Queenscliff Beach to get a grilled chicken burger. I do have to say it was pretty tasty :) And we sat and watched the HUGE waves while enjoying it...yummmm!
When we got back to the Murriot, David was anxious to drive us over the hill to Dee Why Point to see the waves crash up onto the cliffs...the waves were seriously unbelievable! The wind just kept 'em coming, wave after wave, and you could see the ocean stirring in big rips way out there! Crazy!!
Tonight, we headed down to Manly to walk around the corso and enjoyed a glass of wine sitting out at Manly Wharf overlooking the boats in the harbour. The wind calmed down and is was such a nice night :) The moon was huge, orange, and hovering over the water, just gorgeous...it's so funny not to see the sun set over the water as we do in CA though; I still have to get used to that one. We actually went down there thinking we could have the chance to walk through some of the shops, but they had closed by the time we got there...so we settled with wine instead! How perfect!! We did find the grocery store - Cole's - to still be open, so we wandered up and down the aisles to see what kind of food people buy in Australia...they're cereal comes in HUGE boxes, much bigger than ours, but just as expensive; sell tons of gluten-free food - I'm learning that it's one of the most GF-friendly places; they don't sell trail mix, or at least we were looking in all the wrong places; and I had to buy the famous Tim Tam biscuits, which I can now say are one of the most amazing chocolate cookies you'll eat! (As recommended by Caitlyn aka Tim Tam Girl)
Getting ready for bed now and SO ready for a day in the city tomorrow!!! Yay, so excited to do some shopping. But before that, we'll be getting a nice workout in as Adam invited us to take a dance class at his dance academy where he teaches (thank God it's for beginners...hopefully we're not the big kids among a group of 5 year olds) for a jazz class...hahaha I'm laughing just thinking out it. I'm hoping to find a nice spot in the back of the room :) Then it'll be a full day of shopping - Darling Harbour, Paddy's Market, and The Rocks! Plus, we'll be looking into getting tickets to a show at the Opera House - how neat!
Other plans...
- BridgeClimb Friday - yes, I will be climbing across the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for amazing 360 views of the city =D
- Also this Friday, the North Curl Curl Surf Club Beach barbie and party! Supposed to get a little crazy...uh oh....
- Sydney Fish Market with the Murrays on Sunday
- leaving Monday for the Whitsundays!!!
That's all for now, Cheers!
Didn't get back to the Murrays until about 8 last night (what a long day!) with a few bottles of souvenir wine and came home to a great dinner cooked on the barbie. Had lamb for the first time, of what sounds like will be many on this trip --- it was soft, but good and definitely worth trying. After sharing a bottle or two with the Murrays, it was time to hit the sac!
At Bondi Beach
Today, Katie and I went for a nice walk along Curly Beach - the sun was out (thank God!!!) but it was really windy, so the beach was closed for swimming due to the rips. After some breaky, Dean and his girlfriend Maira drove us to see the world famous Bondi Beach about 40 mins away. Walked along the beach, which in the summer is usually beyond crowded with people. Found a great path that went along the cliff above the ocean - gorgeous views of the great blue-green water.
Rainbow Lorikeets - these birds are found literally in every tree and make a VERY loud noise! But very pretty...
Almost every single beach here has a saltwater pool right on the cliffs of the ocean. Big waves today at Bondi crashed up and over the sea wall and into the pool where locals were swimming laps...how cool!
Then walked around the shops at Bondi Junction and soon headed back up to the North Shore beaches to beat the rush hour traffic. Dean and Maira wanted to have us try one of their favorite spots for lunch, so we headed straight to the Salty Rooster at Queenscliff Beach to get a grilled chicken burger. I do have to say it was pretty tasty :) And we sat and watched the HUGE waves while enjoying it...yummmm!
When we got back to the Murriot, David was anxious to drive us over the hill to Dee Why Point to see the waves crash up onto the cliffs...the waves were seriously unbelievable! The wind just kept 'em coming, wave after wave, and you could see the ocean stirring in big rips way out there! Crazy!!
Tonight, we headed down to Manly to walk around the corso and enjoyed a glass of wine sitting out at Manly Wharf overlooking the boats in the harbour. The wind calmed down and is was such a nice night :) The moon was huge, orange, and hovering over the water, just gorgeous...it's so funny not to see the sun set over the water as we do in CA though; I still have to get used to that one. We actually went down there thinking we could have the chance to walk through some of the shops, but they had closed by the time we got there...so we settled with wine instead! How perfect!! We did find the grocery store - Cole's - to still be open, so we wandered up and down the aisles to see what kind of food people buy in Australia...they're cereal comes in HUGE boxes, much bigger than ours, but just as expensive; sell tons of gluten-free food - I'm learning that it's one of the most GF-friendly places; they don't sell trail mix, or at least we were looking in all the wrong places; and I had to buy the famous Tim Tam biscuits, which I can now say are one of the most amazing chocolate cookies you'll eat! (As recommended by Caitlyn aka Tim Tam Girl)
Getting ready for bed now and SO ready for a day in the city tomorrow!!! Yay, so excited to do some shopping. But before that, we'll be getting a nice workout in as Adam invited us to take a dance class at his dance academy where he teaches (thank God it's for beginners...hopefully we're not the big kids among a group of 5 year olds) for a jazz class...hahaha I'm laughing just thinking out it. I'm hoping to find a nice spot in the back of the room :) Then it'll be a full day of shopping - Darling Harbour, Paddy's Market, and The Rocks! Plus, we'll be looking into getting tickets to a show at the Opera House - how neat!
Other plans...
- BridgeClimb Friday - yes, I will be climbing across the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for amazing 360 views of the city =D
- Also this Friday, the North Curl Curl Surf Club Beach barbie and party! Supposed to get a little crazy...uh oh....
- Sydney Fish Market with the Murrays on Sunday
- leaving Monday for the Whitsundays!!!
That's all for now, Cheers!
View from the ferry coming from Manly Wharf into Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour
Such great photos Molly!!! It looks like you having a blast!! Those waves are crazy!! That is really interesting about the GF food...by the way tried the multi-grain bread you bougt and its really good in the morning with some turkey on it! I look at your blog daily so keep posting away! Love you...and let the adventures continue!
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