The Hunter Valley

After a rainy Sunday in Sydney, we decided to take advantage of the ugly weather and begin our adventure up the coast. It was a 3 hours train ride where we chatted with a really friendly Aussie woman and watched the gorgeous scenery and next thing we knew we reached our destination in Newcastle.

Newcastle is a cute, artsy town, about the size of Waterloo. It is the 6^th biggest city in Australia (I can only imagine how small the other towns must be!), originally an industrial town exporting coal, but has recently become more touristy due to its great surfing, gorgeous beaches and artsy feel. As you walk down Newcastle beach, you can always see at least 3 cargo ships on the horizon. It is gorgeous.

Yesterday, Mark and I joined a Hunter Valley Vineyard tour. We did this tour with ten others; a couple from whales, one from Scotland, one from Ireland, and a few more from other parts of Australia. The first Vineyard was the only one were we actually had a tour, and the other 3 where just wine tastings, where we got to taste the many different types of wines each Vineyard had to offer. We also went to a couple cheese and chocolate tastings.  Needless to say, it was an amazing day, and we kept up the party with our new friends until the early hours of the morning.