We arrived in Sydney in the last afternoon. We took a taxi to The Travelodge Sydney. It was a
great location – walking distance to Hyde Park, the Sydney Tower and right on
the free tourist bus line. We unpacked, did some laundry and headed right
across the street to the Schwartz Brewery Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised
by the decent beer and well-priced dinner deals. We decided to make it an early
night since we had to meet out tour at 6:45 am the next morning.
Day 2 Sydney
We booked the Hunter Valley Wine Tour. We boarded our travel
van with seven others and set out on the hour and half drive to the Hunter
Valley. The Hunter Valley was beautiful – rolling hills of pasture and small
vineyards. Due to the nature of the soil, the grape growers find the best
patches of land and plant vines. Instead of acres and acres of vines, we saw
clusters of vines dot the landscape. 
Our first vineyard was McGuigan Wines. This is one of the
larger wineries in the area. They even have limited distribution in the United
States.
The wine that impressed us the most there was the 2010 Late Picked
Traminer. It’s their take on an ice wine. Since it doesn’t get cold enough for
the grapes to freeze, they freeze the grape juice. The water freezes before the alcohol so you
end up with a very sweet, high alcohol wine. We were really impressed with the
flavors. We also liked their 2008 Personal Reserve Botrytis Semillon. Semillon
is the premier grape of the Hunter Valley. It created a white wine that falls
into a similar category with a Sauvignon Blanc. Botrytis is a mold that grows
on the grapes. This mold sucks all the moisture out of the grape so you are
left with only the sugars. These moldy
grapes are then used to make a very sweet dessert wine with a creamy texture
and honey notes. Another interesting
wine was the 2011 Cellar Select Noon Harvest Merlot. The Australian Merlot is
much closer to a Pinot Noir – smoother, subtler flavors than the big, fruity
Merlots we see in Argentina. The 2011 Cellar Select Noon Harvest was very
fruity. When chilled, it tasted like sangria. Next stop was First Creek:
First Creek is the private label for a wine maker that produces
wine for over thirty labels. The grape growers bring them the grapes and the
specifications for the type of wine they want. Then, the wine makers at First
Creek make and bottle the wine under their label. We like three of the wines
there. 2011 Verdelho – We described it as a Sauvignon Blanc Lite. It was very
drinkable with light citrus notes. We also like the 2008 Shiraz Viognier.
Shiraz is another very popular grape in the Hunter Valley. This Shiraz had a
good balance of spice and berry flavors with a dry finish. The award for most “fun”
wine of the day went to their 2011 Raspberry wine. It tasted like candy and
would be great in a champagne cocktail. The third stop was Tempus Two:
This was a beautiful location. The tasting room was gorgeous
and the location had two restaurants with outdoor seating. Tempus Two has two
lines: Copper and Pewter. The Copper series is wines influenced by European
styles. The Pewter line is the single vineyard, premium series of wines. The
favorite wine there was the Tempus Two Copper 2011 Gewurztraminer. It had the
classic sweet notes of a Gewurztraminer with a slight spice note at the finish.
We had lunch at the Blue Tongue Brewery. We tried the beers
there, but none of them were really to our liking. The cider was the best. Next
to the Brewery was a little wine shop that offered free tastings. We enjoyed
the well balanced, very drinkable Pukka Sparkling Wine. Our favorite Shiraz of the
day was the Polin and Polin 2009 Convicts and Catholics Shiraz.
It was well-balanced with nice fruit notes. Another good Shiraz was the 2010 Kiss Shiraz from Thomas.
Our last winery stop was a Boutique winery in the Lovedale sub
region of the Hunter Valley. The winery produced under the Tin Solider and
Warraroong Estate. The best wine we tasted was the 2009 Warraroong Estate Long
Lunch White – a wine especially produced for an annual event called the Long Lunch.
It was a fantastic, drinkable wine that would satisfy almost everyone’s palate.
The 2009 Long Lunch Red was a great table wine. We really enjoyed the Tin
Solider 2010 Rose. It was one of our favorites because it was refreshing with
great flavors without being too sweet.
We had the tasting at an outdoor table overlooking some vines. It was a
gorgeous way to end the day.
The last stop was a chocolate and cheese shop. We stocked up
on some snacks for the road. Overall, it was a great tour. Our tour guide
Robert was knowledgeable about the area and very open to taking us where we
wanted to go. Back at the hotel, we
decided dinner of cheese and crackers would be a perfect way to the end the
day.
Day 3 Sydney
We really wanted to get out on the water and explore the
Harbor. We boarded the ferry to Manly Beach ($14 round trip). It was a great ride that offered fantastic
views of the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Manly Beach was gorgeous. It had a pedestrian
mall similar to Lincoln Road in Miami with shops and restaurants.
The beach was
filled with surfers, paddle boarders and sunbathers. Along the water was a line of restaurants
with outdoor seating. After a great breakfast, we decided to check out the
Manly Scenic Walkway – a 9.1km walkway along the harbor. First, we had to power up with a beer tasting
at 4 Pines Brewery.
We were impressed with their beers. They had a good mix of
styles. My favorites were the Hefeweizen and the Stout. We enjoyed the long walk along the Harbor.
We didn’t go the whole way. Next time, I would
consider taking the bus to Split Bridge, walking to Manley and then taking the
bus back. After the walk, we decided to check out Ben Bry Burgers. It was
recommended by Time Out as one of the Cheap Eats on Manley. The burgers were very good, but too much
bun. We took the ferry back and hopped
onto the Hop On/Hop Off Double Decker Sightseeing Bus Tour.
We bought a 24 hour pass. Our master plan was
to board the last tour of the day, ride the whole 90 minute route, and then use
the hop on/hop off option the next day. It was a great overview of the city. It was
especially fun to see all the city lights at night. After the tour, we walked
along the pier looking for a dinner option. We settled on Wildfire and sweet
talked our way into a table with a great view of the Opera House. Wildfire had
a Churrasco option – a tapas plate of appetizers with a never ending parade of
grilled meats. It was a great way to sample a lot of the menu. We also had
their signature Pinot Noir. We were surprised that it was fantastic. It was a
great meal. We decided to take the 20 minute back to the hotel.
Day 4
Today we headed to the coast again. We boarded the Hop
On/Hop Off Double Decker Bus tour to Bondi Beach. It was gorgeous!
We walked around the beach and then hopped back on to head
back to Darling Harbor.
We explored the area, walked across the bridge and then
headed back to the hotel. We had dinner reservations at Quarter 21, but I wasn’t
feeling well. Glenn headed out to pick
up dinner and we spent the last night watching AFL football and cricket.
Overall, we liked Sydney. However, we really struggled to find things to do besides walk around during the day. It may because it was the last
stop and we were a little tired of museums. We loved the Manley Beach area. If we
would go back to Sydney, we would stay there and then ferry into the city if
there are particular things we want to do.
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