Hunter Valley w/kids
 

The countdown is on until I go back to Australia. I think I have 132 days to go!

I made a comment to my mum about going to the Hunter Valley for a day-trip, and she thought it sounded like a fabulous idea. I've never actually travelled through the region, and was looking at the local tourism website, but seem rather overwhelmed by all the things to do/see.

We'll be driving from Warners Bay - I checked the driving time and it would probably take an hour to just get to the edge of the Hunter.

With me will be my mum, who is up for anything and is a lot of fun. My dad, who is an old angry man who will just whine and complain, and does not like alcohol so will probably grumble about it the whole day. (We may try and leave him at home!)

Plus, my son. He'll be about 19-months old when we go home. He's a generally easy kid to take care of, and for the most part, is happy to be in my Chinese baby-carrier on my back.

What I'm looking for is beautiful photographic opportunities (even in December), a few good wineries to do a sampling or two, or maybe some other unique things to do or see that are children and/or old people friendly.

I'm not asking a lot, am I? Even if you have some suggestions that are just for adults, I'm sure my mum would love to just walk my son around in the stroller letting me have an hour or two of peace.

Thanks!
Liz
ozmum.com

Hi there emilid,
I think the Hunter Valley Gardens http://www.hvg.com.au/home.asp
looks perfect for you with your bubster. My cousin has taken her grandchildren there and everyone (adults included) had a great time.

Good luck & have a fabulous trip.

Perhaps you could get a copy of the Groucy Old Men series the BBC (I think) for your Dad to watch while you're all off behaving disgracefully (LOL) ;)

you should have no problems with photo ops in the hunter. for a good spot though, go up to audrey wilkinson vineyard - it's lovely. www.audreywilkinson.com.au

you could also take in either wollombi/broke and the watagans NP (or state forest), wollombi/broke is not quite as touristy as polkolbin, but is a lovely drive.

You should also see if you can get a brochure sent to you - you can request it on the www.winecountry.com.au site, but not sure whether it's just for inside australia. The brochure is very well laid out and would help you with your planning - much more than the website.

other wineries to visit - let us know what sort of wine you like so people can recommend.

Thank you, Bokhara and lancefan.

Lancefan - I tried to get a brochure but it is only for within Australia. I might sign up and get one sent to my folks' house.

Also, I love red wine, preferably merlot. I'm open to wine though, so in terms of educating myself, there is no wine that I would turn down!

One of my fave wines from my first visit to the hunter was a keith tulloch merlot - http://www.keithtullochwine.com.au/ , so you might want to add that to your list.

you should also try the hunter shiraz - it's a lot different to other australian shiraz. generally more earthy than fruity (i'm no expert). other wineries I liked - mcleish estate http://www.mcleishhunterwines.com.au/ , ivanhoe wines (i love their shiraz pressings - it's a BIG wine). http://www.ivanhoewines.com.au/
Honeytree wines http://www.users.bigpond.com/HoneyTree/

I've quite a few others as well ... but I could go on for days! just talking about it makes me want to go too.

Lancefan:

Wonderful! I just bookmarked all of those sites. (I have some sites to view when I'm at work tomorrow *wink wink*!)


Liz