Oz and James did'nt do Australia, so I did

[Banii]

Ok, so here goes.

Banii's Wine Adventures Down Under

Hunter Valley


Leaving bussy Sydney. This is a picture taken from the roof of the place we crashed at, right in the red light district (Kings Cross). Awesome place, and I, my girl and various other guest gathered on the roof every night to drink wine, and have a BBQ!

Million dollar view


Anyway, so after a few days in cosmopolitan Sydney, we again longed for peace and quiet - remember we had just spent a month in Fiji, and another month in the bush in QLD.

After a 2 hour drive, we arrived at our first stop: The Ernest Hill Winery:


Oh yeah. The desertwine in the front (white-ish one) was superb. Think it was arund 40$ a bottle.


Breathtaking view:


"i'm in the picture, ruining the view"



Next stop, Tallavera Grove Winery:



Perfect place to enjoy the wonderful wines:



Other local goodies:



Some statue at Iron Gate Winery:



Inside O' Mighty Iron Gate:



A quite nice place you have here, mr. milionare:



Behind the scenes:





Iron Gate Numberplates oO

[Solberg]

I really enjoyed reading this.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

+ rep.

[KaJuN]

They didn't do Australia because I imagine it's pretty hard to drink wine upside down.

That looks like an awesome trip you took! I wish I could stuff like that but just about everyone I know chooses to spend their time working. I hang out with weird people.

[teeb]

Nice trip!

Don't make me post my visit to Saint-Emilion at the weekend...

[watto]

Where else in Aus did you go?

[ambermorn]

i'm so glad you went to the hunter valley, i've been to the chocolate place myself. as i say after wine tasting, glug glug glug!

[Hidden_Hunter]

Should of gone to the Yarra Valley, we're better than Sydney


Actually the Barossa Valley in south australia is probably the best wine region in the country.

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by banii

Leaving bussy Sydney. This is a picture taken from the roof of the place we crashed at, right in the red light district (Kings Cross). Awesome place, and I, my girl and various other guest gathered on the roof every night to drink wine, and have a BBQ!

Ahh yes, Kings Cross is where we stayed when we went to see Iron Maiden earlier in the year. Very shabby and run down by day, but by night it transforms to be full of prostitutes, drug dealers, and pizza through the night! Awesome !

Hidden Hunter is right, the Barossa Valley should be on any wine tourist's list of places to go. Yes, it means a trip to South Australia, but probably worth it for the stunning views and wines.

[Hidden_Hunter]

Originally Posted by Red_Bull

Hidden Hunter is right, the Barossa Valley should be on any wine tourist's list of places to go. Yes, it means a trip to South Australia, but probably worth it for the stunning views and wines.

Nah it's south australia nothing is worth going there for

[SL65]

Nice photos and write-up. Oz and James could learn a thing or two

So you took my advise and went up the Coast to the Hunter Valley, thats great

Looks like you had a nice trip here and did all the right things by getting away from Sydney for a bit. Many people book in a hotel in Sydney for an entire week and do get a bit bored by the end of it because they run out of things to do. Its good to get away from the city and out to beautiful places like the Hunter Valley.

And props to you for staying in the 'cross

Originally Posted by Red_Bull

Ahh yes, Kings Cross is where we stayed when we went to see Iron Maiden earlier in the year. Very shabby and run down by day, but by night it transforms to be full of prostitutes, drug dealers, and pizza through the night! Awesome !

Gotta luv the 'cross haha

Although I haven't recently Everytime I've gone there - I've lost something. Car/house keys + car alarm remote = more expensive night than I was expecting.

Stupid 'cross But I love it

[Banii]

Originally Posted by watto

Where else in Aus did you go?

After a month on Fiji, and a few days in Auckland we flew in to Brisbane.

Stayed for 3-4 days there, as we had to wait for our bags, wich Air NewZealand lost. I also have a friend there. Went to some awesome parties on Australiaday, and also visited Steve Irwins zoo.

Tok the bus to Hervey Bay, and stayed 2 nightst there, before taking the boat to Fraser Island, where we stayed one night. Awesome place.

Met a nice couple from London that we hang out with there, and a few more days in Hervey.

Bundaberg, tasted the rum and the gingerbeer, and went to a beach at night to see the hatching of turtle-eggs and a big turtle laying eggs.

Then we went to Agnes Water/Town of 1770, where we did some surfing for 3 days

Rockhampton was the next destinantion, and we stayed here for 4 days, but the city was flooded and quite useless. Had some great beef, tho

Airlie Beach, awesome place, went sailing on the Whitsundays. Stayed for 4-5 days.

Townswille, stayed for 2 days (shabby city) before going to Magnetic Island, where we stayed for 4 days. This was during a cyclone, but we met some nice people from Texas, so we had fun.

The last destination in QLD was Cairns. Stayed at the epci Calypso Backpackers, and had a blast. Went Diving on the Great Barrier reef, and visited Green Turtle Island.
Lot's of fun.
Also spent 2 days in the Tabelland Rainforest.

Flew Virgin Blue to Sydney after 4 days, and had another 5 days in Sydney before heading for Singapore.


This is me mountainbiking in the Tabellands:

[Banii]

Btw, anyone know what's the cheapest way to get from Europe to Australia ?
(airlines, routes...)

It's around 1800 USD for the cheapest ticket from Norway.. with SAS/Singapore Airlines (Oslo-London-Singapore-Sydney)


Can any other countries do better ?
...


Edit:
Just found Oslo-London-Hong Kong-Sydney with Cathay Pacific Airlines @ ~1300 USD.
Is that a decent airline ? Never heard of it...

[Hidden_Hunter]

Cathay Pacfic is the flag carrier of Hong Kong and about as reputable as they come.

[Banii]

neat!