Hunter Valley & Newcastle

We arrived back on the eastern coast of Australia late Monday night. We will be spending a total of 40 days driving up the eastern side of Australia from Sydney to the Daintree Forest. We will be making plenty of stops (16 places to be exact!) to explore the coastline and I cannot believe we are in the last stretch of our travels. It has been an adventure for sure!

Screen Shot 2018-05-24 at 8.33.55 AM.png

After picking up our rental car Tuesday morning, we headed to the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is Australia's oldest wine growing region and home to over 120 wineries. We started our afternoon at Usher Tinkler Wines where we sampled some wine and enjoyed a meat and cheese platter. The platter was huge and both Alex and I were stuffed once we finished!

On Wednesday, we visited Tyrrell's Wines and signed up for their vineyard tour. The tour guide was really good and knew a lot about a lot! While talking to him, the guide found out Alex and I grew up in Nebraska and he knew of Lincoln and even the state flower!! He was a wealth of information, facts, and humor and we both enjoyed this winery tour.

We wrapped up the afternoon with lunch at Muse Kitchen, part of Keith Tulloch Winery. It was the perfect way to celebrate our 9-year wedding anniversary!

We left the Hunter Valley on Thursday morning and spent one night in Newcastle before continuing our drive up the Eastern Coast. Alex and I visited Newcastle 14 years ago when I studied abroad, but it looked very different from what I remember. We walked SIX miles around the city enjoying the boutique shops, pretty beaches, and some delicious food.

Across from Merewether Beach is the Merewether Aquarium. The Merewether Aquarium is not an aquarium in the traditional sense, but instead this pedestrian underpass has been painted into a pop-art underwater world. It is pretty quirky and super cute.

Before leaving for Port Stephens, we visited Newcastle's Anglican cathedral. Construction of the church started in 1892, finished in 1979 and re-finished in 1997 after heavy damage from the 1989 earthquake.

Food (Despite only being here for one night, we ate REALLY well -Haha!!)