While Mike was on a boat this weekend, I had my own fun in the Hunter Valley! Rented a car with some friends and spent Sunday drinking, eating and lounging in the sun. We visited four wineries: Hungerford Hill, Tower, Tempus Two and Piggs Peake. We ended up spending the most time at Piggs (and the winemaker even stayed late for us..oops), which was a really small, funky, boutique winery. Needless to say, we all came home with a few bottles from there.
In honor of the Queen’s birthday, a public holiday here, Mike and I tasted and imbibed our way through the long weekend. This theme wasn’t really planned, we just went with it!
On Friday night we met up with Kevin and some of his friends at Opera Bar, which sits right alongside the Opera House and buzzes with the after work happy hour crowd. It’s quintessential Sydney…sitting right by the water with views all around. It is a bit pricey (as you’d expect), but the champagne was cheap…cheaper than Mike’s Corona! After the night set in I think we all realized that winter is upon us here. It’s been pretty cold here in Sydney ever since then. This morning it was 5 degrees C.
At drinks we learned about the Sydney Growers Market, which takes place in Pyrmont the first Saturday of every month. We trekked over there in the morning for some breakfast and coffee and to stroll around the stalls, which sit right along the water. Lots of yummy gourmet things for sale, but not as much produce as I expected (being a ’growers’ market and all). I guess we’re spoiled with that coming from California and Washington. We bought some delicious banana bread that we’ve been eating toasted with butter all week. We fought over who got the last piece for almost 2 days!
Saturday night we tried this restaurant in Potts Point called Mere Catherine. It’s a tiny unassuming French restaurant right next to a hostel. I would have walked by it a million times without noticing if we hadn't learned about it from our neighbors. It seats 14 people a night, there’s one chef and one waitress and they only take cash. The table sitting next to us, who we couldn’t help but eavesdrop on, has been coming to this place for 20 years. The dishes are all very classic, no frills French. We got the onion soup to start, then Mike had the steak with béarnaise sauce and I had the chicken tarragon. Then, chocolate mousse for dessert. It was BYO (like many restaurants here), which means you pay a small corkage ($3 or $4) for bringing your own bottle of wine. The food was fantastic (but very rich) and the dining experience was surely unique - I’d highly recommend it.
On Sunday we decided to head over to Manly Beach for its annual Food & Wine Festival. Mike hadn’t been to Manly since we were here in March, so it was fun to take the ferry over there on such a beautiful sunny day. But let me tell you, A LOT of other people had the same idea. The festival was pretty packed, but it was fun to walk around the beaches and taste some wine and food.
We spent Monday, another gorgeous day, with our new friends Mitch and Ellaine (who got engaged on Saturday!). We headed to Paddo Bowls for some lawn bowling, which is basically like bocce ball on grass. It’s definitely common here in Australia with the young and old. It was such a great, mellow way to while away the day. Just sitting in the sun, playing a few games, drinking beer and snacking in between.
A moderately gluttonous weekend, but I like to think that we’re just slipping into the Sydney lifestyle
Today I made my first -- of many I hope -- trip to the Hunter Valley, a wine making region about 2 hrs north of Sydney. I went with my friend Jason (from Wake) who is on vacation in Sydney this week. We did the packaged tour and embraced it. We got shuffled through a few tourist traps, but also enjoyed some great boutique wineries, olive oil tasting and a kangaroo photo op! The whole crew was pretty excited to see kangaroos in the wild - even from a distance. Jason convinced our driver to pull over so we could take a few snaps. I now have a new appreciation for all the tourists who pose by deer on the golf courses in California. It’s all about the novelty. I ended up bringing back a few bottles of wine, apricot preserves and this delicious looking tomato chutney. Would love to go back when it's warm and spend a bit more time exploring the wineries, restaurants and overall region!
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