Denman in a Day

We are in the glorious Hunter Valley at a little place called Denman.  We know this town quite well as the daughter of our very good friends from Julia Creek was married in this pretty little place.  We chose to spend a couple of nights here as it is quite central to a lot of wineries and most importantly Pukara Olives.  Unfortunately our one and only full day here turned quite bleak with showers all day long with quite cool temperatures. But we were not perturbed.  We rugged up and headed to our first winery just 5 minutes from the Denman Village Caravan park.  It is called Two Rivers Winery.  As most of the cellar doors don't open until 11am we headed to the Main Street in Denman for coffee and cake before heading off.

Two Rivers Winery is only a small winery but their wine certainly packs a punch.  We were only interested in tasting the reds as they seem to be their best sellers.  The owner was quite chatty and she was able to give us a lot of information about the area and where we should dine and wine.  I also mentioned to her the I had not been able to stomach white wines of late and she said that in her humble opinion white should not be drunk until they are at least two years old.  I'm certainly going to take note of that.

We only purchased one tasting block of four wines because they were quite generous and we were driving.  They were all very good but we settled on the Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. It will be interesting to try them away from the cellar door.....

Our next stop was at Pukara Olives.  Being the foodie that I am I bought up BIG in this place.  Their olive oil varieties were incredible as is the Caramelised Balsamic Vinegar the we can't wait to try with a nice loaf of sourdough and some of their Cashew Dukkah.  Yummo. We ended purchasing a bottle of their Wasabi Olive Oil, a couple of their pesto's, a BBQ Olive oil with chilli and garlic and because we had purchased quite a lot they threw in a bottle of Basil Olive Oil.  I have become a Pukara Club member as they offer a 15% discount on all future online purchases.

We were feeling a little peckish after this and earlier in the day I had made lunch reservations at Hollydene Winery so that was our next port of call.  They have a charming cellar door where we decided to taste their wines after lunch.  Unfortunately that did not happen...

Our lunch reservation in Vines Restaurant was made for 1.30pm and we were seated by 1.40pm.  Our order was taken almost immediately and our starter of Zucchini Flowers came out soon after.  And that is where it all fell apart.  We had run into some old Julia Creek acquaintances prior to lunch and after our entree they suggested that we pull our two tables together as we were sitting side by side.  We did that and had a great old chinwag.  We actually forgot about our mains until someone in the party said that they were taking a bit long.  By this time we had been waiting one and a half hours.  One of our friends asked about the meal and theirs was delivered shortly after.  We waited another half an hour for ours.......two hours since we were first seated! The staff were very apologetic and gave us a free round of drinks and because our meal was very, very late they gave us our mains for free.  This was very kind of them but still does not redeem the extremely long wait.  We had both ordered steaks that were absolutely delicious but the plate was missing the potato gratin....anyway......moving right along.....

It was too late to try their wine that is quite unfortunate because their Rose "Holly" was really good.  The day had not improved weather wise and we actually had showers and climbed into bed almost as soon as we arrived home.  It was the warmest place to be.

We are now at Belmont, Lake Macquarie where we will be for the next five days having the caravan service, satellite dish fitted and hopefully we will get in a little kayaking if the weather stays fine.

Judi x

Coonabarabran

On our last day at Coonabarabran, and once again on advice from the caravan park owners, we drove towards Narrabri and around the 30km mark we turned down an un-signposted dirt road towards the Sandstone Caves in the Pilliga Nature Reserve.

This is Gamilaraay country and I loved reading the signpost.  It says it all.

"Yaama! (Greetings!)

This rock has always been here for our people. Our ancestors were here long ago. From this hill we can see everything. We can see the Warrumbungles and the Nandewars. All this is Gamilaraay country...

This Rock.

Water and wind have caused this rock to change over a long time.  The caves were made long ago. The rock is soft. Look out! Don't touch!

Long Ago.

Our ancestors made stone tools.  They sharpened their axes. They marked the rock. Look out! Don't collect anything!

The Land.

Around here there are plants, animals and food. We have everything we need. We live with the land. Let the land touch you!"

The 3km circuit around the sandstone hill was awesome in every meaning and sense of the word. I actually thought I could hear the chatter of the tribe as they sat in the large caves but I guess it was just the wind in the trees.  The towering sandstone cliff faces look like they could tumble at any moment but of course this is how the caves were formed and will continue to change over time.  

I loved this place so much and I am also horrified that some of the caves have been fenced off because of the reckless behaviour of people who have plundered these sacred sites. I really hope that attitudes change in coming years and we have a greater respect for these incredible sacred sites. I thank the Gamilaraay people for allowing us the privilege of walking in their ancestors footsteps.

Warrumbungle National Park

Australia really is a country with a diversity of amazing landscapes and today we visited one of the most spectacular.  It was only through talking to fellow travellers that we learnt a little about the Warrumbungles.  They told us we shouldn't bypass them if we are in the area and I'm so pleased we listened....

We are staying at the very spacious Getaway Tourist Park in Coonabarabran that is the closest town to the Warrumbungles.  This is a lovely park with very friendly owners who are happy to share valuable knowledge about the area.  On their advise they said to allow a full day to visit the National Park and even then you would only be able to choose a few of the many walks.

We set sail around 9am with a packed lunch and maps.  No relying on your phone in this area as signals are a bit hit and miss.  Our first stop was at the Whitegum Lookout that is just past Siding Spring Observatory. It was a gently 1km walk out to the lookout and we were afforded magnificent views of the Warrumbungle Range.  The information at the lookout was very good and explained in detail how two volcanic eruptions formed the Warrumbungle Range.  

Back in the car and the next stop was the Visitor Information Centre.  I can recommend stopping at these centres whenever you are spending time in a particular area as they have more detailed maps than you get online.  

We did the short scenic walk around the centre that gave us a great view of Siding Spring Observatory.  The Warrumbungle area has many observatories as it has one of the darkest night skies in Australia. We have booked into one of the observatories in Coonabarabran to see the night sky and have it explained to us by "Donna the Astronomer".

We continued  on our journey through the park and stopped at Split Rock Picnic Area for a walk that we thought would be interesting. We walked in the shadow of the towering Split Rock Mountain that is truly magnificent but the path was not well kept and Philip was having a little trouble with his knee so we turned around at the 1km mark.  We studied the map again and decided on Old Woolshed Picnic area for lunch with a walk to Tara Cave prior to lunch to build up our appetite.

The walk was 3.4km return with a Grade 2 moderate.  I would probably Grade it a 3 because it was quite steep in parts.  The walk itself was diverse and the path was a mixture of bricks, wood chip and natural.  It was easy walking until we had to ascend the mountain where, as I said, it was quite steep. BUT....the views from Tara Cave were incredible and well worth the bit of pain to get there.  We were up so high, and it felt like we were on top of the world.  I stood and wondered about the aboriginals that had probably stood in this exact spot looking at exactly the same view.  It was quite moving.

The return journey seemed to take us longer than the uphill but I think we were quite cautious walking down the steep incline.  We were starving when we finally arrived back at the picnic area and I was glad that I had packed plenty of food!

After lunch we continued our journey through the National Park and found an alternate route back to Coonabarabran.  It was a dirt road but we drove through some very interesting farming areas that were in stark contrast to where we had just been in the Warrumbungles.  It took us a couple of hours but we were back in camp by late afternoon and throughly enjoyed sitting down and toasting our day with beer, wine and Stanthorpe Cheeses...

Doin it in Dubbo

We have been looking forward to Dubbo.  The Taronga Western Plains Zoo has been on my bucket list for quite some time. When I started researching things to do in and around Dubbo I found the list to be quite extensive.  Unfortunately though, we had only booked into the Discovery Park for two nights so we were somewhat limited as to what we could fit into this short period of time.  I did try to book an extra night but as it is still NSW school holidays it was never going to be on the cards.  

So, what did we decide.  The zoo was top priority so I purchased tickets online for our first day.  We knew that the 5km circuit that I decided to walk and Philip decided to cycle would take us the best part of the day and we weren't wrong.  The 5km turned into almost a 10km walk for me as I wandered in and out of the many animal enclosures.  It was fantastic.  Philip chose to hire a bike and he loved being back on the saddle! My favourites were the Meerkats, the baby Asian Elephant that kept me smiling as he played with a giant ball, and the Galapagos Tortoise.  My goodness they are HUGE!  We smiled at the little boy standing beside us who asked his parents why the big Tortoise was on top of the small Tortoise.  Randy old bugger.....  

Our intention was to have lunch at the halfway mark on the circuit but the line-up was out the door and around the corner.  We simply purchased a bottle of water and continued on the circuit, deciding to wait until we got home to have a late lunch.  The things that we were disappointed in were simply luck of the draw things. We didn't get to see the Lions as they were some distance away and all asleep and I only spotted one Cheetah and he was also a very long way away. But, it is definitely worth the visit.  The animals are as close to being in the wild as you can get and all extremely healthy. 

Philip taking a small rest in the Safari area.

 The next thing on our list was the Old Dubbo Goal.  Dubbo Goal dates from 1847 as a courthouse lock-up. The West Main Gates and brick walls were complete in 1887 when upgraded from a Police Gaol to a Minor Gaol. The Goal was closed in 1966. As we wandered around the quite small complex that could house more than 100 inmates and reading about their various stories we shuddered at the cruelty that was handed out to prisoners in that era.  I was also left wondering why murder and rape in that period of time were accorded the same punishment -"death by hanging" but these days rape is considered almost a minor offence. The completely "blacked out" cells that were used for solitary confinement gave me heart palpitations and just thinking about the 21 days that prisoners were kept in these rooms for punishment with only their thoughts as company would be enough for them to lose their mind.

We thoroughly enjoyed Dubbo.  It is a much larger city than we envisaged and there is a lot of roadworks happening in the town.  Like a lot of towns in Australia the town outgrows the infrastructure.  The Discovery Park that we stayed at was very clean and tidy with a huge play area for the kids.  We were allocated a pull through site but sadly there was barely enough room for our slide and awning. I guess it is all to do with dollars and trying to fit in as many vans as possible.

We  have now travelled the short distance to Coonabarabran where we are staying for three nights. This is in the Warrumbungle Region that we can't wait to explore.

A little time in Tamworth

Tamworth is the home of Country and Western Music but we were not here for that reason.  Number one reason is that it was an easy drive from Stanthorpe and number two reason is that it is the home of two of our friends James and Bec and their gorgeous little girl, Victoria.  We met James when he and Bec were living in Port Douglas and James was our "go to" extra set of hands.  At that time he was studying to become an engineer and now has his degree in Civil Engineering.

We decided to stay in Tamworth a couple of nights so that we could explore the area.  In the end all we explored was Peel Street (for some more retail therapy) and the local restaurants!  We did take a tour through the Powerhouse museum that is well worth a visit but the rest of the time we simple rested up after quite a busy time in Stanthorpe. 

We had one lunch at Riviera Bar and Grill that was given five stars from Trip Advisor.  It was well deserved.  Its speciality is Italian cuisine with their pasta made by hand each and every day.  The waitress said that they were very lucky to have two chefs from Dubai (I KNOW!) that create all the marvellous dishes.  Now, I love pasta but it doesn't love me.  I can only have a few spoonfuls and my stomach is full to the brim.  Fortunately the meals served at Riviera are relatively small and believe it or not I finished my whole bowl of Duck Ragu Rigatoni.  Philip chose the Seafood Scoglio that was very spicy but delicious.  We also had a side of the Parmesan Truffle Fries that were soooooo good.  We washed all this down with beer for Philip and I lovely Prosecco cocktail for me.

We met our friends for Brunch at Rubys Cafe the morning that we were leaving. We ended up sitting over our meal for almost two hours but it was great to catch up on each others comings and goings.  Tamworth was slightly warmer than Stanthorpe but the days were sunny and it was easy to get warm. We stayed at Austin Caravan Park that was very spacious with lots of room between sites.  We got to chose our own drive through site that is always a bonus.

We really liked Tamworth and look forward to coming back another time in the future.

Between Two Rocks Winery

This was our last full day together so it was decided that we would drive to Leyburn where our friends live and also the home of Between Two Rocks Winery.  I had rung Cindy, the owner of the winery, to see if they were open and she kindly said that she would open just for us and have pizzas ready for our lunch.

You may remember me mentioning this winery some months ago when we were there for our friends 62nd birthday party. It is truly spectacular.  The views from the cellar door, that look out across the vineyard and beyond are million dollar views.  Inside the building it is both warm and inviting.  The bar where they have the wine tasting is one huge length of timber that was cut from just one tree.  It must have been one whopper of a tree and the owners tell us the building was almost built around the bar!

The wines in this little boutique winery are exceptional.  My favourite was the 2018 Sparkling Merlot but everyone was raving about the 2017 Tempranello that I believe is sold out but Cindy did manage to find one bottle for one of our party.  It was also great that Bryce, who lives in Leyburn, and another friend, Cathy could join us for lunch. Both are also a Julia Creek ex-pats. 

It was a delightful day and a great way to spend our last day together.  It has been a fun week with our friends and I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling a little weary but that is just the way you should feel when you have had a truly wonderful time.

We have now left Stanthorpe and are enjoying some warmth in Tamworth.  It was a very balmy 28 degrees when we arrived at Tamworth that was quite different from the wet and cold conditions we left behind us.

Judi x

Wine anyone?

It is wet and cold here in Stanthorpe today so what better thing to do than a full day wine and cheese tasting tour. The tour started around 10am and finished at 4.00pm and all up we visited five wineries, one cheese factory and a delicious warming lunch at Blue Pot Pantry.

Our first winery was Whisky Gully Wines.  I don't know whether it was just because it was first up or not but this winery was my pick of the day.  There Piazza Red with its smoky bacon flavours was a winner as well as the Republique Red that was a nice blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. I am not normally a dessert wine drinker but the Entente Cordiale was quite a treat.  The suggestion to serve it in a glass with 1 part gin, 2 parts Cordiale and topped with soda water and a slice or lemon, won me over.  Can't wait to try this on a balmy evening.

Next was Ridgemill Estate where, once again we tasted some very good wines.  We settled on a 2019 Riesling and Rose that satisfied our wine palate.  We learnt a lot about wine tasting today but just can't quite master the drawback that sounds like a shoooshh sound.  My sound came out more like a snort 😩....

Our third winery was Casley Mount Hutton.  I loved sitting around the bar for our tasting and our young host was very knowledgeable .  There were some pretty impressive wines to taste and it was here that we purchased our one and only bottle of Port aptly named Decadence.  It has been a best seller for the winery and our host said that if they could go back 10 years they would have tripled the batch!

From here we drove the short distance to our lunch destination at Blue Pot Pantry.  This little gem of a place had a nice selection of homemade sauces, condiments and jams.  I decided on the Worcestershire Sauce and Fig Jam so stay tuned for the taste test.  Once we were all seated at our table the meal came quite quickly as we had already pre-chosen what we wanted.  I chose the Beef Steak Pie and Philip the Lamb Sausages.  My meal was both delicious and filling whereas I think Philip could have had another sausage. I did share. This was all washed down with Green Tea for me and Cappuccino for Philip.  No wine with the meal as we had already had our fair share prior to lunch 😁.  We enjoyed our meal to the sound of the heavy rain falling on the galvanised iron roof.  Is there any better sound?  The rain did not let up all day so we patted ourselves on the back for choosing this activity today.

After lunch we once again piled into the mini van and headed to our third winery, Kominos Wines.  The host was informative but the only wine that we both liked and purchased was an Unwooded Chardonnay and I am a little apprehensive about opening this wine because I think we may be disappointed.  Anyway, we will have to wait and see.

Next place to visit was Stanthorpe Cheese. There was nothing wrong with the cheese here and I ended up purchasing four different types as well as Black Garlic and Lemon Butter.  The presentation and tasting could have been a lot better.  It was very rushed but as I was purchasing my goodies I realised that they were about to shut the shop for the day hence the hurry. I'm sure we are going to enjoy the cheeses with our wine purchases.

The very last winery for the day was the Heritage Estate Winery.  They say you should leave the best till last and this was certainly the case here. This winery has won many gold medals and accolades must go to the winemaker, John Handy. John grew up on the property and has been making wine (solo) for 15 years. Heritage Estate Winery has been given the prestige James Haliday 5 Star award. Rightly so, as there wines are impeccable and I can't wait to open our first bottle. The cellar door was originally an apple cold storage facility and the renovation has been done very tastefully. The table that the 10 of us sat around was originally from Parliament House and we wondered at what stories it could tell.

We are going to have a quiet day tomorrow. The men want to investigate the nearby museum and the girls a little retail therapy. We will all meet for lunch at the RSL.  You can't say we are not supporting the local economy.......

A day in Tenterfield

 One of the places we had on the "places to visit" bucket list while we were staying in Stanthorpe was Tenterfield.  The McCowen family originated from here and Philips father grew up on Aberfeldie Station at Bonshaw, just outside Tenterfield.  Other distant members of the McCowen family still live in the area but we have lost contact with them over the years.  However ,we will endeavour to track them down when we leave Stanthorpe on Friday.

It's been terrific that our six member party can all fit in one car and travel to our destinations together so we all piled into the car on a wet and dreary Easter Sunday and drove the 70km to Tenterfield.  Half of our party love to go hunting around in second hand shops and Tenterfield has many of these shops.  Lex purchased some beautiful crystal glasses and a gorgeous teapot for next to no money.  We also purchased more winter items.  Philip bought a very warm overcoat and my purchase of a cap hat was perfect for keeping my head warm. We stumbled across the Tenterfield Saddler shop with and purchases of leather belts were made.  It is now more a museum than a shop and the manager was very chatty so we gleaned a lot of valuable information. Of course we had to have the obligatory photo.......

While we were hanging around on the Main Street waiting for all the group to re-unite we got talking to a couple who owned Bald Rock Tourist Park.  There were terrific ambassadors for their town and suggested that we head to the Rosenhof German Cafe for lunch.  They even went to the trouble of ringing ahead for us to organise a table. What a great recommendation!  The owner/host greeted us and showed us to an outside table where we waited until they cleared an inside table for us. This took no more than five minutes.

Inside the converted cottage it was warm and inviting.  The staff were friendly and efficient and also very patient with our group.  We started the meal with a bread basket full of a variety of home baked breads with both garlic and plain butter to slather on the top and we just couldn't resist ordering a serve of the Ricotta, Potato and Spinach slice on a bed of beetroot salsa. We washed this down with a variety of beverages but my Vodka and home made lemonade was a perfect aperitif.

It was hard to chose from the extensive list of mains.  Some of our group chose the steaks and pork that were fire grilled over an open spit while some decided on the German Sausages with Sauerkraut.  I went for the Parmesan Crumbed Pork Cutlet with German Potato Salad.  It was a huge meal that I gladly shared with Philip but halfway through I almost wished I hadn't shared as it was one of the tastiest cutlets I had ever eaten. 

The cherry waffle dessert that a couple of us ordered made me drool but sadly I could not fit in a single morsel after my main.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant.  The host took us for a guided tour around the building showing the renovation process and then stopped at our table often throughout our meal to relate some great stories from his home country, Germany. It was almost 3pm when we rose from our table and even then it was with reluctance.  We probably could have stayed there for hours enjoying the wine and German Beer.

No dinner for us tonight and we were snuggled down in bed by 6.30pm.  The weather is still very cold and miserable but we are looking forward to the next few days when we are hoping the sun will shine.

xx Judi

Our trip so far.....

After all our preparation we were ready to hitch the van on the 27th March.  It was around lunch by the time we were finally on the road and we made it to Rollingstone for our first night.  We have our set-up down to a fine art nowadays and it takes us just 30 minutes, but then........there is the satellite dish...

When we purchased the portable dish the salesman assured us it was very easy to set-up and he was partly right.  It takes no time at all to stand the dish on the ground and wire it into the van but what he omitted to tell us is how long it takes to find the satellite!  This can take up to an hour.  It is a painful process as you can only move the dish centimetres at a time and even then you might bypass the signal. We have gradually improved on this time but we have now ordered a completely automatic dish to sit on top of the caravan roof that will be installed at the service. 

Rollingstone Beach Front Van Park

Our second night we made it as far as Proserpine and stayed at the Proserpine Tourist Park.  This is a lovely shaded park and we were lucky enough to get a pull through site to stay hooked up.  After we set up (no satellite dish here as the Digital TV reception was very good) we took a long walk into downtown Proserpine.  It was Sunday so nothing was open but it was an enjoyable walk.  Philip's knee needs the walk after sitting for any length of time so we are taking that into account now.

We had quite a bit of discussion about where our next destination was going to be as the towns that we would be passing through on our chosen route were few and far between.  Nebo was only 200km away and Middlemount would have been perfect but there weren't any van parks here.  So it had to be Dingo that was a 450km drive.  However the Dingo Van and Motorhome Park was perfect and well worth the stop.  There was an organised happy hour at 5.00pm and as there were only two other couples in the park and both couples had been on the road for years we were able to get a lot of valuable information about our future destinations.

The next day we only drove the short distance to Taroom and stayed at the Taroom Caravan and Tourist Park.  The manager was helpful and the site was a very handy drive through but the facilities were filthy and it is not a van park that we would recommend. However, it is the only one in Taroom so you know, beggars can't be choosers.

However our next stop at the Oakridge Tourist Park at Oakey made us quickly forget about the previous night.  This is a great park with large grassed/slab sites and immaculately clean facilities. The managers even invited us to help ourselves to herbs out of the garden that satisfied my culinary habit!

So that brings us to Stanthorpe where we have met up with our friends and where we will stay until the 10th April.  We are having a great time and talking our heads off while catching up on each others news.  It is very cold here in Stanthorpe but not unexpected.  We have however spent some $$$'s on extra warmth.  We tell ourselves this a good thing as we are supporting the local businesses.....

Easter has come and gone so belated Easter wishes to you all and I hope you didn't overindulge on the chocolates 🍫 🍫 

xx