Relaxing at Hunter Valley

After having a few stressful weeks at work, I decided to take a mini break with family. I was looking for a beautiful and serene place near Sydney, where I can relax and my kids can have fun. The search landed me on Talga estate, Rothbury at Hunter Valley. The Talga estate promised beautiful surroundings, modern rooms with attached spa and space for my kids to cycle or move around freely. The tripadvisor (tripadvisor.com.au) rate Talga estate as 4.5star; hence, I went ahead and booked the villa for three nights. 

My additional motivation was to explore Hunter Valley’s well-known wineries and have the opportunity to taste their award winning wines. Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine producing region with more than 100 wineries in the region.

Fabulous Estate

We reached the estate on Friday evening about 7:30PM. The estate is about 150 Km’s from our home in the northern suburb and less than two hours drive through F3 Freeway. About 95KMs on freeway, we took exit at The Freeman’s drive and passed through the historic town, Cessnock in the heart of wine country.

rooms at villa

The accommodation matched our expectations and was the same as described on its website (http://www.talgaestate.com.au). It was clean, modern and luxurious. The owners, Laila and Michael  provided for all our needs for the next three days from breakfast to toiletries.

Night view of the estate

Another view during clear night

Great Morning Views

Next day, we woke up to pleasant picturesque surroundings. The back door of the villa opened to a large pomegranate orchard, with a wonderful mountain setting as its backdrop.  Surprisingly, it was not too cold for the month of July and we took a morning walk around the estate. On the way, we saw Kangaroos hoping around. My kids just loved the sight of the Kangaroos. The estate also has a water body big enough to use a boat, but more suitable for fishing.  The surroundings and walk were already having a de-stressing effect on me.

View from back door of the villa

Kangaroos at Talga estate 

Last pomegranate of the season

Flowers with morning dew

The owners own two dogs Fonzy and Harry, and an adorable cat Ginger. Both the dogs were very friendly and playful. On my kid’s request, Laila set the dogs free to play. Both the dogs ran around with my kids all over the estate. It was fun watching them play and having fun.

Harry 

Harry and Fonzy having fun

Fonzy was always in play mode

Ginger

Harry followed my son all over the estate

Chocolate and Lunch

About midday, we started our tour to local area. The first stop was at the Chocolate Factory. The Chocolate Factory (CF) has three outlets in Hunter; at Lovedale, Peterson winery and at Hunter Valley gardens. If you are with kids, the CF is usually a good place to start your day J.  Later we visited a few wineries; I have listed some of these at the end of the blog for you.

We had our lunch at Amandas at The Edge (http://www.amandas.com.au), probably the best restaurant in the area. It was highly recommended by Laila and has outstanding reviews on the web. The Amandas also has a dedicated vegetarian menu, which is like gold for us. The food tasted awesome, had a fantastic view of the vines and all of that on a sunny afternoon. We thanked the chief chef Sara for brilliant preparation.  I highly recommend following dishes:

     Crispy spinach & fetta filo pastry pinwheel with stuffed bell peppers & salsa verde

     Vegetable & chick pea coconut curry served with Jasmine rice, mango chutney & riata 

We went back to the estate and had leisure time for the rest of the day.

Sheep on the estate

Views and More Great Food

My son cycling

Next day, we took it easy while the kids enjoyed cycling and playing with the dogs all over the estate. We decided to lunch at Lillino’s restaurant (http://www.stclementsestates.com.au/lillino.php). Lillino’s is an Italian restaurant with a Sardinian/Mediterranean influence and a breathtaking view of the valley. The food was amazing from entree to desert. I highly recommend the in-house prepared Tiramisu and award winning wines of the winery.

Cellar door of Audre Wilkinson winery

After the lunch, we visited the Audre Wilkinson winery. The winery offers a magnificent uninterrupted 360^o view of the valley. If you are in Hunter Valley for holiday, this winery is a must visit.

Views from Audre Wilkinson Winery

Views from Audre Wilkinson winery

Audre Wilkinson winery

There is a lot to do in this region, for example horse riding, balloon aloft, scenic helicopter flight or visit to the Hunter Valley gardens, However we were tired and left some of those for our next visit. We will definitely be coming back and will again stay at Talga Estate with our lovely hosts Laila and Michael. Till then good-bye Hunter…

Suggested wineries to visit: 

Tempus Two (http://www.tempustwo.com.au/): Probably the best-looking winery in the area. Also famous for music and events, held in their roman-inspired amphitheatre.

Mcguigan (http://www.mcguiganwines.com.au): One of the most awarded wineries in world. Award winning whites (Semillons) and cheese tasting

Peterson House (http://petersonhouse.com.au): Best place for sparkling wines

Audre Wilkinsons (https://www.audreywilkinson.com.au):  for

• ‘NV Vin de Vie’: Musk perfume with floral notes rise from the glass, lifted by complex aromas from 11 year old Brandy Spirit used to fortify this desert wine. And
• Best views of hunter region

St Clements Estates (http://www.stclementsestates.com.au/lillino.php): For

• Wonderful views
• Reds  and
• Awesome Italian restaurant

Magnificent Berowra Waters

Berowra Waters (BW) is probably one of the best-kept secret around Sydney. Berowra Waters is the small river settlement north of Sydney and less than an hour from city.  The Berowra waters is surrounded by famous Ku-ring-gai chase

national parks. It is a perfect union of natural bushland and aquatic, with spectacular national park to the east, the Berowra valley regional park to the west, and the Hawkesbury river to the north.

Berowra Waters is a wonderful spot for a great day out on a warm sunny day with friends and family.  It is less than an hour from Sydney and just off the F3 freeway.

Activities

 

BBQ Boat



You can plan many activities, including swimming, boating, fishing, bushwalking or just casual dining on the waterfront.

My favourite activity is to hire a barbeque boat (BBQ boat) and sail down the beautiful Hawkesbury River. If you just want to go out in water for couple of hours, you can also hire canopy aluminium boats (Tiny’s).  There is no licence required and activity is safe for kids as well. You can hire a BBQ boat at http://www.bbqboat.info/



Great Views



Scenic flights

How to reach



If you are coming from Sydney, start on F3 and take second exit to Berowra.  Then follow the signs to Berowra waters or tourist drive 11.  At the end of Berowra water road, there is a vehicle ferry which will take you to the other side of Hawksberry river. The ferry works 24 x7, however please check any maintenance shutdown before starting from home.

Berowra Waters : bird eye view

Please let me know, if you enjoy the place by clicking 1+ hear. 

Day trip to Glow Worm Tunnel and Pierces Pass

Last Friday, I was looking for an opportunity to break away from my busy work and all of a sudden I noticed a beautiful picture on my colleagues desktop. I did not waste a second to ask him the details and I was set for my next adventure.

History of the tunnel

We planned a day trip to visit “Glow Worm tunnel’ at Wollemi National Park, near Lithgow. The tunnel was originally part of Wolgan Valley Railway, the line opened in late 1906, while the last regular train ran in the 1930s, the line was dismantled in 1940. The tunnel is approximately 400 meters in length and curves through almost 180 degrees and therefore it is very dark and a small creek runs through it creating ideal conditions for “glow worms”.

There are couple of ways to reach the tunnel, we travelled to Lithgow through magnificent Bells Line of Road. From Lithgow we followed Inch street and then turning left to Atkinson street and following approximately 30Kms of gravel road. It is not advisable to travel this road of a night. We left our car at the parking area and had an easy and enjoyable 5 Kms walk to the Glow Worm Tunnel along the original railway formation. During the walk we passed through unusual rock formation.

Sign Post to tunnel

Beautiful rock formation

The tunnel was dark as Egyptian night and one should be careful as creek was flowing through the middle of the tunnel. We were carrying our flash lights, however we have to switch off the flash lights to see the glow worms. It was a stunning formation resembling the milky way in no moon night; thought bit extra bright. It was a marvellous experience.

Glow Worm tunnel entrance

 Look at the picture above a bit carefully to see the glow worms:

Glow Worms

We headed back to Sydney through Bells lines of road. While passing through Mt. Tomah Botanic garden we decided to take a break at Pierces Pass. The entrance to Pierce pass is on the right of bells line of road.We left our cars at the parking and walked for 1.2 Kms. The views of the Grose Gorge from the top are incredible  Pierces Pass leads to the Grose River and eventually to the Blue Gum Forest.

Track from Pierces pass

Grose river vally 

Views from Grose Gorge  

The round walking trip from the car parking was two hours and worth every bit of effort. The local area is also famous for its apples, fruit stalls, galleries, craft and antique shops.

It was a great outing for us involving healthy forest walk (bush walking), stunning rocks, exquisite glow worm formation, and finally beautiful panoramic view.

Dubbo Visit

[Credit to my daughter Anchal for helping me write this log ]

We were speeding through the traffic now. For the last 20 minutes we could not have moved more than 10 cm. We still had 5 hours of driving ahead of us and sitting in traffic for 20 minutes had already tired me out. Despite the fact that we raced out of the house at 6am to avoid the traffic, our good intentions were outmoded when it seemed like everyone else had the same idea. Not the best start to a peaceful weekend away.

As we entered the city, I looked in the rear vision mirror to find our kids fast asleep in the back seat. The views were not that far away now. My hope for this trip was to get far away from the city, to have a nice peaceful time in a small town with a tranquil environment. We were headed to Dubbo, a beautiful town north of Sydney. It was the perfect place, boasting a large zoo, and observatory which was perfect for the kids as well.

Lithgow Station, 1987

The views outside the car were magnificent. Acres of lush farmland expanding over hundreds of kilometres while the sun peeked through the clouds like gold pouring out of the sky. That beautiful sight must have made my ride because I can’t recall the next 4 hours of driving. Chatting with my family and playing atlas was all I must have done until I realised that we had reached our destination.

We checked into our hotel and decided to take an afternoon walk to explore the town, which turned out to be extremely impressive.

The next morning my family and I went off to the morning zoo tour. A tour specially designed to see the main attractions of the zoo and experience the animals without the crowd around. There were only a few other families on the tour so It was essentially us and the animals and of course the guide. 

Our Guide

Not only neck my tongue is also long 

Watch out for tall shed

As we were led through the zoo, some of the animals really stood out. The first enclosure we encountered was the monkey enclosure. The loudest monkeys I have ever seen. They can be heard 5 kilometres away from anywhere, and standing meters away was not pleasing to the ear. We saw some gross stuff as well… like the hippopotamus rolling in its own poo to get warm. I was very grateful that day that I wasn’t born a hippo. 

Sleeping in Poo keeps us warm

We didn’t get to see the whole zoo as it is so large so we decided to return after a trip to the observatory. Unfortunately when we arrived we discovered that the observatory was closed due to bad weather conditions. Upon our return to the zoo we decided to hire bikes because it would be much quicker to get around. We jumped on our bikes and began our 8 kilometre ride around the zoo.

The zoo offered numerous entertaining and educational shows, which I made sure we did not miss. The kids were very engrossed as well. I appreciated that all the animals were kept in their natural habitats, which for a photographer is an excellent opportunity.

Riding around, I saw my favourite animal; the Indian elephant. It was feeding time and they ate their grass leisurely allowing me to get some amazing snap shots. I also got some remarkable photos of the cheetahs, giraffes and lions. These were very rare opportunities but thanks to the beautiful open grounds and amazing animals, I was lucky enough to capture them. Despite being an adult, I enjoyed my zoo trip, riding around and watching the animals really did entertain me.  

A very old tortoise

Indian Elephant

It was the Lions's 10th birthday

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Sydney. The two-day holiday had a magical effect on my family. They were happier and I personally felt very connected to them.

Heading back home, we came around the world’s second largest canyon. The views were stunning. Trees covered the mountains and while I was standing there, I saw a dazzling sight; a flock of birds soaring in the sky as one. They were too quick for me to take a photo but I was still able to enjoy their beauty.

Captree Canyon: World's second largest canyon

I would definitely recommend taking a visit to Capetree and Dubbo. This trip re-energized me  and it isn’t often that you stumble upon the kind of natural beauty that these two places have to offer. 

The Diamond Beach, Australia

I came across following phrase in one of the promotions and immediately decided to visit this place.

"The Great Lakes is the region defined by water, how it interacts with space place and community. It is characterised by unique triple lakes system, meandering rivers, vast tracks of forest, 145 Kms of stunning coast line..... This amazing space contains everything you will need to create memories that will last for your life time." To my delight, I found this expression true to it's every word. 

Diamond beach is 3.5 hrs drive north of Sydney. It is north of the central coast, Forester and part of The Great Lakes region. The place is surrounded by an abundance of natural beauty and charm. The Great Lakes boasts three stunning lakes (the magnificent Wallis, Smiths and Myall lakes), not to mention the pristine beaches as well as the second tallest water fall in Australia (Ellenborough Falls). Above all, to my surprise a beautiful sunset point and as a landscape photographer, I long for such locations and to be fair there are not many good sunset points in NSW.

Diamond beach is a great place for quick, immediate and hassle free vacation. No major planning required, pack your bags, drive 3.5 hours and you are there. Resorts and other accommodation are easy to acquire, just one phone call away. Normally you will easily find accommodation, even at the last minute.

So during the Easter break my family and I took off for a visit to this exciting destination. Fortunately the traffic was far better than I expected and we had a smooth ride until we hit Bulahdelah. Here we decided to take the tourist drive ‘The Lakes Way’ (the back road to Forster). To get there we drove on Pacific highway from Bombah Point to Bulahdelah and then turned onto the Lakes Way.

We drove through the winding roads of Myall Lake and found our first destination ‘Seal Rocks’. Seal Rocks is a tiny fishing village on an island surrounded by the National Park. We took a 10-minute walk up to Sugarloaf Light Station for spectacular views of the coast. We also found a path here which lead to a lookout over Seal Rocks, a collection of rocky islets which are home to Australian Fur Seals. Fortunately, I was carrying my binoculars so I was able to make the most of this fantastic view.

We then drove back onto Lakes Way and took another detour along Sugar Creek Road just north of Bungwahl, veering off into the rainforest to wind our way up to Whoota Whoota If you ever take this trip, keep an eye out for breathtaking views over the three lakes and coastal beaches.

I am sure this road holds an abundance of surprises which we missed due to time pressure. In case you are visiting this area, I would strongly recommend taking diversions and detours to explore and enjoy the surrounding beauty.

We stayed at Seashells Beach Resort which is a 3.5 star resort with plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained and just 20 meters from beach.  The location of the resort is a bit further away from main town (12kms), making it a very peaceful place indeed. The resort is well equipped with a pool, six tennis courts, table tennis, mini golf course, games room and a large barbeque area. It is also a very convenient place to stay if you are travelling with seniors. We also loved the idea of having the pool just opposite our room as we could keep a watch on kids while they are played. The rooms and accommodation were clean and well kept. The only thing missing from the resort was a good restaurant. For restaurants, shopping or groceries you need to travel 4-5 Kms to Black Head.

The next day we visited Bennett’s Head at the crossing of Bennett’s Heads drive and Marine Drive. This is a beautiful point presenting a 360 degree panoramic view of Forster town and One Mile beach. One Mile beach also boasts Giant Sandhill which is extremely popular for sand sliding and boarding.

One Mile Beach

View from Bennett's Head Lookout

On our way back to Forster we stopped at The Tanks beach which is five minutes drive from Bennett’s Head lookout. The Tanks present an unusual rock formation about 25 meters from the shoreline that creates a picturesque inlet for swimming. The jet-black formation of rocks looked quite striking and watching the waves forcefully pound on the rocks was incredible. This is a beautiful spot to swim and relax. We spent about half a day here swimming with family and friends. 

Tanks Beach

The next morning I decided to wake up a bit earlier to catch the sunrise and my extra efforts resulted in enchanting photographs. Beaches in the morning are so beautiful and you simply cannot miss it especially when you are just 20 meters from it.

Sunrise at Diamond Beach

Lookout for the beautiful morning sky

Old man fishing, Diamond Beach

Kids enjoying the beach

Later that evening we visited Booti Booti National Park Sunset point. We arrived about half an hour early with our picnic basket and drinks. The sunset experience was truly amazing.

Booti Booti National Park, Sunset 

Booti Booti National Park, Sunset 

  

We spent the rest of the time relaxing, playing golf and enjoying the pool and resort facilities. This was yet another superb holiday and I hope you enjoyed taking the journey with me.

Seashells Beach Resort