Friday 6th January 2023
We both woke up with colds today, so have decided to take it easy. We had wanted to go to the Hunter valley gardens, so drove there in the morning after checking out of our hotel. The tickets were way more expensive than we were expecting ($35, or about £20) though. We debated about whether to go in or not, but in the end decided not to bother.
Instead, we went to the nearby Hunter Valley Sculpture Walk by ARTPark Australia, which is free to the public.
The Sculpture Walk basically comprises an interesting collection of artworks, scattered amongst the grounds of Vamp by Lisa McGuigan, Pokolbin Distillery, and Blaxland Inn. Some of the sculptures were definitely better than others, but it was a pleasant way to pass some time.
We then drove to Jimmy Joans in Lovedale for an earlyish lunch. Jimmy Joans is a bit like a food focused pub, with a huge and lovely beer garden. You order your food and are given a buzzer thing, then go and collect your food when the buzzer goes off. We ordered chicken pate, a scotch egg, and a wagyu and onion pie to share. It took ages for them to prepare our food. Not that we minded, as it was very pleasant sat outside in the garden. The pie was excellent, though smaller than we’d have liked. The scotch egg was also great, though Pete was disappointed the piccalilli with it was very bland.
We then attempted to go to the Watershed Gallery art gallery. According to google maps (and it’s outdoor signage), it should have been open but there was a big rope with a closed sign blocking the entrance.
We therefore proceeded to our next venue, the Hunter Valley Cheese Factory Co, where we had a cheese tasting plate to sample their cheeses. The cheeses were ok, but didn’t blow us away, and we felt the portions were quite stingy for the $15 (about £8.50). The factory has daily talks at 3pm, to explain how cheese is made, which are free to attend.
As Pete and I were both feeling slightly under the weather, we drove to our hotel in Cessnock (the Wine Country Motor Inn). We chilled out for a couple of hours, before getting burgers and milkshakes at the nearby Burgerfiend. Nothing like a bit of junk food to make us feel better.
After dinner we headed back to our hotel for an early night
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 