Welcome to day 3 of our 4 Day Self-Drive Road Trip Experience Around Sydney and New South Wales!
So far, we’ve spent the first couple of days in the iconic Blue Mountains, where we also took our (very lovely) pre-wedding photos.
Today, we travelled over to a location around Sydney and New South Wales that’s well-known for its vast vineyards and delicious alcoholic beverages: Hunter Valley.
Yes, there are a ton of wineries and brewhouses to pick from in this area. But we think our choices are pretty tough to beat!
To reach the land of wine and beer from Katoomba – where we had spent the night – we had to first embark on a long three-hour drive northwards:
Phew. Not for the faint-hearted!
As such, we made sure to get up bright and early (again) to make the drive out. As we would be taking the coastal route towards Central Coast the next day, we decided to take the inland approach for this stretch.
Don’t worry – it’s a relatively easy drive, and there are a number of designated rest stops (with plenty of coffee and fuel available) along the way, and we did stop over at roughly the midway mark to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. Plenty of the latter here, right in the middle of the mountains.
By late morning, we arrived at our first stop: the Matilda Bay Brewhouse.
Matilda Bay Brewhouse
Located at the north end of the Polkobin region – which is right smack in the middle of the valley – the Matilda Bay Brewhouse has been around since 2001, making it the first boutique brewery in these parts.
Being part of Hunter Valley Resort, the brewhouse is surrounded by a carefully manicured landscape that felt relaxing and engaging to us all at once.
Being the (busy) driver, I leaned more towards the former and opted to enjoy the view while sipping on a cider.
But it’s not just ciders that they sell here – not by a long shot.
Introducing Matilda Bay Brewhouse’s unique Beer Tasting Paddle, which gives beer lovers (that’s us) a chance to try out all the 12 of the excellent crafts beers they have on offer here.
These include an Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Lagers, Ales, Stout, and our personal favorite: the Cider.
While many rave about Hunter Valley wine, we think that the beer here is equally good, if not better (again, beer lovers here).
Next, we had to ask ourselves the all-important question: of the list of 150 wineries (!) in this region, which would we pick for lunch?
After some deliberation and research, we decided to go with Bimbadgen Estate. Located at the top of a small hill, we were hoping that this winery and vineyard would live up to its name, which in the local indigenous language means ‘Place of Good View’.
Well, the building that housed the winery was definitely pretty.
Unfortunately, we realized that the restaurant here – Esca Bimbadgen – was a fine dining establishment, and therefore a little bit too costly for our taste.
No problem. We skipped to the next popular spot on our list: Hunter Valley Gardens.
Consisting of more than 14 hectares of gardens, we were highly anticipating this particular segment of the Hunter Valley experience.
First, we had to fill our empty stomachs. It was late afternoon by now, and we were pretty hungry!
Thankfully, there were a number of great dining options available here. We decided to go with The Cellar Restaurant, whose Mediterranean dishes looked very promising.
Be warned – you might have a tough time picking your dishes, as they all sound really delicious! Eventually, we settled on the Pan Fried Daintree Barramundi, Grass Fed Scotch Steak, and Great Southern Lamp Rump.
Told you they sounded good. And they tasted as good, too!
Here’s where the next big disappointment of the day happened. We hadn’t checked what time the opening hours of the Hunter Valley Gardens in advance – which is unusual for us – and as it turns out, it was just about to close by the time we reached.
Please avoid our mistake and take note: the Hunter Valley Gardens opening hours are from 9am to 5pm everyday.
On the bright side, even the exterior of the Gardens look really, really beautiful. So, not exactly a wasted trip!
With that, we decided to call it a night early and head back to our Hunter Valley accommodation, Kirkton Park Hotel, to rest up and grab some bar bites later that night.
After all, the best was yet to come: our iconic Hunter Valley hot air balloon ride, bright and early the next morning.
How early? Well, for our package with Beyond Ballooning, we were expected to gather at Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley at 515am. A nightmare for night owls such as myself!
However, the sheer anticipation of this once-in-a-lifetime experience got me going in the morning. So there we were, at 5am in the morning (we were advised to reach 10 minutes earlier to allow for a toilet break and roll call), where we were then driven by bus to a suitable location to launch the hot air balloons.
Yes, the location from which the hot air balloons take off isn’t set in stone – it highly depends on the wind and weather conditions of the day.
That particular day, we had to skip over our first choice of location as it wasn’t suitable for take-off. However, we hit the jackpot on the second place, and disembarked to get ready. The staff quickly went to work, setting up the structure and heating the balloon up to prepare for flight.
This process takes a while, as the balloon is ENORMOUS. Check ours out:
A while later, we hopped aboard the fairly spacious hot air balloon – which can accommodate up to 24 people at maximum capacity – and we were off!
The hour-long experience is, in a word, magical. There’s nothing quite like being miles above the ground, unconstrained by anything except the basket you’re standing in, and seeing the world move slowly from a bird’s eye view.
And afterward? To round it off, we were treated to a lovely, sumptuous champagne buffet (part of the package we purchased) back at Crowne Plaza. Here, we finally got to taste some of the famous local wines as well.
In total, the package cost us roughly A$250 per person (based on Beyond Ballooning’s website, that price has gone up to A$259).
Is it worth it? I absolutely think so – especially here in Hunter Valley, where the vast, natural landscape adds to the viewing experience.
What a great way to round up our Hunter Valley leg of this road trip.
Now, over to day 4, where we visit the long, seaside stretch of Central Coast. More on that in the next article!
Next up: Sydney and New South Wales Road Trip Itinerary, Day 4: Central Coast
