On Wednesday morning I went to the Pylon Museum, which is in the south-east tower of the Harbour Bridge. It is a small museum which shows all the different stages of the building of the Harbour Bridge and gives some interesting facts about it. The views at the top of the tower over the city, the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera house are pretty amazing as you can see from the photos. You can also see people doing the Bridge Climb, which involves a walk up the Harbour Bridge. My dad was doing the walk whilst I was up the Pylon but I last did it in March 1999, so decided to give it a miss.
My mum, dad and I then drove up to Hunter Valley, which is the region best known for semillon and shiraz wine. On Thursday we spent the whole day touring round the various wineries like there was no tomorrow (they aren't called vineyards in this part of the world) and getting sloshed for free! I was proud of myself for actually being quite restrained. The last time I was there in 1999, my cousin was driving, so I didn't hesitate to try everything off the tasting list. I must be getting mature in my old age. I suppose the reason I didn't go overboard, is that I don't have much room left in my luggage (having shopped till I dropped in Sydney to replenish my somewhat lacking wardrobe!) and with the liquid restrictions, I can't take any as hand luggage. Last time I bought some nice wine to take back with me to the UK, but this time I can hardly imagine it would have lasted beyond New Zealand. It really is good stuff. I also enquired about getting the wine shipped back to the UK, but at $260 per case of 12 (and VAT and customs fees in the UK on top), it makes a bottle of wine rather expensive.
This time we visited the smaller wineries which had won awards for their wines - Bimbadgen, Audrey Wilkinson, Vinden, and First Creek. I felt like a bit of a wino tasting the wine at 10am this morning, but we didn't have much time before we had to return to Sydney and I guess when in Rome.....
I have been quite disappointed with the weather since I arrived in Sydney. It rained for most of Thursday afternoon in Hunter Valley, and apparently all the tourists visiting the wineries were moaning like hell because it was so cold. I feel like I am in a time warp and still suffering from our cold and miserable summer! All the locals are quite glad of the rain, as whilst the weather has not been this bad for a good number of years (in Hunter Valley it is normally over 30 degrees at this time of year), Australia is in the midst of a drought, so a few inches is much needed. Today was much warmer in Sydney, so my legs have now seen the sun again.
The scenery in Hunter Valley is great, although with the crap weather, I did struggle to get a good picture (see above). It was also quite exciting when we were driving back to Sydney just out of Hunter Valley, when a kangeroo bounced in front of our car to cross over the road. Makes a change from seeing squashed headgehogs and the like in the UK.
Tomorrow we are off to New Zealand - we are flying to Auckland to stay with my cousin for a couple of days. I think the weather is worse over there, so it may be time to get the thermals out! We will also be 13 hours ahead - it is hard enough staying in touch with people in the UK from Australia and I don't think I have been to bed before 1am over the last few days. Mind you, it is a full time job updating my blog and I seem to be too busy to do it during the day - what with all the shopping, sightseeing and genreally not engaging any brain cells before 6pm! I will also be glad of some exercise. There is never any shortage of food in my family (especially my Chinese family), so I feel like I will be rolling myself off the plane (again). It's hard work being a tourist!
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