After our two days at the bowling club we moved on to Pokolbin Cabins in the Hunter Valley. Not to stay in a cabin, the owner is a member of CMCA (Campervan, Motorhome Club of Australia) and lets other members stay on his property for free. Really nice. He only had one rule and that was don’t hit one of his roos. They were everywhere and on hot summer day they took advantage of the cabins by resting in their shade. I am sure they would be a large draw card for Aussies and non Aussies alike. We enjoyed watching them in the evening.

The cabins are set far apart to give each one privacy. As most of the cabins were empty (being off season) the owner told us to pull up into the parking area of a cabin. We had a quick look at the cabin though the windows. They are mainly set up for groups with everything you may need. There was a welcoming committee waiting on the front door step to greet all who crosses the threshold.  I could just imagine someone from the city response to the greeting. You just have to love the country.

From Pokolbin Cabins we had easy access to the wineries. It didn’t take us long to set up camp and we were off to taste the nectar of the gods. We didn’t do all the wineries in one day as there are about 120 of them it would have been a big ask. We took our time and savored the experience over 3 days even then we only saw a fraction. Good excuse to come back another day.

One of the wineries we went to was called “Ivanhoe”, Adrian was very disappointed in the building. We were expecting something more on the castle style of building, but no it was just ordinary. What made up for the lack of a castle was the lovely man who gave us the wine tasting. He was the son of the owner and had time to chat. What would have been a 20 minute tasting stop turned into a lovely afternoon talking and tasting wine.

On the first day we grabbed our free lunch my nephew won for us at water golf. Beef and Guinness pie, very tasty. Thanks Luke.

 On another day we grabbed a selection of cheeses and olives. They go so well with wine don’t they. Trust me when I tell you the selection of olives was very interesting. Some of the olives were stuffed with anchovies. I only have one word for the taste. Yuck. Actually the taste was so bad I will say yuck, yuck and more yuck. Sorry if you like anchovies but from now on I don’t. Did I say yuck well it was yuck (and I don’t think I have over done the yuck bit.) The only good thing about the yucky anchovies and olives was I had to drink some more wine to get the taste out of my mouth. I could do that.

Not far from where we were stopping was a coffee shop. It seemed strange to have a coffee shop out in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of wine country as well. We ventured in on the second evening not sure what to expect.   Although the main focus was the coffee they did wine tastings as well. That made more sense. One of the funny things about the coffee shop was that is was selling life size statues of people with animals heads. Something different. Each statue was selling for round the $2000 mark. I don’t know if I like them or not but Adrian really did. Good thing we are in a van and don’t have room for one.

We made up for the yucky anchovies stuffed olives on the last day as we went to a dessert restaurant and indulged in a tasting plate. To start with I thought maybe I should have ordered two plates and there didn’t seem to be enough for two but when we had finished it was enough. The desserts were so rich and yummm. Yes they did taste as good as they looked. Definitely going back there again.

 Now days the wineries don’t just sell wine. There are lots of extras you can buy. Olives and olive oils are common along with jams and dukkas but there is always something different to test your taste buds. Just the look of some of the labels put me off so no sale from me but I do love the Australian humour.