The last stage of road trip #2! We headed into wine country known as the Hunter Region just north of Sydney. Then we take a break from the heat with a little elevation in the Blue mountains to visit the three sisters before dropping off the car back in the city. I finally got to climb the Sydney harbor bridge, met up with another friend from our Africa adventure, and played a little game of Hide and Seek across the city – how long do you think it will take me to find Mr. Wander?
Wining in the Hunter Region
As we leave Laurieton, Mr. Wander found a unique stop along the highway, known as elmo’s corner. It’s just a little area a few kilometers from the motorway on a gravel road as it turns. We pulled over and took a few photos but decided not to walk around. It was a little bit on the creepy side, what do you think?
It was weird enough that we thought it was still worth the short diversion. Our next stop was a bit more fun, a bit of sliding during the summer at a toboggan park! We opted to just try it once but I might have been a bit nervous with all the warning signs telling me to slow down, I didn’t want to launch myself off the corners.
That afternoon we had a reservation at a winery for an interesting tasting: becoming a wine detective. We arrived a bit early and he gave us a free glass of sparkling wine while we waited, which was just so kind. There were comfy couches on their covered patio overlooking the vines. We learned later there are often kangaroos hanging out in their fields but we didn’t see any this day. The winery was called Saltire and they had the Scottish flag as their logo and are in the process of trying to get some highland cows, or “hairy coos” as they called them when we were in Scotland!
When it was our turn he brought us up to the loft area with cozy leather couches and an area setup for us with a few easels of handy references, a few glasses of wine already poured and tasting notes for all of them. There were also some snacks from local farms including cheese, jam and crackers that were so delicious! Our tasting guide first took us through a few wines while teaching us how to identify acidity, tannins, and alcohol content based on mouthfeel. Have you ever noticed your mouth watering after taking a sip of wine? That’s the aciidity. What about the warmth? The more warmth, the higher the alcohol content.
He also had us try to identify the aromas and flavors by comparing them to little vials he had of most aromas, along with one of the charts.
The first two wines we followed through the detective sheets trying decide between low/high alcohol, acidity, whether it was dry or sweet, and what were the primary and secondary aromas and flavors. Then the third wine we had to do ourselves and decide between four “suspects” which one it was. Drumroll, it was a Malbec: the Inky Giant!
The next round was another step harder with three different glasses of Shiraz labeled A, B, and C. We had to determine which was the young using grapes from Hunter Valley, the aged with grapes from McLaren Vale – the oldest wine region in Australia located not far from Adelaide, and the 70/30 Shiraz blend between Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale. This was more difficult but between the two of us we figured it out! We purchased our two favorites from the tastings and he gave us that sparkling one we had at the beginning for free! Perhaps he was just trying to get rid of it, either way they were so generous!
The following day we visited two other wineries, the first we both did the tasting and between the two of us could choose 8 wines for $10 each! That was extremely reasonable. It was convenient that where we sat, the woman leading our tasting showed us where some of the grapes came from. Other than the sparkling, the prior day we had only tried reds, but this time we were able to try a Semillon for the first time (pronounced Sem-E-yawn). It was a wine that is quick to make so the wine makers would have something to drink while waiting for the other wines in France, but known now as an easy drinking wine.
We also tried a Valdehlo and Shiraz, both wines for this region but Shiraz is what Australia is most known for when it comes to wine. Then we got into some italian wines which I don’t know as well as I do other parts of the world but they were all lovely and made for a good variety. If you are in the area, Carillion is a good choice and the people were very friendly.
Our last winery was Mount View which I had chosen specifically because of the lovely views to enjoy a few tastes. When we arrived there was a larger table of people and a few at the bar with just one person pouring. She asked if we could wait a few minutes while the larger table is getting ready to go and gave us each a glass of wine while we waited. It did take awhile but by the time she came out nearly everyone had gone and so we got essentially a private tasting overlooking the gorgeous view and we enjoyed chatting with her for an hour between wines.
She was very generous since we were patient while waiting for her and we chatted about all sorts of things, not just the wine. There was an interesting tasting note though she described as “musk candy” and neither of us knew what that was.
The aroma was floral, like someone was using rose extract in a baked good or something. Several days later we found the musk sticks and I have to say they started as weird but were eventually pretty addicting. Not something I’ve ever seen outside Australia though! I think somewhere between bubble gum and rose in flavor and the texture isn’t chewy or chalky but does break down into something like a powder while eating. I can’t even think of anything directly to compare it to that we have in the US.
The last Australian wine we learned about was Petit Syrah, which started as Shiraz grapes but due to cross pollination the grapes got smaller, affecting their sugar content in the juices. Another highly recommended winery! We chose these mostly based on their reviews and photos of their wineries, and all were 4.9 or 5.0 with thousands of reviews so they did not steer us wrong!
Glimpse of the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains
It was time to cool off a bit in the Blue Mountains. Mr. Wander suggested an off-motorway route called Putty road, well loved by motorcycles as it was curvy with some switchbacks and for the most part longer vehicles would have difficulty, but we were fine in our little car.
It was raining quite a bit when we arrived to the town of Katoomba. We found somewhere covered from the rain for our lunch and checked into our hotel. It eventually stopped in the evening and we were close enough to this park called Scenic world, which has gondolas and cog trains across the valley and a nice hike along the cliffside we were on.
The trail took us to a large lookout area to see the three sisters, these three rock formations. There are aboriginal stories about these three sisters and how they got turned to rock. We opted not to get tickets or tours to do the gondola this time as we knew we were coming back here with a few guests in another month.
We were both glad we did the walk the evening before because that morning it was completely socked in with clouds! There were a few lookouts we attempted to stop at on our drive out but all you could see was white. One park had a few cool sounding attractions but we couldn’t get too far due to a flooded road and neither of us felt like having wet shoes for the rest of the day so we just took a few pictures and headed out. We did however manage to catch a Kookaburra up close though! Check him out!
Mr. Wander found us a fun place for a late (second) breakfast that was a bit quirky to fuel us up for the drive into the city. This time by coming in from the west, and avoiding the toll roads.
Traffic was a bit busy where we got gas and took longer than the GPS had estimated, but eventually we made it to the same car rental location where we had picked up the car we drove to Adelaide! It’s fun when you can make a trip come back full circle, isn’t it? We took an Uber to our hotel and enjoyed a bit of our Hunter Valley wine now that I was done driving for almost a week!
JetLagged Again in Sydney
After a day of relaxing we met up with a different friend we had met on our Africa Tour and enjoyed falafel, hallumi, and Shish for dinner. We walked a few blocks to an underground bar for some tasty cocktails. I missed taking food pictures but I appreciated the cocktail bar’s water jug they brought to the table.
The next few days we caught up with both sets of parents via video calls and made plans for us to play a game around Sydney. One of our favorite things to watch lately is Jet Lag: The Game on Youtube. They were inspired by The Amazing Race TV show (also one of our world travel inspirations) and have created several different games in countries across the globe. They’ve played Hide and Seek, Tag, Snake, and Capture the Flag, and a few made up games when they were in Australia and New Zealand.
The one they’ve played most is Hide and Seek where one person hides with a deck of cards containing curses to slow down the seekers and time bonuses, while the other two ask specific questions to try and narrow down the map to where they could be hiding. The most recent version of this is in the UK but they have also played in Japan, Switzerland, and an adapted version to play a smaller game in New York City. Last year they launched a version that we could buy for fans to play out in the world. So, last Black Friday, I did, and was really excited to try it!
Sydney is considered a Medium sized game as it has more than 100 transit stops and we chose a radius of about 30km (or 18 miles) from the main hub of the city, Circular Quay. We did include ferries though so that added another layer to ensuring you knew what areas are in play.
How it worked for us is Mr. Wander had 1 hour to hide, we decided to start from the Central Train station instead as that was closer to our hotel, and he had to arrive within 0.3 miles of a train station or ferry wharf by transit or by foot by the end of the hour. Then he had to stay within that 0.3 mile radius of that station/wharf, his “hiding zone” until I found him, or we had to pause the game to make it to our evening’s reservation.
Once his hour ended, my seeking time began, so I started at the Central Train Station and I had a handy list of questions in which I could ask. There are 6 categories and for each one that I ask, once Mr. Wander answers he can draw a certain number of cards from what is called the hider’s deck. It is made up of time bonuses, powerups, and curses. The curses slow me down and the powerups let him draw extra cards or refuse to answer a question. If we were to play a full round where we each hide, the winner is whomever hides for the longest amount of time.
The first category I chose was a radar, as he could be anywhere within 18 miles of me, I needed to narrow that down, so I chose to ask him if he was within 5 miles of me, and he said he was not. Then I said I was going to start what is called a thermometer, where I move a certain distance and he tells me whether I’m hotter or colder than where I had started. I chose the 3 mile option and took a train to the north side of the harbor, across the iconic bridge, this way I could cut the map in half for the donut that remained where he could be.
Once I found out I was hotter, I knew he wasn’t on the South side of the map. I asked for a picture of his station, trying to figure out whether his hiding zone was around a train station, subway, or ferry. In the picture he took there was a palm tree and glass windows that gave me the feeling it was a ferry stop instead of a train, but then I looked a bit closer.
Unfortunately for Mr. Wander, the screen inside the window was just barely visible if I zoomed in, and I could actually read the name for the region of the city. So I was excited and figuring out my fastest route when I got a text with a picture of a curse card!
It is Curse of the Jammed Door, which meant that for the next hour, I had to roll two dice every time I try to enter a train station, train, ferry, or any other door, and if it was less than a 7, I had to wait for 10 minutes until I could try again. The sneaky part is that with a train/ferry you have to wait until the door is there, so you have to be on the platform and wait for the train to pull up, and hope it’s been 10 minutes since you last failed, and then roll a 7 or higher. My first roll gave me a 6, so I sat tight 10 minutes and I only got a 5 the next time! Meanwhile I had been looking at options and I realized I would have a bit more buffer with trains if I walked to the next station so for my next 10 minutes that’s what I did. I glimpsed a cool view of the harbor bridge on the way and thankfully rolled a 10 to get into the station!
I went upstairs to the platform and once a train arrived that would have taken me close to his spot I rolled again but this time only getting a 3. Yikes. 10 minutes later a different train arrived and I managed to roll a 10, wahoo! I could board the train! This train wouldn’t get me all the way there but it would at least get me close to a ferry that would head his direction. I had just enough time to leave the station and walk through the lunch rush to the wharf to board a ferry. As I was walking up to the ferry and tapped my card to get in, they were already starting to board people. I quickly rolled and was SO thankful to get a 7! Phew! I could have had to wait another 20 minutes. Definitely a well played curse!
Mr. Wander, meanwhile, was keeping tabs on my position since I was sharing my location and trying to scope out a final hiding spot for the “end game”. This starts once I arrive within his hiding zone, he has to stay put, so this is a bit closer to a traditional hide and seek on foot. The ferry was 45 minutes long with many stops so he had a bit of warning I was headed his way but I still had to ask a few more questions to figure out his spot.
Once I arrived I was able to see where he took the picture he sent, but I messed up with my first question as I asked him for a picture of his street, and had meant to ask him for a trace of the nearest street/path. Since he cannot get up from his location, if he cannot see one then he responds with “I cannot answer the question”. As he has 10 minutes to answer photo questions he could wait unitl the end of 10 minutes to send that and he gets to draw and I lost another 10 minutes! I asked him the trace next so he drew a trace of the path nearest him, intersection to intersection and all I can do is look at the map and try and match the shape of the street.
Next I asked him for a picture of the tallest structure in his sightline since there were pretty tall buildings and it might get me closer. Before I get this picture I’m still trying to figure out where this path was but it was quite confusing as there was so much construction! They seem to be building a new lightrail line in this area to go across the river, but this meant much of the riverwalk was cut off and so you had to go around.
Mr. Wander got to watch me wander in circles until I saw that last picture with a large powerline tower, which was only at one side of the zone. However, I was back by the wharf and had to walk completely around the construction again to get to the path. I had been within a block of this when I got the answer to the first question but that’s how it goes. Finally I made it around the path and up to the river, and there he was on a bench!
When I checked the time I realized it had been exactly 3 hours! He had 3 time bonuses left whcih gave him another 27 minutes so that was the official seeking time. I think he was frustrated with the picture, technically you can blank out any names of businesses but it wasn’t in the rules we had read the night before and we had forgotten. All part of playing a new game, and we’ve seen the experienced players on the YouTube channel make that same mistake before. If any of this sounds interesting I would recommend watching the channel, but also if you ever want to meet up or travel with us somewhere and play this game let us know!
Sydney Harbor Two Ways
One thing that has been on my list for awhile in Sydney was to climb the Harbor Bridge! We booked a later afternoon time to try and catch the sunset and a bit of the city lights but mother nature had other plans. As we got all suited up head to toe in a jumpsuit, harness, raincoat, headset, helmet and headlamps, we took a few photos and they took us on a practice area to learn how to use the carabiners, but they had handy gaps the way the cables were attached to the bridge so we never had to actually remove them, just make sure they were lined up in certain spots.
We started out under the bridge on walkways but they had us stop partway in one of the main pillars inside a cement area because a storm was brewing with plenty of lightning! Not great to stand on top of a metal bridge in a lightning storm!
It was a good half hour before it passed enough they could allow us to continue, long enough there was another group waiting with us inside and more back at headquarters ready to go. Not long after we got started again we started up the ladders that not only took us to the same level as the roadway, but several stairs above. There were people walking across the bridge and were a bit startled to see us pop out, then they started waving at us.
Once we finished the ladders we were on one of the main arch supports on the top of the bridge. There were steps but they gradually became more shallow and longer and soon was just a slanted walkway with rubber mats for traction. We had a few picture stops with the Sydney opera house in the background and then we were at the top!
Our guide was telling us stories along the way but we had one person in front of us that was struggling with the steps and the radio didn’t always reach far enough so we missed some stories but it was still really interesting, such as the only person to survive a fall or jump from the bridge was a worker helping build the bridge. Back in 1930, they didn’t have harnesses like they would today, and he slipped while using a heavy riveting gun and fell about 180 feet (55m) to the water below. However, he was an experience diver, did a somersault and entered the water feet first so he would survive the initial impact with the water. His fellow workers were astonished to see him resurface and swim back to safety!
We crossed at the very top of the bridge to the other side of the roadway, then made our way back down the other archway, and down more ladders to the catwalks below the road deck, and on this side the trains as well.
The day we played jet lag, after getting a shower from the hot and sweaty day running around we headed back to the harbor to board a sunset cruise.
Ours included a few drinks and snacks and we got a seat next to the window. It was a bit hot for the first bit but once they turned around it was quite lovely. They had another level that I think served a full dinner but I was happy with where we were. They went under the Harbor bridge, past the opera house, and towards the outer harbor like where we stayed on New Year’s. We didn’t go too far though before it was time to head back for the evening. It was a lovely way to end our time in Sydney!
Next Time
Leaving Sydney early in the morning we fly to Hobart Tasmania, affectionately known as Tazzy by the locals. We made a loop of the island visiting national parks, refueling at a food festival, listening to adorable penguins, meeting a fellow nomadic couple (from Minnesota!), and some hikes around a few mountains. Until next time, Cheers!
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