road trip to hunter

Another one of our road trips included in Sunshine23's itinerary planned by me, this time up north to the Hunter Valley region. The Sydney street directory doesn't extend to so far up north and we didn't have printing facilities to do printouts of location maps so we took snapshots off our computer screen and stored the pics in a camera. We successfully navigated our way to our destination and back with the snapshots you see below.





First stop was to Lavender Gate Farm at Wollombi. It was slightly out of the way but we still went as they have really delicious lavender scones. The plan was to have scones for brunch before heading to the next destination for a proper lunch. Alas, we got a bit lost and had to seek help from the residents in Toronto which is about 35 min drive from Wollombi. We took 3 hours in total to reach Lavender Gate Farm from Sydney. In the last stretch of road, we were counting the number of houses to our destination and were salivating nonstop at the thought of the highly recommended lavender scones.

Finally when we arrived, this was what we saw:



Sunshine23 was severely traumatised. We were starving to the point of losing consciousness and our bladders were ready to explode. But we had to trudge on to our next destination - a Vineyard with a nice restaurant in Broke, another approximately 30 min drive on a long winding road.



I tried to embrace the lavender in full bloom before departing to Broke since I didn't get to see them when I last went in the deep of winter.



We arrived at Margan, a vineyard in Broke that is also known for its restaurant. Another drama here - the restaurant only opens on Fridays and Saturdays! By then, we already went without food for about six hours. And look at the sky, a thunderstorm was brewing and we seemed to be right in the middle of where the action was gonna be. Well, at least we got to do some wine tasting (on empty stomachs) at Margan.



The lady at Margan was very nice. Besides recommending where we should head to next - there's this interesting olive and olive soap place just 10min away - she also showed us the way to the nearest cafe that should be open so that we may recharge our energy levels. So we headed to the only cafe at Broke Village and I had a chicken burger for lunch at about 4pm. Chicken burgers never tasted that good.



The storm that had been brewing for a while finally decided to unleash its fury onto us when we were lunching. Fortunately we were under shelter. We sat and chatted for a while til the rain died down a little before hitting our next stop - Pickled & Pitted, a retail outlet of River Estates that carries award winning gourmet produce such as olives and olive oil all grown and made on their estate.

Michelle who helps tend this outlet as part of her family's business (they also own Tara Cottage that provides old fashioned country accommodation set among their olive groves) also runs her own side business in the same little cottage outlet where she sells her own handmade natural skincare products including an impressive selection of olive oil soaps under the label BARE Nature'sKin. She told us that making soaps is actually more a hobby for her and since she enjoys it so much she just keeps making them and now it's grown into quite a self-sustaining business. She's currently working on a website for her label so do keep a lookout for it at http://www.barenatureskin.com.au/.




Here you see me checking out their cheeses in the gourmet produce section.



And I happily grabbed bottles of olive oil and caramelised balsamic vinegar and tapenade etc. Spent a total of AUD99 in just this small little section.



Here's a separate section, a kitchen-like facility where Michelle makes her soaps and other bath products. Those bottles of raw ingredients on the shelves behind her include cinnamon, basil, olive oil, honey etc, not unlike what you'll find in your own kitchen.





Stacks upon stacks of handmade soap bars with many different scents. Unfortunately, you can only get to purchase them at the outlet at 67 Wollombi Street in Broke. Once Michelle sets up her website, she may have her products for sale online, not too sure yet but it's a possibility.





Sunshine23 bought a pack of lavender, oat and rose milk bath for me. I've tried it once already and it's pure heaven. Next time I head up north again, I'm definitely going to get more stuff from Michelle.

After a lovely hour spent with Michelle, we headed to Broke Village Vineyard for more wine tasting before heading back to Sydney. Due to the food trauma we had on this road trip, we decided to pamper ourselves with a dinner feast fit for royalty back in Sydney and ended up overeating so badly we looked like we were 5 months pregnant afterwards - read it here.