The Hunter Valley is huge - we found this out when we decided to walk from the first group of wineries to the second - 3 1/2 kms away, in the rain. We started the day at The Hunter Valley Cheese Factory, where we tasted a variety of great cheeses and finally settled on the priciest but most amazing tasting cheese I think I have ever tasted. It is a 3-year old blue cheese that's soaked in port - amazing. Then off to our first winery - McGuigan's, run by Bruce (not Barry). Here we booked on a tour where we were shown the whole wine making process from picking to cellar. No bottling though as that takes place else where. The guy showing us around had a real enthusiasm and knowledge and we learnt loads about Oaking, Fermentation etc... that I am sure we won't remember past tomorrow. After a good tasting session we settled on a Shiraz and walked to another couple of wineries after lunch.

The 3km walk ended at Lindeman's and Rosemount Estate where we sampled some of the more mass market stuff which tasted just fine too. Last year Lindeman's exported 23 million bottles to the UK and their Bin 65 Chardonnay is the 2nd best selling wine in Aus. It's easy to see why - they're a slick operation and, again, knowledgabloe staff led to an interesting tasting/buying session. I was so comfortable there that I even found time for a little nap - much to the amusement of said staff.

So, a bus ride back and tea of chicken chasseur to come, tomorrow we're starting the real long haul up the coast with me and Jen driving (eek) the first port (quite literally) of call is Port Macquairie where we are hoping to do some white ater rafting and the like.We will hopefully manage to get better weather as it's horrid here - it's that really fine rain that soaks you through (copyright Peter Kay - 'it's spitting...').