Early morning start for Andy as he kept up his daily 10km commitment heading out into the hinterland around Goonoo Goonoo.

After an alfresco breakfast looking out across the Ben Halls Gap Nature Reserve, we then popped into the Glasshouse restaurant for a coffee to take a final look across this wonderful countryside. It was then time to start the 3hr drive further south to Pokolbin.

Since departing the cyclone affected North East NSW region a day or so ago, we’ve fortunately escaped the heavy rains and whilst it’s definitely cooler in the hinterland, it’s been dry with only light winds.

We arrived into the Hunter Valley and the Wine Country Drive early afternoon, and stopped first at Red Door Collective, a bespoke winery run by an English guy called Graham and his Aussie wife. They kindly provided a wine tasting experience taking us through a selection of 8 different wines including white, red, port, rose and sparkling….

After a successful session, we purchased a great bottle of Rose to remind us of our visit and then moved on to our next stop.

Our next drinks stop, conveniently opposite our apartment in Pokolbin Village, was at Hope Estate famed for its large scale music concerts hosting the likes of the Rolling Stones and Whitney Houston over the years.

Arriving late afternoon it was clear that the management were planning an early finish due to the unseasonal weather and the ongoing threat of heavy rainfall, so we grabbed a paddle of IPA’s and Pale Ales and got comfortable…!!

The Hope beers came with a punch warning…all being 5-8% ABV.

After the beer tasting at Hope Estate we returned for dinner and planned our movements for tomorrow, including a hike to Mount View and a wander around Hunter Valley Gardens, before we recommence our wine tasting at Brokenwood wines and Tamburlaine organic wines.

Post the wine tasting tomorrow, we move back to the coast and make our way to the Northern Beaches of Sydney for a couple of days in Narrabeen as a finish to our road trip.