Travel : Hunter Valley Trip

I will get back with part 2 of my Brisbane & Gold Coast Trip on the next post ! For now, let me bring you to my short escape one-day trip to Hunter Valley only 2 hours away from Sydney City!

Outfit of the Day
Blouse – Beesknees
Shorts – Supre
Blazer – Beesknees
Oxford Shoes – F21
Shawl – Korea

I went over with Unimates clique , trip starts early at 9am sharp and ended approximately on 8pm. Yes, I know how very productive is that?!  ( All cost included I paid only $46! Best deal ever 😀 !)

Here’s our itenary for the day trip :

Hunter Valley Cheese Company – Cheese Tasting
McGuigans Winery – Wine Tasting
McWilliams Mount Pleasant Wines – Winery Tour
Gardens Village – Boutique shops and restaurants with landscaped gardens for a picnic lunch
Hunter Valley Garden – Ten-themed gardens to be explored ( MY FAVOURITE!!)
Mount View – capture the entire vast view of Hunter Valley
Wollombi Valley – Antique shops, historical colonial buildings and other attractions

First up, Cheese Tasting. We went over to cheese company and its so interesting to see their cheese making factory! Anyway, they offered 5 types of different types of cheese that I virtually never ate or tasted before. Its freshly produced and there’s also water and crackers offered ( as its bit too salty if you eat them alone like that)

After that we have a short lunch break and I ordered a Pasta of the Day from one of the cafeteria, and boy was it the BEST PASTA I HAVE EVER HAD!! yum!

Wine Tasting and Winery Tour

As most of you know, Hunter Valley is quite well-known for their winery production. If we were to go there during summer season , we will have the privilege to see the whole grape ripe process and everything. Yes, the person in charge basically explained on how the grapes were planted mainly during summer but definitely not winter season. Oh well, we still get to taste those ah-mazing wine and get an indoor factory tour!

Next, we went over to Hunter Valley Garden. My favourite part.They have a whole lot of garden themes (over 10) and Story Book theme is the most unique! Its easily Australia’s biggest and most beautiful garden ever! Just entering the Storybook garden is an experience in itself – through a giant storybook that is being read by topiary giraffes!

 Indian-themed garden

Story Book Garden

Everywhere else – other various theme in the garden

Overall, its a fulfilling and very productive trip with the whole unimates clique (I went over together with 27 other people 🙂 )

Stay tuned till the next update ❤

Brisbane & Gold Coast Trip Part 1

Winter season in Sydney hasn’t been friendly , we experienced the worst thunderstorm case (wind over 124km/h!) and stuff like that. So for this winter break , we decided to escape for a short get aways to Brisbane & Gold Coast and fair enough the weather there is warm and oh-so sunny!

Day 1

We left Sydney on Monday and can I just say I started the trip with so much drama. Yeah, basically I overslept and miss the baggage drop in time by two minutes , yes you read right TWO MINUTES. The lady in the airport was all ” I’m sorry you have to either switch the flight timing or buy a new ticket” . I end up by a new ticket $300+ to catch the next earliest flight to Brisbane -_- !

Anyway, things could have been worse and I’m all positive thinking throughout the trip so as not to ruin the excitement mood.

Mount Coot-tha

Upon arriving , we bought go-card ( its a card where you tap on and off as you board the bus/ferry/train in queensland). Thenafter, we went to Mount Coot-tha , its located 287 metres above sea level, has the highest peak in Brisbane. Thus, makes it a perfect location for the best view of the whole city lookout scene!

as posted on my instagram @valentiney

Outfit of the day
Top – Ally
Shorts – Zipia
Tights – Etsy
Blazer – Beesknees
Shades – Raybans

Comfort At My Table – Lunch

We went to this place for our lunch and ohmy, the interior is amazing , it gives you that homely and warmth feeling. The feeling of coming back home and having breakkie type. Really welcoming and great selection of breakfast menu.

Truly seems like local favorite as it was filled even at early noon! We ordered their beef ‘burger’ and a soy chai tea pot

Bunker Coffee – Milton

I know , we are crazy. But Brisbane has so many place for exploration so we didnt just stop there, we went over at this unique Bunker Cafe which located in a garage-like place and a very limited seat. They serve a locally roasted beans from Blackstar Coffee in West End Brisbane so my expectations for a really good strong coffee we’re already peaked before I even walked into Bunker. I ordered regular Flat White and boy was it an enjoyment to sip. Very smooth and special taste blend in with the whole unique environment? YES. YES. YES.

Red Lotus Vietnamese Restaurant

Initially we planned to go to  an Italian Restaurant, but since its closed and we’re roaming around Chinatown, we stumbled across this Vietnamese Restaurant which apparently is pretty famous too!

Ordering Beef Pho is a must every time you enter a viet eateries, we also decided to try their lemongrass chicken set as its marked as one of their signature. The Pho is ah-ma-zing! but the chicken is very bland and nothing special. Overall, its still okay for a quickie casual dining, nothing fancy.

  

Brisbane Arcade

On our way back , we saw this place which resembled very much like Sydney’s QVB building interior!

Paired up my outfit with a thicker blazer and shawl from Zipia & CLICK respectively

Thats it for part 1 now, till part 2 soon 🙂

Off to Brisbane and Gold Coast !

Im off for a short trip till the 6th!

Meanwhile,here’s a short clip of us messing around strathfield station – Taken with SocialCam app ( It annoys me somehow I cant embed it directly from socialcam here 😦 ) Anyway, till the next update 🙂