Sakura Matsuri

Normally Keat and I meet to watch some Chinese soapies, but as spring is upon us I suggested to head out for a trip. Little did I realise when I suggested Keat pick a place, that I would be driving half way across the state. So with a late start we headed off to my Grandfather's birth place, Cowra, for the incorrectly named Sakura Matsuri at the Japanese Gardens. There are no photos of the trip out there as we needed to conserve all our time to get there before the gardens closed. We got there just before 2PM.

After visiting the garden, we headed over to Prisoner Of War Camp 12, which is famous as the one where the Japanese prisoners staged their break out in WWII.

And as dusk started to be upon us, we headed back to Sydney, stopping to take photos of some of the canola fields and the wind farm at Blayney. (And I got a new hat and icon on some of the sites I use.)

Hunter Valley Wine Tasting Trip

Helen organised for us to head off to the Hunter Valley for a wine tasting trip with a bit of sight seeing on the side.

We meet early in the morning. We meet to head of to the hunter valley. Unexpectedly we get a very nice bus, easily the nicest bus I have ever used.

On the way there is a little drama when the bus is hit by a truck as we are stopped at the lights on Mona Vale Road, heading north, at Epping Road. We continue on to the Warnervale Service Stop to have a rest break.

Leaving the freeway we head along the New England Highway to Maitland.

We now stop at maitland jail. I find the whole deal too gruesome and want to leave. I think that the behaviour of the authorities is disgraceful and the inmates worse.

We head off to Morpeth for to see the historic buildings and taste the foods.

We stopped for the night in Newcastle as this provided cheaper accommodation than the Hunter Valley. We had a nice meal in the travellodge's restaurant and wandered around the next morning taking photos.






We head from Newcastle to Pokolbin



We visit three wineries in the Hunter Valley.

Strangely I have not posted any photos of the trip home. Unlike the trip up, it was uneventful.