Day 11 - The Trip Back to East Gosford
After 10 days travelling around New South Wales using ChatGPT to figure out the best things to see with limited time, it was time to head back to our Aussie home base. Driving around this small corner of Australia really gives you a feel for just how large this country really is. You’ve probably heard the expression out back of the beyond, well in Australia, they have another expression that means about the same thing, “the other side of the black stump”. There’s more than a couple of origin stories for the expression. One theory is states that it originated in the town of Coolah, that we did visit. In 1826, Governor Darling declared a boundary for authorized settlement in New South Wales that passed through a property known as "Black Stump Run”. Another origin story, and in my mind more likely, is that a black stump was common term used by land surveyors for boundary markers in New South Wales In the late 1800’s. According to Wikipedia, it was first used in a court case for a land dispute in Woolloomooloo.
The Black Stump Inn on Coolah, and Cathy and I “beyond the black stump”
Onto the motorway for the trip south. We had originally thought to head straight back then head back up to the Hunter Valley on Friday for a couple of wine tastings but as it was a short detour and saved us some driving time on Friday, so off we went.
Marilyn wanted to stop at De Bortoli, a well established and larger winery in the Hunter Valley. Getting there early afternoon on a Thursday was an excellent idea as it turned out. No one else was there, and we had an incredible experience with our wine tasting host. He just kept pouring samples and talking about the wines, we had a great time. The prices were reasonable so we bought a couple of bottles.
Next stop was at Tulloch, a smaller boutique style winery. They‘ve created a wine and chocolate tasting that had their winemaker work with a local artisan chocolate maker to create wine and chocolate pairings. Cathy and I tried it and it was very well done! We also tried one of their signature wines that re-created one of the oldest varietals, it was beautiful, so much so we bought one bottle, very pricey but worth it.…
No pictures along the way this time, mostly motorway driving so we’ll see what comes up in the next few days. No plans for today and tomorrow but Cathy and I are going to Sydney for a couple of nights on Sunday for some sightseeing before we head off to Auckland on Tuesday.
