Hoorah! A mini weekend getaway to celebrate the office's second birthday.

Friday 11.30am, last week, we all hopped on a coach to Hunter Valley. Two and a bit hours later, we wined and dined at Pepper Tree Vineyards, Tamburlaine, Petersonhouse, Hunter Valley Chocolate Company, Harrigan's Irish Pub and Oishii Restaurant! Talk about an action-packed weekend.

So... at the first wine tasting, I bought a lush dessert wine... it was sweet as honey: 2005 Boytrytis Semillon. I must admit though -I'm not at all a wine expert. After a while, they all taste the same. Here's what we swirled, sniffed, gargled and sipped...

At Pepper Tree Wines:
Whites
2006 Limited Release Hunter Semillon
2004 Reserve Wrattonbully Chardonnay
Reds
2005 Limited Release Hunter Shiraz
2002 Coonawarra Classics
Fortified
2005 Limted Release Botrytis Semillon
2004 Limited Release Wrattonbully Liqueur Merlot

Next was Tamburlaine Organic Vineyards. Ooh, so do organic wines give you less of a hangover? Apparently so, if drunk in moderation... because of its low sulphur dioxide content.

Along with the wines, we had the pleasure of nibbling on some organic cheeses and chutney. Wine tastes so much better with food.

Tamburlaine, growing organically...

All throughout Hunter Valley were cute gardens and cosy cottages. Outside Petersonhouse were these adorable lanterns and garden chairs...

Cheers! [L - R] Xiaohan, May, Karen, me, Adam & Hazim

Inbetween the wine tasting, I craved something solid and starchy... so at Harrigan's Pub, we ordered 2 giant servings of wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce and another 2 giant bowls of fries with tomato sauce. The wedges weren't anything fancy... but they definately were cut the perfect size. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce (Harrigan's Pub)

Chocolates at the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company

And more chocolates on display...

A full day of vineyard hopping left me exhausted. Here's the view from our room at Harrigan's Pub. You never get to see this much of the sky in Sydney.

Dinner was at 8. Oishii Restaurant sits within Tempus Two's ultra-modern landscape. However, the food was average... so I didn't bother with any notes. Photos are below if you're still interested.

Oishii Japanese & Thai Restaurant

Sally makes a toast

And then Ben, Hazim, Adam and Mat decided to see what gravity could do to their face...

Pepper Tree Wines
Halls Road, Pokolbin
Phone: (02) 4998 7539
Web: www.peppertreewines.com.au

Tamburlaine Vineyard
358 McDonalds Road Pokolbin
Phone:: (02) 4998 7570
Web: www.tamburlaine.com.au

Peterson Sparkling Wine House
Corner of Broke Road & Wine Country Drive, Pokolbin
Phone: (02) 4998 7881
Web: www.petersonhouse.com.au

Hunter Valley Chocolate Company
Corner of Broke Road & Wine Country Drive, Pokolbin
Phone: (02) 4998 7221

Harrigan's Pub
Broke Road, Pokolbin
Web: www.hvg.com.au/harrigans_pub.asp

Oishii Japanese & Thai Restaurant
Tempest Two Winery, Pokolbin
Web: www.tempustwo.com.au

More pics & bits on Hunter Valley below.

On the night of 14th July, 9 of us B. Des Comp girls headed up to the Central Coast for a little getaway. We stayed at The Lighthouse, Copacabana (special thanks to Jodie for organising this). The house caters for 8 adults, and was so big and scary that we all snuggled on the top floor in two bedrooms. There was lots of food, laughter and confessions. Can't wait for the next girls getaway! Thanks for such a fun time :-D

The Lighthouse at Copacabana

The back of The Lighthouse at Copacabana

View from one of the bedrooms to the Pacific Ocean

Group Photo 1 - Sumali, Alicia, Jenny, me, Jodie, Laurachel, Rennae, Olivia, Sarah

Group Photo 2 - Alicia, Jenny, Jennifer, Sarah, Olivia, Sumali, Jodie, Rennae, Laurachel

Drinks - Midori Pash, Cowboy, Midori Melonball, Nestle Hazelnut Latte

Midori Pash
30ml Midori
15ml Vodka
Top with Cranberry Juice

Cowboy
20ml Butterscotch Schnapps
10ml Bailey's Irish cream

Midori Melonball
30ml Midori
15ml Vodka
Top with Pineapple Juice

Nestle Double Blend Hot Chocolate

Rennae, having previously worked at Disney whipped up a Mickey Mouse Pancake for Breakfast. (The rest of us had ordinary rounded pancakes served with fruit salad and icecream)

M&M's

Copacabana Beach

Passengers in Alicia's Car - Jenny, Alicia, me, Olivia, Sarah

Passengers in Jodie's Car - Sumali, Jodie, Laurachel, Rennae

Me, Jodie, Alicia and Jenny

Rennae and I preparing to eat

If you've been to The Lighthouse at Copacabana, you'll notice that there's a slope in the middle of the pool table. I'd just like to say that I didn't dent it!

A silly group photo [top] Oli, Nae, Jenny and me [bottom] Jodz, Alicia, Sarah, Laura and Smily

For more information, see http://www.centralcoast.stays.com.au/8950.