Wildlife & Wine

At the end of February, Jess and I went to South Australia for 4 days. We visited Kangaroo Island and the Barossa Valley. Along the way we saw unbelievable wildlife including getting up close with Wombats (Jess' dream come true).



We also toured (and tasted) lots of great wine. For our complete coverage of the wines, check out our new blog (focused on food and drink), Tasty Points.

Hunter Valley - Visit 2

During the Queen's Birthday long weekend, we decided to get out of Sydney (along with our friends Mickey and Alane). Because this was decided on a spur of the moment comment, we had limited time to plan so we decided on Hunter Valley. Although we had been there before, we figured this would be a good trip to have with our U.S. compadres (i.e. relaxing country side, lots of wine, kangaroos, etc...) and it is an easy drive .

We stayed at a bed and breakfast, Pindari House that Mickey and Alane found. Jess and I are not what you might consider 'regulars' at the B&B's - so this was a small step out of our comfort zone. Luckily, we had a wonderful host, Monika, and an even better watch dog known as Honey.

Overall it was a great weekend getting away from the city life, touring the wineries, eating good food, and playing Australia's version of monopoly known as 'squatter' - based on sheep farming of course. Winery highlights (in my opinion) included Pokolbin Estate and Tyrell's Vineyard.

Taronga Zoo

On Saturday, Jess and I went to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. This isn't something we would normally set out to do, but we got free passes with the purchase of our TV, so we thought we would give it a shot. To get to the zoo from our place we had to take a train to circular quay and then take a ferry to the zoo. This was my first ferry ride here in Sydney but there are lots to choose from. The ride was only about 15min, but provided some spectacular views of the Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and Downtown.

The zoo is situated on the side of a large hill and and features a sky safari cable care which takes people from the bottom to the top of the zoo. In addition to the 'normal' zoo features, this zoo also features 'Wild Australia', which basically allows you to go on a 'walkabout' with Kangaroos, Wallabees, and Kola bears. I will let Jess talk about the chimp highlights....

Here are some pictures from the outing.