The Land Down Under: Hunter Valley

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After our stay in Sydney, we headed north up to Hunter Valley to stay with our friends, Ian and Janelle.  Ian and Porter work together as well.  They have an awesome boutique hotel, Tonic,  right in the heart of Australia's wine country.  They live in a home on the hotel's property next to all the buildings that guests stay in.  It was gorgeous!  I didn't know what to even expect, but I had no idea that I about to spend a weekend in such a beautiful part of the world.

Part of the guest rooms we stayed in.  Tonic has a very modern feel.  Its very spacious but still cozy and quaint with groovy furniture that is very eclectic and luxurious all at the same time.


Their fantastic fireplace.

 The view from our bed, what?!?!

Pretty much the cutest puppy in Australia!

 Ian and Janelle took us all over Hunter Valley to some fantastic vineyards.  We even stopped and had a yummy picnic lunch at one.  They know all the right places to visit!
Looking over some of the vineyards that we toured around.  It was their winter so they weren't growing at the moment.

Hunter Valley

Sunset at Tonic was amazing!  The sky was on fire.
Now, the icing on the cake of this magical weekend was, in one word: Kangaroos!

There were wild kangaroos everywhere.  In this area, they are the equivalent of white tail deer in the states.  But to me they were fantastic creatures I had only seen on film or at the zoo.  Ian told me I would probably see them in the morning.  So the first night there  I couldn't sleep because I was so excited, and then when I actually did manage to fall asleep I had dreams about them.  Kangaroos were taking over my brain!  I woke up at sunrise and crept outside.  This was the view...


It was stunning!  The sunrise with the mist creeping along the ground was breathtaking.  I snapped this picture and right after I did the mist engulfed most of my view.  I did see kangaroos though!  I woke Porter up and we watched some off in the distance hopping along and even 2 males boxing!

On our last day at Tonic, there were a bunch of kangaroos on the back part of their property.  So Ian, Porter, and I went out to see them.  Porter snagged this great video of them hopping away.  In it you can see a mommy kangaroo hop the fence while her little joey has to find an alternative way out.  You also hear my camera snapping lots of pictures (sorry about that).



A huge Thank You!!! and many hugs to our wonderful hosts, Ian and Janelle and little Brian.  They helped make our trip down under pretty magical and unforgettable.  Go check out Tonic if you want an amazing experience for your next Australian holiday.


Bonus Material: Porter tries Vegemite...

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