HUNTER VALLEY GARDENS COACH TRIP - 4 OCTOBER 2009
We awoke early Sunday to RAIN but, undaunted, members and friends plus members of Fairfield Orchid Society boarded our luxurious coach and set off for our Hunter Valley excursion. Our driver, Chris, settled us in with a couple of jokes and we headed up the F3 Freeway, stopping for morning tea at Maccas, Wyong. The rain had stopped and we enjoyed chatting over a coffee (tea) and delicious carrot cake.
The next leg of our journey was taken up with the drawing of the raffle prizes. Bromeliads, other plants and surprise presents in great numbers and a large number of bromeliad hybrid seedlings generously donated by Allan Ladd were eagerly received. Thank you to all who supplied raffle prizes.
We arrived at the Hunter Valley Gardens to overcast but fine weather. People scattered to all corners of this large and beautiful garden to see everything in the allotted time. The Gardens are a delight and beautifully tended. Colourful flowers, Story Book characters, water features with iris in flower and much, much more abound. If we didn't have BROMS, this was a good second!
We regretfully left the Gardens and headed to our wine tasting and luncheon venue. This was set on a hill overlooking vineyards and outstanding rose gardens. The roses everywhere were stunning. Several wines were freely offered for tasting and we then had a delicious luncheon while enjoying sitting and chatting with members and their partners.
We then travelled to our cheese tasting venue where a pleasant area had been set aside for us and a knowledgeable young lady told us how the cheeses were made. The five cheeses (with biscuits) were really delicious and made a great finish to our lunch and we were also able to purchase some of the cheeses tasted.
Our trip home was enjoyable, nice scenery, smooth ride and little traffic.
The day was a great success and a big thank you to Carolyn and all her helpers who put in a lot of effort to ensure a great day out.
Robyn Firth
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