Snow Time!

Snow Time! at the Hunter Valley Gardens

Some background: Eloise has been asking to go ice skating for about a year now, since she saw Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck ice skating in a Christmas movie and is also a big fan of Disney on Ice on YouTube. (Shh!  She doesn’t know she gets to go next week!)

Slight issue: Mr H and I don’t like cold.  Pre- monkeys, we went to Thredbo with Mr & Mrs Barry for a weekend.  While the company was wonderful, we didn’t have a great time on the snow.  First all, I couldn’t find the snow.  I grew in Northern California and the only snow I know is Lake Tahoe (and I just assume all ski areas are like that. Nope).  And second, during our snowboard refresher lesson, it was raining… and we were wet and miserable.  On the last day I simply refused to kit up and opted for a lazy breakfast in Thredbo Village while everyone else headed for the slopes.  We did not want to trek there (it’s a good 5 hour drive) and the E’s decide they didn’t like it, so I found a better solution for all of us.  Snow Time! at the Hunter Valley Gardens 

• 1.5 hour drive to Hunter Valley
• Snow play
•  Ice skating
• Chocolate Festival running concurrently
•   Wine

BOOM!

We made our way on Saturday, mid-morning.  In no rush to arrive in the Hunter Valley, we opted for the tourist route through Wollombi, stopping for lunch at the Wollombi Tavern.

Now THAT'S a burger (minus the beet root)

What a great spot!  A co-worker recommended stopping there and we were glad we did.  The food was fast, portions were big and it was yummy!  We sat outside, watching the motorbikes.

The bar is a bit of fun.  They are most famous for their Jungle Juice.  Legend has it that Mel Jurd, in his efforts to keep costs down and revenues up would save all the leftovers from the night before and pour them into a single container. Port, brandy, wine, you name it,  Mel saved them all and experimented with various brewing techniques. Dr. Jurd's Jungle Juice was created. But, you could only obtain this special drop at Mel Jurd's Wollombi Wine Bar.  The product has remained the trademark for the establishment ever since.  I tried it and it wasn’t bad so I bought a little bottle.

We’re here!

Once in the Hunter Valley, we were a bit shocked by the number of cars for Snow Time and the Chocolate Festival!  There were cars parked all over the main road… and quite far from the Gardens.  Luckily it was not as bad on Sunday.  We checked-in at the Mercure Hunter Valley Gardens.  Unfortunately the room was pretty average (Mr H and I are hard to please when it comes to accommodation) but the bed was comfortable, it was convenient and had a discount on the Hunter Valley Garden entrance tickets.  It was really nice being able to walk to the Hunter Valley Garden Village and to the Gardens rather than fight the parking lot. 

Our first stop was a walk to the HV Garden Village.  We had a coffee and cookie at Hunter Valley Cookies (yum) then a play at the playground (burn that energy!).

Eloise enjoying the cookie of the day "Death by Chocolate"

For dinner we drove back into Cessnock to try sSs BBQ.  Eden enjoyed their free peanuts and Cajun popcorn as his dinner.

2 spoons are more productive

Snow Time!

Snack pack cereal and banana bread = make-shift hotel breakfast
(Or the 'Stingy Breakfast')

After a make-shift hotel breakfast (love that it worked really well!)  we bundled up and walked over to the Gardens.  First stop was ice skating tickets, then our first play in the snow!

Snow Time!

Eloise jumped right in.  She was shocked by how cold it was but she went straight to work on a snowman.  Eden wasn’t too sure.  I had to put him in the snow pit before he would explore.  He said “cold”, “wet” and then searched for shovels to build his own snowman.  Soon, he was desperate to get into the snowball fight pits… umm, no.  I saw a teenager nearly lose an eye in there!

Our first snowman

Ice Skating

You never forget, right?  I didn’t!  Especially how uncomfortable ice skates are.  Ouch!  That  first step onto the ice is always a bit confronting.  Ha, ha!  I am just thinking of a few of the dad’s ahead of us that went for it then promptly fell on their bums!  Eloise was very nervous but she did very well.  We scooted along the wall for the first round.  I just kept reminding her to go slowly and to slide her feet like she is in socks.  She didn’t chop at the ice at all and only fell over once.  By the 3 and 4^th time around the rink, she was able to hold onto to the wall with one hand and mine with the other.  A few of the corners, she was also willing to let go of the wall and just let me help her.  I was in a full sweat by the end of the 20 minutes though!  I was very proud she kept trying and didn’t give up.

Skates on!  Ready to go!

Pure concentration

Starting to get the hang of it...

After a walk through the Storybook Gardens (my favourite), a play on the jumping castle, and the Husky Racing and Ice Sculpting by Kenji Ogawa demonstrations we decided to leave the Gardens for lunch (good idea since the lines were crazy!). 

Jack fell down and broke his crown...
Eloise and Jill came tumbling down after!

Wake up Wee Willy Winkee!

Mad Hatters Tea Party

Husky Racing Demonstration

Ice sculpting by Kenji  Ogawa

Then we piled into the car for nap time.  Eden was asleep before we even pulled out of the hotel driveway and Eloise within 5 minutes. Mr H and I then hit up our favourite wineries, tag-teaming the cellar doors (one in, one stays in the car).  By the time we go to Tempus Two and the Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop, it had been over an hour and they were waking just in time for gelato!

Keith Tulloch (one of our favourites!)

Back inside the Hunter Valley Gardens, we checked out the Chocolate Festival and were thrilled to find Adriano Zumbo just standing around.  For those who don’t know, he’s a chef-librity thanks to the Masterchef juggernaut.  His patisserie in Balmain has long queues for his macaroons, or Zumbarons.

With Adriano Zumbo

The Classics 

After our brush with fame, we headed back to Snow Time for more snow play and tobogganing!  Mr E loved it so much, we went 4 times! 

Snow ball expert

On the toboggan... WEEEEE!

Poor Eden was so exhausted after tobogganing we walked back to the hotel and he just lay on the bed, not moving and watched TV.  He perked up when daddy returned with dinner (pizza) but shortly after, handed me his pyjamas because he wanted to go to bed.

Monday morning, after a slight sleep in and another make-shift breakfast, we headed back to Sydney.  Brr, was it cold!  -1.9c during the night and only 4c at 8:30am.  Eloise and Eden were happy to tell their teachers about their weekend while we started our work week.

All in all, we had a wonderful weekend.  Eden really liked the snow and couldn’t get enough of building snowmen, then hitting them over the head with a shovel.  It was a great introduction to the snow for the next time we actually get to spend a Christmas in California!  (It crossed both our minds for Christmas this year… maybe)