Friday, July 26, 2013

Spicers, Hunter Valley

July 2013



For a girls weekend away my sister, mother and I stayed at Spicers Vineyards Estate in the Hunter Valley. The service was great, the food was fantastic and it was a great place just to relax.


There was three of us in the same room, and with the pull out bed there was more than enough room.


The bathroom was also spacious, with the spa bath ready and waiting....



 Breakfast was included, and was full of variety and scrumptious.






Friday, July 19, 2013

Weekend in the Hunter, NSW, Australia

July 2013


This was a girls weekend, with me, my sister and my mum leaving Sydney early afternoon of the Friday. The weather held out all weekend and although it was fresh (cool), it was sunny, allowing us to make the most of the outdoors. There's always plenty to do and it was hard to narrow it down, especially with the Chocolate festival on....


Stay
Spicers Vineyard - highly recommended, great service and a great atmosphere for a quiet get away, breakfast was an added bonus.



Eat
Botanica - the onsite restaurant for Spicers had fabulous food, fresh, tasty and just the right portion sizes



Emersons - another favourite in the Hunter, and the degustation menu seemed to be popular (we didn't have it)

We also had lunch at Taste of the Country in the Hunter Valley Gardens Village. Mum and I shared the cheese platter for 2, and it could have easily feed all three of us.



Do
Hunter Valley Gardens - the chocolate festival was on this weekend for an added bonus





Peppers Creek Antiques



Tempus Two Cellar Door


Hunter Valley Cheese Shop


Pukara Estate Olive Tasting Room

Run down Hermitage Road, the weather was perfect for a nice 13Km from the hotel, just watch out for cars as there's not a lot of room on the side of the road

Friday, July 12, 2013

Sokyo, Star, Sydney

June 2013



On a recent lazy weekend away, we decided to try Sokyo, as the place I had wanted to try was booked out.



We were not disappointed. A little trendy, great service and fabulous food.

 We started with Kingfish Miso Ceviche, which is my new favourite form of raw fish $18



Followed by Snapper & Spanner Crab Spicy Soy $18


We tried the pumpkin Tempura, which I discovered a love for while working in Auckland $10

Kurobuta Pork Belly Robata $14

We had a mixture of nigiri - Scallop (Japan) $4 ea, Scampi (New Zealand) $8.50 ea and Salmon (Tasmania) $4 ea

And you can't have Japanese without edemame $7

Friday, July 5, 2013

The Darling, Star, Sydney

June 2013


Or a tiny bit of Vegas in Sydney (I did say tiny)....



The Darling is one of the newer hotels in Sydney, and the Jewel Suite did not disappoint.











 As an added bonus there is a Zumbo bakery is just downstairs....