Australia's finest....

Actually, I don't if that is really true but at least in all travel books and MUST SEE top 10 list is the famous wine region Hunter Valley which lays about 150km to the north of Sydney. As expected the rain continued in West Coast Rock and all the dive trips were cancelled (as if I was even still interested) so after breakfast I jumped behind the wheel again and started driving towards the land of the grapes.  And driving through these small towns I couldn't stop but noticing how familiar they felt.  I can't really explain why but they remind me of my time in Texas.   Large pick up trucks, sport bars in the towns' central streets, trailer parks, poorly maintained houses with crooked picked fences.  I simply did not picture this with Australia. And yet in the past week on the road of must have seen dozens of towns like this already.   It may comes across as if despise the entire existence of them which is not the case, but I had simply pictured it differently in my mind.   To top it off I actually stayed at a campsite in the wine region that reflected just the above, but then on a camping.....with large caravans and retired farmers who love their beers in the afternoon if you know what I mean. And that made even less sense to me because I was in wine country which is supposed to be picturesque and classy, overlooking the valley with a beautiful painting like sunsets and drinking a good glass of wine at a wine estate. Where was that?   Plus....guess what.....it was raining!!!  So, with some disappointment and all but optimistic mindset I cooked my dinner, skyped with the homefront and went to bed early. Until the next morning and then surprisingly the clouds disappeared and made way for blue skies and glorifying rays of sunshine. Yesterday was a beautiful day and I made the most of out it by driving about 60km through country roads, into the hills and valley where the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I have tried to capture it on camera but I have also come to the conclusion that the hardest thing to translate to a picture are the grandness and immensity of such landscapes.   Luckily they have been put into my memory forever.   Of course I also stopped by a couple of wineries and treated to a bottle or two:).  Next stop, for real this time, is Sydney.   Later mates.....