Day 1: The Hunter Valley and Twistops Retreat
August 13, 2019
My adventure up the east coast of Australia started with an early pick up at 8 AM from right outside my hostel. I was introduced to our tour guide Lins who is honestly the best tour guide I have ever had! She had me place my pack in the trailer and select a seat on the bus. While we waited for everyone to arrive, my fellow travelers started introducing ourselves and getting to know one another. The tour only had 11 people on it since it was the slow winter season, but it was the perfect sized group. We all got along really well and they were some of the best people I have traveled with so far!
The Hunter Valley
Once we were all accounted for we set off to start our adventures! We drove a few hours to the Hunter Valley outside of Sydney. The Hunter Valley is one of the main winemaking regions of Australia. It is like the Napa Valley in the States. Here we passed dozens of vineyards and wineries until we reached Hope Estate.
Hope Estate is the largest winery in the Hunter Valley and hosts dozens of live events each year. They host concerts for musicians such as Tim McGraw and Elton John in their outdoor concert arena. It was a quiet day when we visited and we enjoyed a nice wine tasting on the outdoor veranda while watching some kangaroos hop across the lawn.
Our host’s name was Larissa and she was great! Very funny and also very knowledgeable about the different wines we were tasting. Most of their wines at the estate are made with Semillon grapes. We tried a few white wines, a couple of reds, as well as a dessert wine. Most of the travelers in the group were not fans of wine, but I love it! The wines were very good, apart from one white wine that tastes like pickle juice (yuck!) and the dessert wine (too sickly sweet).
While we were doing the tasting, Larissa filled us in on some wine secrets and facts.
Did you know that:
- The whiter the wine, the younger the grape is that it is made out of. However, whiter wines do not age well.
- The darker the white wine, the older the vines are and the better the wine ages.
- The older the vines are the higher the quality of the juice, but fewer grapes grow on these vines. So less wine can be made from it, making the wine more expensive.
- The nicer the bottle, the better the quality of the wine.
- When looking for a nice wine, look at the bottle. The deeper the divot is on the bottom of the bottle, the nicer the wine. If the bottle is flatter on the bottom, the lower the quality of the wine.
After we finished our delicious tasting, we explored the shop, hall, and grounds. Up in the hall, there are enormous barrels that are signed by celebrities. Most mentioned were from Australia and therefore I did not know them by name.
We then loaded back up onto the bus and started our journey to our next destination, and first accommodation, Twistop Retreat.
Twistop Retreat
Nothing like starting a tour with people you don’t know with a drive into the middle of nowhere with no cell service! Getting to Twistop was an adventure in itself! Located near Barrington Tops National Park, we drove through the Australian countryside, over rivers, and up some hills to reach our destination. Lins, our tour guide, must have read our minds and informed us not to worry, this isn’t the start of a horror movie where she is bringing us into the Australian bush for our untimely deaths. Haha! This STRAY specific stop is included to show us, tourists, the remote, Australian countryside.
And show us it did! When we arrived, we were immediately drawn to the beautiful view from the retreats hilltop location. It was incredibly beautiful. We were greeted by Will the owner, his dog Oaky, and two other backpackers who were working at Twistops. We were given a brief tour of the property and then grabbed our overnight essentials from our bags.
I expected Twistops Retreat to be a grand lodge in the Barrington Top hills, but it was actually a small ranch house. The rooms were very small and cramped. They were so small that we were not able to bring in our large bags, we had to take whatever we needed out of them and then leave them in the trailer.
River Tubing
Once we had our bearings, we quickly had to get ready to do the main attraction, river tubing, before sunset. At the house, we were given wetsuits, booties, gloves, life vests, and helmets to put on. I was so glad we were given wetsuits because it was freezing! We then piled into the Twistops Retreat van and driven down to the river that runs through the property.
When we arrived at the park where we were to start, we saw a bunch of wallabies! They all ran off though as soon as we arrived. We gathered for a group photo and then started our 10-minute trek through the woods to the entry point.
Getting into the river was a bit tricky as the rocks were slippery and also the water freezing! Luckily no one tipped over trying to get in and we were on our way! I wish I brought my GoPro with me, but in the rush to get ready, I forgot to grab it!
The river was very calm for the most part. We had to paddle with our arms most of the way to keep up with the group and by the end of the tubing, my arms were killing me! Although mostly calm, there were four sets of rapids that we went over that increased in severity. The last one was called the four steps because it literally was like four steps we had to go down! It was very steep and Will had to stand in the water and help us down the last step as it was a two-foot drop! I almost tipped over, but luckily I did not!
Relaxing in the Hot Tub
When we reached the end, we all hopped back into the van and back up the hill to the house. We changed out of our wetsuits quickly and then jumped into the hot tub as quickly as we could! The view from the hot tub was amazing! The staff brought us drinks and appetizers while we warmed up. What service! The cheesy garlic bread was delicious!
The river tubing and hot tub afterward was the best part of Twistops Retreat. We all stayed in the hot tub for as long as we could and got to know one another. It was then time for dinner so we moved to the outdoor pavilion to eat. We had salads and oven brick pizzas.
We ended the night by playing some drinking games and then went to bed. The cubby bunk I slept in was not very comfortable so I did not get the best night’s sleep.
