Yesterday...

Terrace Two vineyard..

Lindeman's Vineyard

Hope Vineyard..

I have sooo many pics of the vineyards I just picked a few ....

We had a great day yesterday. Sorry I did not update it last night ....

We drove out to the Hunter Valley Wine Tour on a bus with a tour guide that had the most hilarious voice. It was a combination of an old woman sound, a really high pitch sound, and then Australian accent. We were laughing at it and thinking it was funny for the first four or five minutes of the trip...and by the end of it (four hours later) someone had actually taken the mic from her and told her she was not allowed to talk anymore. It was HILARIOUS...I will post some videos of her on here and hopefully you can hear it. But enough about that...it was a two hour drive out there and there were lots of different vineyards. We toured three. The first stop had four wine tastings, and we were able to walk around behind the scenes and get cool pics. It was called HOPE vineyards. The second stop was where we had lunch I was called LINDEMAN'S. The food has been so great here but once again the best thing on the menu for me was the fried fish...it is just so good here. We had pasta, salad, bread, chicken, steak, fish, fruit, and a huge dessert bar. They put a bottle of red and white wine on the table and kept replacing it as we would drink the bottles....I used to be more of a white wine person but we purchased a bottle of the red to drink later in the room. I thought it was the best. There was also another type we bought there called the Juliet. It is very floral and fruity and sparkling. It is really good as well. Not the kind for Bryon, but I liked it. We took some great photos at this vineyard, and had a few other groups with Federated join us here as well . The last stop on the tour was called TERRACE TWO. This was a very modern looking building and winery, and had the most tastings on the list. Here we sampled eight different wines, and were feeling pretty good by this point :0) We had some great photos from here as well. We boarded the bus and drove the two hours home. This took what seemed like FOREVER...this is also when the guy took the mic from the tour guide...once again .....sooo funny! I have a million pics from this event so I will just put a few on here. Don't play the second video around little ears...

Beginning of the trip..




And the end....

OK....Here we go

Whew...it is 6:30 a.m. here in Sydney(2:57 a.m. SC), and we are getting geared up for another great day! Here is the link for the restaurant we ate at last night for any of those interested.. http://www.cruisebar.com.au/ This was not an included expense for us, so we did have to front this bill ...it was roughly $100 a person...whoa! The food was definitely great though!

I am thinking a little more clearly this morning , and I am excited about today's events, but also a little weary :0) We are having the Hunter Valley Wine Tour from 8-4:30 and then when we get back we are having Federated's Pub Night at the Argyle which I hear is one of the best bar's in the world! This may be a looong day..It is a great day for us to be doing this type of thing because it is raining outside today. I am glad this is not our beach, hiking, or bridge climb day that would have been a bummer! I will probably just post pictures later unless there is something really interesting to say...don't know if I will be able to type straight HAHAHA :0)

Day Two Dine Around

The Cruise Restaurant...the big boat was blocking the view...
Brad and Garrett


Brad and Nima

FRESH sangria...soooo good!

All the guys from Bryon's class...

Very blurry but the yellow writing is our hotel from the restaurant/club


We had a great night! We lost Brad, Nima, and Garrett (the single guys) somewhere in the walk back to the hotel. We went around the world but did finally make it back. Whew....we definately walked off diner tonight! We are now back at the hotel bout to crash...we have to get up early and are doing the wine tour tomorrow and then the pub tour....gonna be a loooong day! We have be dowstairs at 8...breakfast buffet starts at 6 if we can get up...g'night! (11:50p.m. Feb. 4th Aussie time, 7:50 a.m. Feb. 4th SC time)

Day Two: Business Meeting, Bridge Climb and Dine Around

WOW!

These are pictures of pictures ....they look better in person!

Bryon, Nima, and Brad at the pub

We woke up this morning at 5:15, and began getting ready for the day. We dressed and met downstairs to catch the bus to breakfast. We were taken to the Mariott and had a bufffet that included bacon, sausage, eggs benedict, fruit, scrambled eggs, and a pastry and muffin bar. After this we were walked to the city hall of the business meeting. I will post some pictures of the SC district in the theatre. After the business meeting we were bussed back to the hotel and then had to quickly get ready for the bridge climb. We changed, then went to a pub on the corner that also served pizza. We tried the Pepper Kangaroo pizza that included native berries and kangaroo meat (I can't believe I ate that....Bryon jnust told me that was what the meat on the pizza was...I guess the name of the pizza should have given it away....no wonder I have had heart burn all afternoon. YUCK!) But anyway....ok so then we walkewd over to the bridge climb location. This was so fun and truely a once in a lifetime event! We were not allowed to take a camera on teh bridge, but did buy some photos. I will try and take a phot of a photo and post it...The bridege climb lasted approximately three hours, but was well worth it and flew by!! Here is the link if you would like to check it out: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/ We had perfect weather for the climb. It was overcast, and very windy which added to the adrenaline rush of the climb (38 knotts wind) but it was not really hot as it would have been if the sun had been beaming down. After the clinmb we stopped by a local pub and grabbed a Australian Beer, then headed back to the hotel to get ready. I am sitting here trying to quickly get ready for the dine around, and complete this blog entry at the same time! Rush, rush! We are going to eat at the Boat Cruise Restaurant...and no it is not a boat, or a cruise, it just happens to be the name of the restaurant. We re going with a group of our friends....pictures of that to come later tonight :0) Hello all at home! We miss you! :0)

First Night

Dessert and Fruit Bar
Frank and Laurie Cannon, and the Sushi Bar....

The restaurant from the front


Close..

Far Away...

Bryon and I with Donald and Kara Jones. Hello Madison and Mallory!

Al Annexstad CEO and Chairman of Federated Insurance...(Don't think he knew I was taking his picture....I was pretending to get the big boat in the background...)

Tonight we had dinner at the Waterfront restaurant. It was overlooking the Harbor, and we were able to get photos in front of both the Bridge as well as the Opera House. The menu included sushi, vegetable rolls, salmon kabobs, lo mein, beef ribs, beef kabobs, fish and chips, wontons, a pastry and fruti bar as well as a cocktail bar that lasted two hours. All food was great, and if I had to pick a favorite it was definately the fish and chips! We had great time, but are now ready to CRASH!!!! WE HAVE NOT SLEPT IN A BED IN MANY HOURS!!! THIS IS GONNA FEEL GREAT!!! First thing in the morning is a breakfast buffet at the Weston Grand Ballroom, and then the business meeting will take place at the city recital hall. (P.s. Aussie time: 8:28 p.m. Feb 4th and SC time: 4:28 am. Feb 3rd) More to Come!

BRIDGE CLIMB TOMORROW!