Cheekiemonkies' Great Aussie Road Trip: Day 1

17th June: Hunter Valley Gardens, Pokolbin

We started our holiday on a night flight to Sydney. This time, we were feeling a tad adventurous as we had decided to take a road trip up north from Sydney to Brisbane. Thank goodness the plane was pretty empty, so di-di & I were able to stretch our bodies over 3 seats. Hee hee...

We arrived bright and early in the winterly season of Sydney. It wasn't that cold yet - at least Daddy & us 2 monkies didn't feel too shivery. :P Anyway, we proceeded to drive up to Hunter Valley, where all the nice vineyards & wineries are located. But our main aim was to visit the Hunter Valley Gardens - home to 10 feature gardens with lots of trees, shrubs and flowers.

And our first task once we reached? To get a nice hot cuppa of hot chocolate to warm our tummies! Yummy!

The Hunter Valley Gardens can be real mind-boggling as it spread over 60 acres... so I delegated di-di to be our chief navigator while I took in the sights. :P

The Oriental Garden was our first stop...

... where we had our first family portrait taken as well. Our spirits were commendably high considering the fact that we had just arrived on a night flight. Hee.

Well, at least we had Daddy to entertain us.

But the real garden that caught di-di's & my eyes was this:

A whole garden devoted to all the popular Nursery Rhymes that you have probably heard before!

Yup, that's good ol'Humpty Dumpty. We quickly climbed up to take a photo with him before he fell.

Then we stumbled onto Hansel's & Gretel's house...

... where di-di happily found Gingie who was waiting to snap a photo with him. Hee.

The Storybook Garden has many other nursery rhymes on display, and the both of us were kept busy going around to look.

Well, that was until di-di accidentally sat down on a tumbling Jill...

... and so we had to make a run for it before all the King's horses and all King's men came after us.

But we did make it out of the garden in the end, 'cos we all know that fairy tales end with a happy ending, don't we? Hee hee...

We then headed to the Sunken Garden next, where a 10 metre waterfall waited us.

We took some time to rest our feet, and erm, to pose for the camera too.

It was the Rose Garden next - Mummy's favourite part of the whole Gardens!

Yup, Mummy loves roses and the roses there were all so big and smell so sweet! I almost wanted to pluck one out for Mummy. :P

I didn't of course. But there were some rose petals floating in a basin... which provided the perfect opportunity for di-di & me to play around. Kekekeke...

Then it was time to head to our lodging to check-in, as well as to get some much needed rest.

We were only going to stay in Hunter Valley for one night so we found ourselves this nice place at Hermitage Lodge.

The room was super cosy and comfy... I would have fallen asleep on the soft bed if not for Daddy asking me to smile for the camera.

But best of all, we had a nice view of the vineyard from our balcony...

Shiok, I can't wait for the next day's activities!