Our plan was always to spend a few days with Janis and Jim in Medowie, near Newcastle, on our way south. However, a death in the family just before we arrived meant they had to leave for Victoria for a funeral. They asked us if we could housesit and look after their two year old schnauzer, Tashi, for a week. We were happy to do this and they managed to delay their trip to have the weekend with us.

They are another couple who have moved house since 2014 when we last visited but it was easy to find them at their beautiful home overlooking the Pacific Dunes Golf Course. It was great to see them again and meet Tashi! Janis informed me that Tashi is male and his name is actually Tashi Deleck which means ‘good luck or blessings and greetings’ in Bhutanese. (Janis visited and loved Bhutan). Anyway Tashi was a delight, an extremely happy and friendly pup.

Janis wanted to make the most of the weekend and, since we had just missed Jim’s birthday, she suggested we go out for lunch in the Hunter Valley. On the way, we stopped at the Vintage Golf Club. It was beautiful and John was very impressed with the course which he told me Greg Norman designed. Apparently it’s one of the best courses in Australia. We moved on to look at the Bimbadgen Winery where Janis and Jim had their wedding lunch four years ago. It was just lovely. So much so that we decided to have a drink there! And Janis bought a carton of bubbly – her favourite.

The restaurant Janis booked turned out to be Circa 1876, a hatted restaurant located on the lovely grounds of Roscrea Estate in the wine region of Polkobin, and set in an historic cottage with exposed beams on the ceiling. We were seated and presented menus by very attentive staff and I felt we were all quite underdressed in our jeans. However, the staff didn’t seem to notice or care, and were very professional. The menu was incredible (expensive of course) and we had some trouble making our choices! As well as the three courses, the chef sent out some little tasting dishes and a special extra dessert for Jim in honour of his birthday. The food was amazing.

We had a wonderful lunch and a great day. Thanks Jim!

The following day, we took Janis and Jim out for breakfast at The Poyers at Lemon Tree Passage. We had a little look around the town but it was quite cold so John and I said we’d definitely come back and we did although The Poyers was closed. Instead we had a lovely coffee in the Lemon Tree Cafe then browsed the local shops.

When we returned home, Jim and John went out for a game of golf. Janis had tickets for a choral concert by Port Harmony called ‘Earth and Sky’ so she and her friend Jackie took me along to the Soldiers Point Bowling Club. We had a delightful afternoon and I was introduced to some of their friends.

Janis and Jim took off for Melbourne and left us in charge of Tashi. He was great company but also slept in our bed each night! He seemed to take a liking to John maybe because he played with him and walked him.

Jackie very kindly invited John to play golf with her in the Vets Competition and I went later and joined them for lunch when they’d finished, as the clubhouse was only a few minutes walk from the house. Everyone was very friendly and Jackie asked me to join her, Wendy and Joanna on a hike the next day up Mount Tomaree. I must admit I was a bit worried I’d embarrass myself as I’d heard it was a very steep climb.

As it turned out I managed fine. We were all puffed out but it was well worth the climb to see the fantastic view from the top across Port Stephens.

The views were stunning. We could see the Port Stephens coastline, Cabbage Tree, Boondelbah Islands, Yacaaba Head, Broughton Islands, Zenith, Wreck and Box Beaches, Fingal Island and the Port Stephens Lighthouse. On the way back down, we took time to look at the World War II gun emplacements.

When we finished our hike we had a well earned glass of wine and a beautiful lunch at The Shoal Bay Country Club. What a lovely group of ladies they were. I had a lovely time.

Jackie drove us back to the estate and I assumed that was the end of a wonderful day. However these ladies don’t do things by halves. Joanna invited us into her house (for coffee I thought) and opened more wine. We sat out on the balcony overlooking the eighth hole and all the way down the golf course. Her husband, Paul, joined us and we had a very pleasant afternoon. I certainly slept well that night!

During the hike the girls had recommended John and I take the ferry over to Tea Gardens from Nelson Bay so we did. We didn’t know what was there but I assumed it was a tea room in some gardens. In fact Tea Gardens is the name of a small town so we discovered on our arrival! We had booked the 8.30am ferry and it was really cold while we waited to board. Luckily the little ferry was warmer and we had a very pleasant one hour trip over there.

We had over four hours to kill in the tiny town so we headed straight for a little cafe on the edge of the water for breakfast. We shared French toast with maple syrup and berries, and watched the ferry return to Nelson Bay. We also watched a pod of dolphins herd a school of fish and later we saw some pelicans outside the fish market obviously waiting for their breakfast. They must all have been hungry too.

It wasn’t hard to kill four hours in Tea Gardens. It is a charming little place with some nice shops, cafes, a local arts and crafts shop run by volunteers, and a pub overlooking the water. We checked out the library which had some artwork outside and also some ‘peg people’ that represented the families of the first settlers in the area. Along the foreshore was the Anzac Memorial Park and some sculptures which we found interesting.

Further along a dog was sitting on top of the rubbish bins! John called it ‘The Dog on the Tucker Box’. It kept barking and looking towards the pub but it wouldn’t come down – until one of the patrons, its owner, called him over!

Around midday we had finished exploring and shopping so we also went into the pub for some lunch. We sat in the beer garden and enjoyed the sun. I was really pleased the girls had suggested Tea Gardens to us, we had a very relaxing day.

When Janis and Jim returned from Victoria, they persuaded us to stay a couple of extra days. They drove us back to the Hunter Valley to a village called Morpeth. It was certainly our kind of town – small and quaint with old buildings and unique shops. It was lovely.

As it was close to Janis’s birthday this time, she again booked a restaurant for lunch. This one was Boydells, a beautiful restaurant within a winery set in an old, renovated cottage. The meal was sensational, and the waiter talked us into wine tasting. Before we left we bought some wine to drink later. It was so delicious.

We had a super day but for Janis and I it wasn’t finished. Janis had tickets for the Opera in the evening and wanted me to go along because Jim wasn’t keen. After a short nana nap when we got home, we left for the Civic Theatre in Newcastle.

We took the ferry across to Newcastle which was just a five minute trip but it was lovely looking at the lights of the city. We were quite early so popped into a restaurant for coffee and dessert. Unfortunately we were still too early so decided to enjoy an Espresso Martini!

The Civic Theatre was absolutely stunning, ornately decorated in the 1920’s baroque style. I couldn’t stop looking at the walls and ceiling.

With the wine at lunch and Espresso Martini before the show, we were both worried that we’d fall asleep. However The Barber of Seville is a funny and upbeat opera and we both loved every minute of it!

We had a fabulous couple of weeks at Janis and Jim’s and were quite sad to leave. But leave we did, south towards Sydney.