Heller Neilson Travels: Bay Shoal and Hunter Valley

Bay Shoal shores was a "beach town" on a bay that flowed into the Pacific about three hours from Sydney. It was lovely and hot! We wanted to stay in the Hunter Valley, a wine region, but several events were occurring and accommodations were hard to come by. At the suggestion of Phyllis' sister we went to Bay Shoals, a very laid back town. We ventured to the Hunter Valley on our second day and were not disappointed. It is a typical wine region with winery after winery available for tasting. The most exciting thing to happen, happened after lunch in a very cute restaurant located among the vineyards. We had a wonderful long French style repast and were enjoying the scenery and ambiance our surroundings. After lunch we took some pictures and wandered around the property for a bit. When I got in the car to leave, I realized the key separated from the key holder which opens doors etc. It was GONE! We started retracing our steps, then all the wait staff came out to help. We envisioned spending the evening waiting for help to replace the key. To make a long story short, one of the help staff found the key in the sand. By key I mean just the end! We could start the car but needed to get a new key. Luckily we were going by an airport and could exchange cars! We thought of all the places that would have been impossible to find the key, and considered this a very lucky day!

Once we got back to our apartment, we picked up the computer and went to our favorite wi-fi cafe on the water. We were minding our business in this cafe searching for emails, when a group of Australians came over to chat and asked if we knew "Chicken Mick"; seems chicken Mick sitting next to us was a Minor Celeb who had built a house with his buddies for a dying woman - early Australian Ty Pennington. They wanted us to see the web site and all the kids came over to help Cliff on the computer. Thus the photo. When Mick left, he was surrounded by admirers in the restaurant. It was another one of our entertaining days Down Under.

One of Hunter Valley's fine wineries. Lionel Ritchie was appearing the week-end.