I wrapped up my time in Sydney which has some interesting older architecture, particularly in the 'Rocks' (old convict and port) district-

But Sydney is all about the harbor.  For you sailing buffs-

So I headed out to the Hunter Valley, Australia’s oldest wine region about 3 hours northeast of Sydney.  There I rented a bike and headed out to visit and taste at 5 or 6 local wineries, which tended to specialize in Chardonnay and Semillon, as well as- naturally- Shiraz.  It was a very enjoyable and interesting day as I met several interesting Aussies, as well as seeing some kangaroos while cycling through the countryside (they were just bounding along a little too fast for my camera). 

I kept running into one 40ish couple who had also rented bikes and were touring the vineyards.  They, particularly the man, were quite chatty and we shared a couple of tasting tables at different wineries.  At one point, the wife kept asking the fellow about which wine he liked while he was talking to me and she seemed to get annoyed when he failed to respond.  Finally he turned to her and said “Look, I have only got about 10 minutes or so to talk to this American fellow.  I can talk to you for the rest of my life.”  I felt like I was disrupting a marriage.  They were from Sydney and were there to see a Shakespeare play at one of the vineyards the next night, tho the fellow originally hailed from England.    

At one of the vineyards- actually the one holding the Shakespeare play- I met a cheery and gregarious older lady who happened to own the vineyard with her retired husband.  They had bought the winery 16 years before but had only moved up here after he retired from his Sydney-based software business 3 years ago (maybe wine making is in Emily and Kyle’s distant future).  Anyway, they kept on the wine maker from the previous owner who was still with the winery.  According to the woman, he was somewhat resistant to change...

  As I noted how, like all Australian wines, her bottles had screw tops, she discussed that history a little bit and then said the winemaker said years ago that he would ‘never use them’ .  I think they had now been using them some 10 years or so.  We then got to discussing the oak barrels and she said they were moving to some newfangled barrel system which was far more efficient and that the winemaker had said a few years ago that he would ‘never use them’.  That is until he discovered that they did a better job with half the work.  Finally, she remarked that they had just retained a new wine making assistant, a young woman and former pharmacist.  She noted that when they bruited the subject a couple years ago of hiring an assistant, he emphatically stated that “Ok, but he would never go along with hiring a woman!”  The woman told me that the new female assistant had been there about a year now.  

Her wines were good, too, but they were only sold at the cellar door.  Maybe if the winemaker said he would never allow their export, they will one day end up in the U.S.