Drunken Sheep Shearing.

Day 6: Monday, June 22nd, 2015
Steps taken: 4,210

I woke up a little before 6, cleaned up, and brought my things upstairs for our departure.  I stopped in 7-11 for a drink and a few snacks, and got on the bus, which was named Georgia.

We had breakfast on the bus and were on our way to our first destination, which was a winery.  I read most of the way there.  Caitlin tried to get us to open up by playing bus games, but we were still awkward aardvarks.  That or still in sleep mode.

Around 9:30 we arrived in the Hunter Valley at the Tyrrell Winery.  For about half an hour we sampled some wine before the tour.  I know a few people who would kill to spend a Monday morning at a winery.  The gentleman behind the bar was awesome.  He would ask trivia questions based on where you were from.  He would serve you when you got a question right.  It was fun, so I was playing his games even when I already had a glass of wine in hand.

The tour of the vineyard was cool.  Our tour guide whose name I forgot was informative with a slightly dry sense of humor.  He discussed the history of wine making in the Hunter Valley as well as the process of grape growing, wine making, and the winery itself.  I believe my great-great-grandparents in Italy were wine makers, so this helped me feel closer to my ancestry.  After the tour, we had a tasting of more of their wines.  I really liked their shiraz and one other although I can't remember at the moment (since it was 5 days from the event that I wrote this entry ((and two years to type it))).  I would have bought a bottle, but I did not want to lug it around with me for the rest of the trip.  If any of the liquor stores near me carries their product then I will pick up a bottle.  The tour overall ended on a disturbing note when people started telling dead baby jokes.  I guess that's why you don't drink in the morning.

After the winery, we continued northward for our next destination/accommodation.  We stopped off for lunch at a Cole's shopping plaza where I picked up a shrimp tempura, salmon avocado roll, and a chicken teriyaki roll.  I ate my lunch outside sitting on a sundial.

From there it was a few hour drive to our next stop, which was the DAG Sheep Station in Nundle.  When we arrived we were waiting for the shearer to return, so we unpacked for the night, and had a dinner of lamb stew and pasta.  It was quite good even though we were about to attend a sheep shearing demonstration.

Around 6-6:30, the shearer arrived, and after he had eaten, we went up to the shearing station and were given a crash course in how to shear a sheep.  The last time I did anything like this must have been on a 2nd grade field trip.  At the end of it we all got to take individual photos with the sheep, and three people actually got to sheer the sheep.  When it was done I read for a bit, and went to sleep counting sheep from that day and dreaming of gold that would mark the next day.