Hunter Valley YHA

I spent my big-​three-​O here. The very day where I was surrounded by new friends I just met and had no idea it was my birthday. The very day Hunter Valley hit the record high of 46c. The very day it had a clear sky at night with Orion staring at me, followed by crazy blacks clouds and thunderstorm the next day. All pretty surreal, to say the least.
Nigel (if I remember the name correctly), the manager of the hostel, was also the wine tour guide too. Pretty funny, helpful, and chillaxing guy. The hot weather didn’t really help us enjoying the Shiraz though, and as soon as we returned back to the hostel, we jumped into the pool (air-​con in the dorm room was certainly not strong enough, but I didn’t blame them — no air-​con is strong enough at 46c).
Spent a few night doing the usual boozing at the at the bench with other backpackers just outside of the lounge area. Turned out the guy coming from Perth was celebrating his birthday here with his girlfriend, so the 5 of us (with another geeky German geology fresh graduate, and whoever the other guy) walked about 10mins in darkness to find this pub next to the hostel. Pretty good vibe here, check it out the beer there if you have too much of Shiraz too.
You kinda need a car to get around to the supermarket 5mins down the road, which I was more than happy to help the folks here with my ’98 Toyota Camry. There were a friendly Korean couple here too, it’s a shame we lost touch as they were not on Facebook.
They also do the classic Aussie BBQ early evening at some selected days of the week, check their whiteboard.

So I gots me a new favourite hostel.
Yep, hostel, with an S. Never stayed at one? Worried they’re full of dirty backpackers and head lice? If so I’m not even mad, I kind of feel sorry for you because hostels are hubs of creativity, language, international relations, and, of course, drinking. They’re tiny models of what the U.N. could and should be if it got its act together.
Anyway, I love hostels, and this one is just outside of Cessnock AKA Cesspit AKA The ‘Pool (wholly undeserving names, all) is a fine find indeed. An old wooden homestead-​style building with tin roof and a huge verandah that goes all the way around (ALL the way, baby), it’s also set on tranquil bushland. Here’s what’s on each of the 4 sides of the ginormous property:
1. it’s own beautiful private vineyard
2. a paddock and dry riverbed and friendly horse
3. grassy field with wild rabbits that come out to play at dawn and dusk
4. a gravel car park to park your Wicked Camper van if you’re a tourist, or your Holden or Ford if you’re anyone else, or your Daewoo Lanos if you’re me.
They do tours to wine country, and are a 5min drive to town (‘town’ being a relative concept out here), and, well, it’s the most relaxed I’ve felt for yonks. The rooms are super bare bones, but for 30 or so clams a night, whatd’you expect, the Ritz? The common room and the big tables out on the verandah are aces for meeting people, esp. internationals.