Archie's old school pal Murdo lives in Hamilton on the edge of Newcastle, a couple of hours north of Sydney. It's a bonny wee town by the sea with lovely beaches and placid streets lined with quaint wooden bungalows with verandahs. Murdo, his wife Ruth and their 3 children made us very welcome, introduced us to the fruits of the local vineyards and we had a good old catch-up on the Invernesian alumni. Murdo's brother Calum runs a cinema in Wanaka, New Zealand (see NZ entry for details).
The Hunter Valley vinyard area is very attractive and we enjoyed a stop at Peterson's "Champagne" house where we sampled their fizzy produce and had a very fine lunch. They also make chocolate so it is a pretty good place to visit, especially if you are not driving -which Archie, bless him, was. I tried all the wines and told him how nice they were.
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