The Hunter Valley is the oldest wine region in Australia, with vines planted in the early nineteenth century, and the country around Pokolbin is where most of the cellar doors, restaurants and weekend cottages cluster. It lies about two hours north of Sydney, in a broad valley of gentle hills below the long blue line of the Brokenback Range, and the landscape of vineyards, paddocks and eucalypts is as much of an escape for city people as it was for their grandparents. Semillon, which here matures into a lemony, toasty white with age, is the local speciality, and Shiraz does well too.
The valley is also coal country. Open-cut mines and power stations lie a short distance up the road, and the town of Cessnock grew as a mining centre, so wine, heavy industry and horse studs sit side by side. Wollombi, a village in the hills to the south, has an old inn, a sandstone church and a stretch of the Great North Road, a convict-built route from the 1830s, with retaining walls and culverts in stone that have survived nearly two centuries.
For riders, the backroads around the valley are the draw. Lanes wind between vineyards, with gentle rises and bends, and the main roads through the hills toward Wollombi and Broke carry less traffic. The sealed surface is mostly good, though some minor roads have gravel patches and potholes after heavy rain. Kangaroos and wallabies are common at dawn and dusk, and a collision with one can be serious, so slow down in the evening. Weekends, especially long weekends, bring crowds of visitors and a lot of slow traffic, so a weekday ride is more relaxing.
Cessnock, eight kilometres away, is the main town, with fuel stations, supermarkets and cafes, and it is the safest place to fill up. Several of the wineries serve lunch, though riders will be limiting themselves to a taste at most. Summers can be very hot, with temperatures above forty degrees, and bushfire smoke occasionally affects the region. Autumn and spring are the best seasons, with pleasant temperatures and the vines changing colour in April and May.