Took this photo in the car whilst driving at 100km/h. Fabulous photo taking, I know. I know. ;)

Hello my fellow bloggers and non-bloggers!
(Is that a good enough greeting?)

Yesterday, the family and I headed up north to Maitland, Morpeth and the Hunter Valley.
We awoke to the semi-dark 7 am morning where the sun was barely up itself and headed out the door at 8.

It was a long 2 hour drive up with my sister on her L's and a maximum speed of 80km/hr in a 110km/hr highway. Fun.

After two hours of driving with some gorgeous views along the way...




We reached Maitland!

There was a massive queue of cars heading into a small side street from the highway... We decided to skip that street and head into the next one. The queue, was for the Maitland Markets!
We found a parking spot quite close to the entry and headed over.
The market was bustling with old and very young people... not many teenagers though. It was massive.. apparently over 6 THOUSAND stalls? What?!?!! We walked around for about an hour looking at the clothes... antiques... food *drools*... plants... and the random electrical appliances and wood.

May have peeped into a yard which had some awesome stuff

A cute little stall with some bonsai's.

Self-explanatory.

Back in the car, we avidly drove off to Morpeth, about a 10-20 minute drive away (with my mum at the wheel). Morpeth is a lovely little town surrounded by the country side.

So many beautiful old buildings and stores.

Another camera shot- this one surprisingly turned out- seeing as I had like 1 chance and 1 second to take this aghh!

Bought some pies!

 

Dad's photo

Had lunch at this little place

 Be prepared for terrible quality photos D: Sorry!

Dad's lunch

Sister's lunch

Mum's Lunch

My Lunch Bacon, Potato and Leek soup with 2 pieces of Sourdough bread

General Store

Candies at the General Store! Bought a packet of the colourful ones in the bottom right, yum!

Cute teapots!

Sippy, Sippy.. Ahhh! (who knows who says that?) ;)

At about 2pm, our stomachs stuffed, we headed off to the Hunter Valley. I've never been there before but of course, I have heard of its wine... and cheese. I LOVE CHEESE.


After an hour of driving, we reached a 'Soft Cheese' place. Opening the car door, oh yes, how fresh the air would be. No. It smelt horrible. I think it was the cheese. At least the view from the car was nice..


There was sadly, very little cheese there. Quite upsetting actually, but fair enough because it was a Sunday.
Instead, we walked over to the cafe and ordered a hot chocolate each for my sister and I, a mocha for my mum and a latte for my dad. The view was absolutely amazing. I kid you not.

Tried to take some photos but my sister is nOT good at all. I gave up when I asked her to film. no.

 Driving more, we reached the Hunter Valley gardens. We walked around the shops first. We tasted some chocolate, peered into store windows and browsed books, gems and more. Afterwards we drove towards the actual gardens. It was about 4:30 now- realising you had to pay to get in and it was closing, we decided it was not worth it.

A beautiful lake opposite the entry to drive into the gardens. Another car shot.

We left the 'gardens' and there was hope. THERE WAS HOPE FOR ANOTHER CHEESE PLACE.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. WE REACHED THE NEXT ONE! We tasted some cheeses..brie, cheddar & brie (in one, what? it was my favourite one) and blue cheese. There were also some dips and spreads to try. It was fabulous.

My sister and I :)

I am a sucker for pretty skies and landscape photos. Ahhh

Afterwards, we drove home for 1hr 30minutes (as my mum was driving)

It was such a fun day! Beautiful places to visit. I definitely recommend visiting there for a day and take some lovely photos while you're at it.

If you've made it this far into the post, congratulations- I took so many photos D: oops! haha

Have a lovely week,

Tara x