HUNTER VALLEY MAGAZINE

There’s a particular kind of pleasure in arriving somewhere without expectation and leaving with the quiet certainty that you’ve discovered something just before everyone else does. Branxton is beginning to feel like that place.

There's something about a craft beer that tastes even better when there's a chill in the air. As the Hunter Valley settles into its cooler months, the vines stripped bare and the mornings sharp with frost, The Valley Brewhouse comes into its own as one of the region's most welcoming and characterful places to pull up a chair and linger a little longer.

There’s a moment, just before sunrise in the Hunter Valley, when the landscape holds its breath. The mist sits low across the vineyards, the light begins to shift, and, almost without warning, the sky begins to fill with colour. Not clouds, but balloons. Slow, silent, and impossibly graceful, they drift across the valley, marking the start of another day for Balloon Aloft.

When the craving for something a little different hits, Ocha Japanese & Thai Restaurant at Cessnock's historic Railway Hotel has become the Hunter Valley's go-to for authentic Asian dining. As the sister venue to Oishii Japanese & Thai Restaurant, Ocha has quickly carved out its own devoted following, and it's easy to see why.

There are plenty of reasons to linger in the Hunter Valley, but Sabor in the Hunter Dessert Bar gives you one of the sweetest.

There's a good reason locals keep coming back to The Thirsty Horse.