Smashing time in the Hunter.

Posted January 5th, 2006 by jhuny

JPB and I had just finished a fantastic meal at The Cellar in the Hunter Valley. I had taken him up there for his birthday and the dinner was a delightful way to finish off a fun day of wine tasting. Up until that point, it had been a perfect day.

So the last thing we were expecting was a wine glass to be thrown at us.

At the very least, I've had a very eventful holiday season. Though for the second time in about two weeks I found myself dusting off bits of glass. Most of the offending projectile landed in JPB's lap. Both of us weren't hurt, I was a bit rattled by the experience and needed to go home and have a good night sleep but JPB seemed quite unperturbed.

One of the guys at the next table stood up, yelled "Why do I have to sit here and watch this all night?", and stormed off. Alot of commotion on the next table and an embarrassed young lady came up to us to check if we were alright; she apologised and offered to take care of our bill while the rest of her party took off. I was quite stunned and couldn't say a word. The lovely wait staff efficiently took care of us, making sure we were okay and whisking us to an empty table to clean up the mess. JPB and I aren't even sure what was thrown at us, it could have been a glass or a bottle, but everything was cleaned up so quickly. Before we knew it the neighouring party had left, the table had been cleaned up and the other restaurant patrons were focussed back on their own tables. Though our bill was paid, on our departure JPB offered a significant tip to thank the girls for their help. Nothing was said on the entire trip back to our guest house.

The entire night I hadn't paid any attention to anyone else but JPB and even though JPB had been directly facing the guy the whole night and saw him stand up to throw the glass, it all came out of nowhere for him as well. We don't think they would be local people because, well, it's the Hunter Valley, you'd expect the locals to be used to poof couples visiting for the lovely food and wine. JPB and I had been on a bus tour the whole day, we had been to a number of wineries, we had been affectionate the entire time and up until then no one around us seemed to have a problem.

It was such a shame. It could have been a perfect day.

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