Latest news with #HunterValley
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Check your tickets NOW: Powerball's $30million jackpot is drawn - here are the lucky numbers
Millions of Aussies are scrambling to find their tickets in the hope of becoming the country's next multi-millionaire. Thursday night's Powerball draw was worth $30million after the jackpot failed to go off for two consecutive weeks. The winning numbers for draw number 1515 were 21, 35, 26, 23, 15, 10 and 7. The Powerball was 18. The last Powerball division one win was on May 9 when a man from the NSW Hunter Valley pocketed $30 million. 'Holy s***'. I just had this ticket on the fridge. I was looking at it this afternoon and thought, "wouldn't it be lovely to win",' he told The Lott officials. He planned to look after loved ones following a 'rough trot'. 'For a start, I'll look at buying a new house and looking after the family. Then I'll take it from there,' he said. 'I used to wonder what I'd do if I got a winning phone call, but now all I can do is shake.' The next Powerball draw is on Thursday June 5 In the 2025 financial year, 395 Australians have taken home a division one Powerball prize. Of those, more than a third (120) were from NSW. The Lott recorded 422 division one winners in 2024, including 19 Powerball entries who pocketed more than $758million in prizemoney. During that time, Powerball offered a $200million jackpot, the biggest in Australian history, and an Adelaide man who won $150million became the nation's biggest individual lottery winner. The next Powerball draw is on June 5.
ABC News
3 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Former NSW education officer Jayden Thorpe found not guilty of kidnapping schoolgirls
A former Aboriginal education officer at a Hunter Valley high school has been found not guilty of kidnapping two schoolgirls. Jayden Hudson Thorpe, 32, had been on trial in Newcastle District Court since May 21. The Cliftleigh man pleaded not guilty to two charges of taking and detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage, and not guilty to two counts of drug supply. He also denied detaining the girls with intent to obtain an advantage and two counts of supplying the girls, aged 15 and 16, with the narcotic MDMA on February 7, 2023. The court heard Thorpe picked the girls up that morning and took them on an all-day road trip across the Upper Hunter, with various stops along the way. Thorpe denied giving them the psychedelic drug or detaining the pair for advantage and said they had come voluntarily. A Newcastle District Court jury retired on Tuesday afternoon to consider the two kidnapping charges and the two MDMA charges. On Wednesday afternoon, the jury delivered a not guilty verdict to all four offences. It was the second time Thorpe had stood trial on those charges, after a retrial was organised when a previous jury was unable to deliver a verdict. Before the March trial, Thorpe pleaded guilty to two drug offences — supplying both girls with cocaine during the day. He had also pleaded guilty to procuring a third child, a 14-year-old girl, for unlawful sexual activity on February 7, 2023. Thorpe is due to be sentenced for the three offences he pleaded guilty to on August 28. He is expected to apply for bail before then.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Independent
Raise a Glass to New South Wales: Australia's Most Exciting Wine State
From the gourmet delights of the historic Hunter Valley to the cool-climate vineyards of Orange and the 19th-century charm of Mudgee, New South Wales is the place to be for life-affirming wining and dining. And if you're flying into the state capital Sydney with Qantas, the experience begins before you even touch down on Aussie terra firma. From takeoff to touchdown On board the airline's award-winning A380, which flies from London to Sydney via Singapore, the wine list is already overflowing with sommelier-selected Aussie pours, a rotating list of top labels from regions you're about to set foot in, and a food menu that pays homage to the country's superb produce. But you're just getting started – as soon as you land in Sydney, it's easier than ever to hop between foodie hotspots across New South Wales with Qantas' domestic network and the Qantas Explorer, which makes travel both flexible and affordable. The historic Hunter Valley There are few better places to embark on a wine escapade than the Hunter Valley, Australia's oldest and most widely-renowned wine area, just a two-hour drive from Sydney. With more than 150 wineries to choose from, you could easily spend years exploring them all. Sip on semillon in the sun and taste shiraz made from some of the oldest vines in the world, or enjoy a languorous lunch surrounded by endless hills speckled with vineyards. The food isn't an afterthought in the Hunter Valley. Restaurants like Muse and Bistro Molines champion a farm-to-fork ethos, with menus that evolve with the seasons and many wines that travel from vine to glass in less than a mile. The cool-climate wines of Orange The high-altitude vineyards of Orange offer a different kind of tasting experience; the cooler climate here results in excellent Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Daily Qantas flights from Sydney get you to Orange in just over an hour, and Oenophiles will be in their element, with cellar doors sandwiched into rolling hills and ancient volcanic soils that give the grapes their full flavour. Despite being one of the newer wine regions, Orange is making waves among Australian wine insiders. The food scene is equally impressive. Try Sister's Rock Restaurant for produce that celebrates what grows in the Wiradjuri country – the ancestral lands of the Wiradjuri people, one of the largest First Nations groups in New South Wales, whose knowledge of the land stretches back thousands of years. It's located at one of Australia's highest vineyards, Borrodell Vineyard, with glorious views of the Towac Valley and beyond. The region is also flecked with bakeries, cafes and farmers' markets that spotlight Orange's ever-evolving food scene. The rustic region of Mudgee Mudgee is just a few hours northwest of Sydney in the pretty Cudgegong River Valley and is home to more than 40 family-run cellar doors known for full-bodied reds and wines made from Italian grapes. The town is a popular weekend escape for Sydneysiders, with Qantas operating regular flights from Sydney to Mudgee in under an hour. The area offers a snapshot of the past, with lots of colonial-era architecture, gold rush history, and Aboriginal rock art sites. The food is also something to shout home about; paddock-to-plate is hot here, and restaurants like Zin House craft their menu around what's grown on-site – if they don't grow it, they don't serve it. Tuck into plates of handmade pasta laden with veggies grown a mere 50 metres away, and sip on organic and biodynamic bottles from Mudgee's award-winning winery, Lowe Family Wine Co.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Bridget McKenzie disputes Liberals' claim on reason for Coalition split; NSW to get more rain and floods
Update: Date: 2025-05-21T20:28:19.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it will be Rafqa Touma to take the wheel. With 48,000 people already stranded by flooding in the New South Wales Hunter Valley and mid-north coast regions, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe warning for 'prolonged' heavy rainfall that also includes the adjacent areas of Northern Tablelands, Northern Rivers and North West Slopes and Plains. Some areas could cop 300mm over the next 24 hours and there was also a risk of life-threatening flash floods. More coming up. The reason for the Coalition split remains a point of dispute between the Liberals and the Nationals after Bridget McKenzie claimed last night on the ABC's 7.30 program that Nationals shadow cabinet members' ability to vote against shadow cabinet decisions in the parliament was not part of the Nationals' demands – a claim denied by Liberal leader Sussan Ley's office. More coming up.
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Evacuation warnings for parts of NSW amid record rain
More than 30 schools are closed, roads are cut off and dozens of residents have been evacuated in the middle of the night, as the NSW Central Coast and Hunter Valley bear the brunt of a days-long severe weather system bringing intense rainfall. The bureau of meteorology is also forecasting hazardous surf and damaging winds - with fears for properties along the coast - and this weather is expected to hang around for days.
