Duntryleague Christmas in July
02 August 2025 / Story Christine Cameron, Photos Wendy Mulholland and Ray Cosier
Twenty three well-rugged up Hunter members gathered under our umbrellas at Cessnock Information Centre at 7:30am for the pre-run briefing for our Christmas in July trip to the magnificent Duntryleague House in Orange. With little prospect of the rain easing any time soon, all roofs were up and stayed that way as we headed through the vineyards and Broke, turning left onto the Putty Road. Wet winter early mornings are always a concern for wildlife and our convoy had 2 close encounters with ‘roos and 1 with a wallaby, but all cars and animals made it through unscathed. Morning tea at Grey Gums café was an opportunity to stretch legs and warm up with a hot drink before we headed along Bells Line of Road through Kurrajong and Bilpin then down into Lithgow.
Phil and Mara had reported an issue with their steering when the convoy briefly took a wrong turn at Central Colo shortly after leaving Grey Gums, and made a stop to check out the car – accompanied by tail-end charlie (David & Elaine) plus 2 other cars. The decision was made for the rest of the convoy to continue to Lithgow and wait there. Phil’s problem turned out to be a 5mm r-shaped steel cotter pin that had embedded both open ends in his rear driver-side tyre. The tyre was removed and the offending pin extracted, then the 2 holes were plugged. But there was still a leak through a small slit in the tyre, so a the only option was to use puncture sealant goo, which thankfully worked as it’s meant to. With the entire operation taking less than half an hour, the ‘caboose’ was soon on the road again.
The repair crew arrived at Lithgow Workers Club for lunch, joining the main convoy who were just finishing theirs. In short order, everyone was fed and watered and we hit road again. As most people had previously done a run around Mt Panorama (and it was still raining), we decided to continue straight through Bathurst, turning north-west for the last section into Orange. Some members had opted to stay at Duntryleague and others at a nearby motel, so the convoy split up and we all happily took advantage of warm rooms and hot showers before dressing for dinner.
Duntryleague House is a spectacular mansion set in extensive grounds that have been turned from original farmland and vineyards into a golf course. We had our own elegant dining room with a table beautifully decorated by a group of our Hunter ladies, each place setting being accompanied by a bag of delectable treats made by several members of our outing. Thank you ladies & John! Before dinner we were entertained with a selection of carols by a combined children’s choir from the local conservatorium of music, which set the Christmas mood very nicely. Our 3-course dinner was tasty and plentiful, and was followed by the fun of our traditional ‘secret santa’ gift swapping. Dinner over, we slowly disbanded, heading upstairs or back to our motel rooms. I turned on the tv at 2 minutes to 10 hoping to see the last moments of a Wallabies triumph, but it was not meant to be. The only sad part of the evening.
A huge thank you to Denise and Glenn (who had earlier done a recc’y for the whole trip), and Felicity and Nick for organising the venue, the run, the decorations and the goody bags, and to everyone who helped in various ways to make the evening a great success.
Chris
