Hunter's Xmas in July 2023

16 August 2023 / Written by: Elaine Gazzard, Photos: Wendy Mullholland

Our morning stated off at the Cessnock Aerodrome. We welcomed Jason and Venessa our newest member and wished them well for their first run. With 12 cars in the group, we hit the road toward Bathurst to meet up with Les and Kathy.

 The sun was shining and the air was crisp, but that is what Christmas in July is all about, the scenery was awesome and Bylong way was in better shape than we thought it would be. A few rough patches but nothing we would lose our cars in. A few of the lowered cars had to tread a little slower. Morning tea was at Denman in the park as a lot of the cafés have closed their doors due to the economic times we live in, very sad. The new park is very clean and tidy but there are no tables so we made do on the garden wall.

Next stop was a break at Bylong but again the small shop has closed there as well. David got the drone up in to the air to see what we look like from on high.

Lunch was at a small café called the Saffron which serve jaffles and other assorted lunch fare. Pre-ordering was the go, with Kathren and her staff serving the meals quickly.

The Panorama motel had us all together so it was easy to talk to everyone. Cabs were booked for 5.00pm for start at 5.30pm at Abercrombie house, the rest of us drove the 10-minute drive. At 5.15pm I phoned John no cabs have shown up. I called the company only to get a recorded message telling us they are trying to find a driver. At 5.30pm 3 couples decided to drive themselves while the rest eventually flagged down passing cabs.

Finally, all present with mulled wine and champagne in hand the tour of the house begins with Christopher Morgan the owner. As a working home and business, we were privileged to see all the bedrooms, dining room, study and much more.

The amount of work put in to restoring the house over the last 50 years was astounding from the ornate ceilings, the marble fireplaces and so many artifacts collected about the history of the house and the families that have put their lives into the house to make it a home and show piece.

Dinner was served in the very large beautiful Drawing room with an open fire place which was popular as it was zero degrees our side. First course, a delicious pumpkin soup with sour cream and croutons followed by roast turkey and cranberry sauce, melt in your mouth leg ham with roasted vegetables.

We did our secret Santa which is just a little bit of fun and a few Christmas trivia questions and bon bons jokes. There were some really interesting gifts from Donut and chocolate sock, a garden gnome, lollies and wine. After secret Santa it was time for our desert of plum pudding and pavlova, my pav was lovely.

Woke up to a cold minus 3 degrees and a lot of complaints about the temperature while the guys scaped the ice off the cars, well it is Christmas in July. After breakfast we left leave Nick and Felicity to visit their daughter and the rest of us headed for Mt Panorama for a couple of laps. With a camera on the top and a safety car on Conrad straight we were all well behaved.

Our morning tea was schedule to be thee Zig zag railway but unfortunately it was not open so we moved on the Bilpin where we found a little café called Ziggie’s, great coffee and I was told the pie was good.

Only a short drive to lunch at the Riverside café Colo. The meals were big and tasty really upped their game. We had a clean run up the Putty Road one of the best we have had.

When we reached Broke, we stopped at the park and said our goodbyes as people went in different directions home.

I hope you all had a great time as we did, Elaine.