On Saturday we are planning another long drive to the Glenbawn Dam where several of the Caruana clan are camping and caravanning. The plan was to leave at 9:30am and to arrive at the Glenbawn Dam for lunch. Friday night, though, Margaret received an unexpected booking in her Cubby House Farmstay unit, so Saturday morning she had to quickly get everything ready. She likes to present a nice tidy environment, which means she wanted to do some mowing around the property. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her riding mower working. When she then tried her weed whacker, it fell apart. Then she couldn’t get her push mower started. So, she called Lou for help and we attached his trailer to his car, loaded up his riding mower into the trailer, and off he went to Margaret’s to help out. They worked on the lawn for quite a while. Lou eventually came back to his house about 11:30. Christine and I were concerned about leaving so late and having a long drive to get to the dam. We actually felt like it wasn’t worth the long day for a very short visit, but Margaret was determined to get us there. At 12:34 we were all in the car and off we went.
Up the Bylong Valley Way we went, which is now becoming very familiar to us. We stopped in the little town of Sandy Hollow to eat the sandwiches we packed, knowing that we weren’t going to be eating lunch with the family, and then on our way we continued.
I have been raving about the beautiful countryside. That all changed near Muswellbrook. This is a mining and quarry area and I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing miles of pit mines and quarries. I couldn’t get any good pictures because of the berms around the quarries, but the landscape was lunar-like.
I borrowed this image from the internet showing what a coal pit mine looks like. What an ugly thing it is to see.
It was quite shocking to see all this.
We arrived at the Glenbawn Dam at about 3:30pm. We found the caravan park where the family was camping. It took a little figuring out how to get into the park. We had to enter a gate and drive about 5 kms to where we had to buy a day pass. Then we retraced our route back to the area where everyone was camping.
The Glenbawn Dam was completed in 1957 and is a major embankment dam across the Hunter River. The lake formed by the dam is about 280 feet deep and impounds 750,000 megaliters of water, which is about 1-1/2 times larger than Sydney Harbor. The dam is a popular location for boating and water skiing and fishing, both by boat and from shore, and clearly is a favorite spot for caravans as we saw loads of campers all along the shore.
Lou’s brother Len and his wife Sandy were there in their caravan. Their daughter Jodie and her family were nearby in their caravan. Lou’s sister Marianne was in her caravan. Lou’s sister-in-law Marilyn, who is Lou’s brother Michael’s widow ( Michael is who Christine calls her twin cousin because they were born 9 days apart in Malta) and her daughter Sandy Lee were in their caravan, and Marilyn’s son Luke and his family were also there in their caravan. So it was a big Caruana clan gather. Even though we arrived late in the afternoon, we are so glad that Margaret stuck to her guns and got us there.
We sat around initially catching up with Marianne, Len and Sandy. Marilyn was out on the water on a jet ski.
Everyone then got into their swimmers (except me) and went into the water.
Getting into the water was a bit tricky because the bottom near the shoreline is mud, as you will note the brown water in the photos. Once past the mud, the water is clear and beautiful. Christine enjoyed her swim. She was hanging onto a floating mat for a while chatting with several of the family.
After the swim, we sat around and had drinks and snacks.
Margaret wanted to leave at 5:30pm for the long drive home, but naturally, that didn’t happen. We managed to get ourselves together for departure at 6:30. Before leaving, we took a group photo. Clare is our selfie master. She always does a great job getting everyone and herself in the photo.
In this photo are Len, Margaret, Sandy Lee, Lou, Kate (Luke’s wife), me, Charlotte and Jessica (two of Luke’s kids), Marilyn, Luke, Christine, Sandy, Marianne, Bella (Marianne’s dog), and Clare. It was a long way to come for a short afternoon, but we had a great time catching up with everyone. We’re so glad we did it.
Once again, driver Margaret, outdid herself after her hectic morning. I think she’s been on the road nearly every day for two weeks, traveling thousands of kilometers, all for our benefit. What a gift she has given us in chauffeuring us around.
We made a rest stop in the tiny town of Bylong, which we have done on previous trips through the Bylong Valley. It’s always good to get out and stretch our legs. Margaret is really good at stopping about every 2 hours for a break. We were treated to a lovely sunset during this rest stop.
We got back to Lou’s about 9:30. A quick visit with some of the clan, but well worth it. It was great seeing everyone.