Christmas in July at Bill's Bunkhouse

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Most of us met at Glenbrook then we caught up with Ann & Peter and Craig and Kylie at Lithgow. We made our way to Bill's Bunkhouse at Capertee and setup camp and surprisingly it was too late for morning tea so decided to have lunch. After lunch Sharon, Steve and the girls arrived and after setting up their tents, the guys borrowed Bill's truck and took off into the bush to get some firewood for the fire. It was a real joint effort and before long we had a fire blazing away.

Next it was time to dig some trenches for the camp ovens that were going to hold all the veggies. After that we set about preparing the food and everyone took part... even the kids. Ian & Paul set up their Auspit's and inserted the Lamb, Turkey and one of the chickens onto the steel pole. The other 2 chicken roasts were cooked in our gas oven. The potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato & onion were placed into the camp ovens and the peas, carrots and broccoli were on the stove ..........all ready for a great feast.

Once this was completed it was time for happy hour, so everyone brought out their chips, dips, etc and we all sat by the fire and enjoyed the aroma coming from the food cooking. We invited Bill to join us for dinner and he had some great stories that helped pass the time. It took a little longer to cook than expected......the lamb was ready, but the chicken on the spit was quite large and needed to be cooked right through, however everyone was patient and before long it was being served up.......yumm it was sure tasty and even the kids came back for seconds.

Dessert was next & Ian tried out the Club's new Honda generator by whipping up the cream with an electric mixer....worked really well. Sharon & I decorated the Pavlova while Lynn and Ann organised the Plum Pudding, Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding, custard and cream...............who said you couldn't eat like King's in the bush!!!!

Once dinner was over Lyn took over the washing up duties and everyone helped with the cleaning up and drying up the plates etc. and then we sat around the fire for a cuppa and a good chat before heading off to bed.

Morning came around fast and once again everyone took part in preparing breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and hash browns. Bill had offered to take us on a drive this morning around his property but unfortunately the rain came in so we all set about packing up as best as possible. Once this was done we decided to have the morning tea we missed out on yesterday. Lyn had some really tasty and specially decorated cup cakes, Ann had made a family recipe shortbread cut into Christmas patterns, Paul had made a really moist Christmas Cake and Murray surprised us all with some unbelievable Chocolate Mint slices delicately wrapped in beautifully hand made wrappers.....wow we have our own Master Chefs in the Club

The rain had now stopped and the sun was again out so Lyn and Roger, Craig & Kylie headed off home as Lyn was getting over a cold & Craig & Kylie had sporting commitments later in the day. The rest of us took Bill up on a tour of his Bunkhouse. He had some great photos of years back and he gave us a the story to go with them.

After this we came back and everyone helped Ian & I pull down and pack away our camper and gear. We pulled down the Club marquee and tied it onto our campervan along with the Club BBQ. We headed off to have a look at Paterson's (I think) lookout that we saw on the way in, and once again the rain came back so we headed off to find a dry spot to have lunch.

We stopped along the way at a fruit stand and Ian picked up some pickles while the others bought some fresh fruit and honey. We finally found some undercover tables along the way, so we pulled over and made some sandwiches from leftover lamb and chicken. There was still some of my salmon log left so out came the biscuits and it was finished off too. Back on the road and we headed off to have a nice hot chocolate at the lolly shop just before the Mt Victoria climb.

What a great weekend full of fun, laughter, good food and great camaraderie

The Club provided all the food again for the weekend and thanks everyone for helping to purchase it and bring it along....it made life easy that's for sure.

This was the first Club trip for our newest members Sharon & Ernest, Sharon, Steve & girls, Kylie, Craig & family, and Ann & Peter. We welcome you to our Club and we hope it was the first of many happy times in the Club.

Thanks everyone for all you did over the weekend and for making it a memorable 2009 Christmas in July