Weekend at Byfield 21 & 22 June 2008

A group of bushwalkers met at Dot's place, which is along the Byfield Road. Once we were all assembled a convoy headed off up to Waterpark Creek Farm (click on the name to see photos of the Farm and Tours).

The cars were parked out of the way, and Darryl, Dave and Ann went paddling while the rest of us went on our first adventure -  was a ride in a cart drawn by two horses. This took us down past the donkeys and numerous healthy cattle. Next was a tour around the farm on the back of a truck, which had been nicely modified with comfy chairs, rails and a roof. First stop was down at the creek, where we walked down through the rainforest to the jetty and boarded the boat 'Water Dance'. It was a very peaceful and quiet journey down Waterpark Creek to the weir and back again. Our bus trip continued over the paddocks into the middle of the fields of Teatree Oil plants. I was amazed by all the sundew growing in grass. This part of the tour was also afforded a beautiful view of the Byfield Mountain range. We continued down to the distilling shed where we learned all about the processing from cut branches into the strong smelling pure oil. Afternoon tea was provided, along with an opportunity to purchase merchandise.

Most of the bushwalkers then left, but a hardy few were camping overnight, and we enjoyed a BBQ in the pleasant surroundings near the house.

Darryl and I slept in our tent, and were snug and warm despite the cool environment outside. The morning was crisp and fresh. Darryl had thought he would go for another paddle, but decided to pick it up and head home. A lovely enjoyable weekend!

It is interesting that this farm was the place first taken up by the Ganter family in the 1880's. The Ganters are related to Darryl from the marriage of Charles Louis Ganter to Emily Mary Crosthwaite on 29 April 1914.