The Cubby House/Capertee Valley

Friday September 2, I drove the Toyota Tarago and picked Barbara up from the Petersham Op Shop.  We then battled the deplorable Sydney Traffic for an hour and a half to reach Stephen and Lesley in one of the outer Western suburbs.  Slow traffic conditions continued at times on the way to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, where we purchased some cheese and other goodies.

We finally arrived at The Cubby House, recommended by a friend, around 8.30 pm.  Our hosts John and Margaret Chadwick came across from their farmhouse and warmly greeted us.  They had a fire going in The Cubby House, which made it warm and inviting.  John built The Cubby House from recycled materials in 2005.  Their son called it the cubby house and the name stuck.

In the darkness of night, we were unaware that we were at the western lip of the Capertee Valley, the world’s second biggest enclosed valley.  Tonight was for celebrating Barbara’s birthday with cheese, wine and other delights completed with a birthday cake and Happy Birthday playing candle.  Thank you Lesley and Stephen for providing this celebration.

David, Barbara, Lesley and Steve
celebrating Barbara's birthday

Lesley brought the right boots!

Saturday we stayed on the property.  We awoke to a glorious morning and eye-catching view of Capertee Valley.

The highlight of the day was John, Margaret and their children taking us on a four-hour tour around the farm in their truck.  There were oodles of vista views, fascinating shaped rocks, farm animals and the old saw mill to name but four great aspects of this tour.  If you want to enjoy a peaceful, rustic and beautiful getaway, then  The Cubby House is for you.  The website is full of information.  The facilities are generous and very comfortable and the tariff of $50 per night per adult is a great price.

My melancholy mood continued on this weekend.  I think the low white blood cell count means that I was more tired.  Over the week I slept on three afternoons, including the Saturday of our weekend away, and rested for an hour on another.  This was strange considering it was months since I needed an afternoon sleep.  And those chemo side effects bugged me, particularly the return of the slight bleeding in the nose arising from the colder weather.  At times like these I talk to myself about how slight my adversities are compared with most chemo patients and certainly compared with the level of suffering in this world.  I find it important to remind myself of the overall context so that I do not turn into a ‘sad sack’ feeling sorry for myself all the time.  I am very grateful to Lesley and Stephen for being with us for the weekend, as it is uplifting to be with good friends.

Sunday we ventured into and travelled around the Capertee Valley.  We drove north towards Mudgee from the farm and turned at Ilford to head for Kandos, an iconic cement-mining town.  Sadly the cement works has closed due to the prohibitive costs.  Australia is a high wage country and we suffer such closures as a matter of course.  But I do not want Australians working for poor wages just to compete with the virtual slave like conditions in many countries where people are paid US$2 per day or less.  Rich countries should look after their people with good wages for their work and support for the less fortunate.  Europe, especially northern Europe, is the model I look to and think Australia should follow.

We then travelled the short seven kilometres to Rylstone a pretty historic 1800s town.  We wandered around looking at the buildings, enjoying morning tea and visiting the Cottage Museum.

The Bridge Hotel, Rylstone

Then we drove the Glen Alice Road, including the loop road, and enjoyed changing scenery as we drove down the valley passed farms, bushland and high rock escarpments.  We drove through the tiny hamlet of Glen Alice and on to Glen Davis, which was a large shale mining town, especially from the 1930s until the mine closed in the 1950s.  Situated at the lowest point in the valley, it is where the Capertee River passes into a gorge that cuts it way through the northern end of the Blue Mountains to the Colo River, then on to the Hawkesbury River and the Pacific Ocean on the northern edge of Sydney.  Today, Glen Davis is just a small hamlet.  We lunched at the Community Hall and drove to view the ruins of the old mining buildings that now sit on private land.  The Wollemi National Park is just to the east of the town.

Shale mining building ruins at Glen Davis

Then it was time to head home.  We picked up Josh and Kate in Blackheath where they had spent the weekend with Kate’s Dad, Alex.  Kate’s siblings Alison and Alexander joined them on the Sunday and they celebrated Fathers’ Day at a café in the picturesque Megalong Valley.  We dropped Lesley and Steve at their home and travelled through, at times, slow terrible Sydney traffic.  That evening, we enjoyed family dinner at Vicinis in Annandale to celebrate Barbara’s birthday and my Fathers’ Day.  At Club 55 we celebrated with birthday cake.

Now it is Thursday, September 8, near the end of the working week.  I have got over my melancholy and been active on the wall garden.  I finished cleaning the bricks, built a 1 x 1.8 metre sieve on Wednesday and have sifted most of the earth from the garden.  

Tuesday included a phone conference call with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) about the International Company Directors Course I am facilitating at in Singapore on October 2.  Then it was out for coffee with Katharine.  Today I was taken to lunch in the city by staff from the NSW Branch of the AICD.  Then it was on to afternoon tea with another staff member with whom I have updated course materials with at the National Office of the AICD.  She is leaving for a three month holiday in Europe – bon voyage!

Tomorrow I am attending another lunch in the city with friends Joan, Louise, Rosemary and Bill.  Friday night Nadyne (our friend who lives in the Adelaide Hills) is coming to stay and begin preparations for her painting of Muggles.  Saturday night we are going to Jeff’s 60th birthday.  Sunday is breakfast with friends Thea, Allen, John and Dianne at her place.  Then off to the airport to fly to Armidale where I am facilitating my seminar Financial Analysis for Better Commercial Lending at the Community Mutual Group.  Friends Henry and Noelene are meeting me at Armidale Airport and on Monday night I am meeting up with my second cousin Joanne and her husband.  So, a full schedule before, on Thursday September 15, Barbara and I embark on our four-day flying holiday to Lake Eyre with our friends Katharine and Baiba.  After this exciting trip you will receive my next blog update.