Lunch at the Tractor 828 Cafe

18 June 2024 / Story by Chris Cameron, Photos by Barry Luttrell and Denise Birrell

Wow – what a difference sunshine makes! Our lunch at Tractor 828  in Ebenezer (Hawkesbury) in April was rescheduled courtesy of heavy rain but June’s v2.0 saw spectacular sunny skies. Nine cars carrying 17 members - including two visitors  (soon to be members) Mark & Luke from Tamworth - met at Cessnock Airport in the chill morning air. We traversed the scenic Hunter vineyards through Pokolbin and Broke in the shadow of the Broken Back Range escarpments, then were set free on the Putty Road to enjoy a great run with very little other traffic. The eternal road rebuild through the canyon saw us sit for quite a while watching the crews spray-creting the collapsed roadway and listening to the birds. BYO morning tea at the Grey Gums picnic area gave us a break from driving, although it was very disappointing to hear from the owners that Singleton Council is making life very hard for their business.

Lunch at the café was, as always, delicious. The staff kindly moved us inside when things started blowing off the outside tables with the ever-increasing wind. We were very happy to meet Louis and from Sydney Chapter who had seen our event on the website and came to join us for lunch. Café owner, Mark, made us welcome and took some photos for us beside their trademark antique 20hp steel-wheeled Fordson tractor. The café is only 8 years old but is built in a rustic style and adorned inside with lots of interesting memorabilia and knicknacks.

We returned via the Putty Road as our planned route across the Sackville Ferry was closed, but the same road in the opposite direction is, after all, a completely different driving experience! The wind was now showering us constantly with twigs and leaves and dropped a few dead wattles across our lane to keep us on our toes. Barry did have a close encounter with one falling branch, but we all got through without major issue and again, there was almost no other traffic.

The group split up at the the turn back towards Broke, with 3 cars continuing via Singleton to Tamworth and Nelson Bay, then progressively we each turned off towards Maitland, Newcastle and the Central Coast.

A huge thank you to Barry and Jenny for organising and leading the run – and organising that beautiful sunshine!