Lake Glenbawn is a 26 km2 artificial lake situated northwest of Newcastle in New South Wales. The lake is the result of a dam built in the 1950’s to secure water for agriculture, industry and the surrounding township, and to mitigate flooding.
Lake Glenbawn state park is located on the south-east shore of the lake not far from the dam. The reflection holidays Park offers accommodation services inside the park ranging from Cabin, Powered Sites and unpowered sites as well as different types of amenities including shared toilet, a small kiosk, a BBQ area with grills and tables, laundry, fuel and more.
We decided to visit Lake Glenbawn in January to escape from the heat of the city and enjoy some rest in the nature. We started our journey from Sydney where we rented a car for 3 days.
The lake is approximately 290 km from Sydney and it takes around 3 hours by car to get there. Since it was on our way, during the first day we stopped in the hunter valley.
The Hunter Valley is Australia oldest wine growing region famous for its peaceful landscape and especially for it’s vineyards where a lot of varieties of wines are produced. With over 150 cellar doors and a great number of restaurants your only problem is to choose where to stop. We stopped in a few vineyards along the road where we enjoyed nice views of the valley and did some shopping in the local stores. After a wine degustation we moved on top of a beautiful hill where we rested looking at the wonderful green valley filled with vineyards beneath us.
After a few stops in the way to eat lunch and to buy some food for the night, we arrived at the lake just in time for the sunset and we quickly had to set up our tent before it was too dark.
Our equipment was very basic and it consisted in a 2 persons waterproof tent with an air mattress, a couple of blankets and some pots and pans to cook. We booked 2 nights in the unpowered site, and I particularly liked the freedom of choosing where to camp. The park is very big and staying in the unpowered sites you can decide to settle down wherever you want. After cruising around with the car looking for the best spot, we settle down on a small plain of grass right in front of the lake.
Even though there were other people camping, the great extension of the park allows you to have your own privacy especially if camping during the week and not in the weekend.
The park has only gravel roads, but they are very well kept and I had no problem moving around with my city car, nevertheless i would highly recommend a 4×4 if you want to venture off road and explore more of the park by car.
After having set up the tent and enjoyed the last bit of sunshine disappearing behind the hill over the lake, we gathered some woods and started a fire. We cooked some meat and veggies using the pot and the fire and we went to sleep in a peaceful and quiet night under a clear sky full of stars.
The next morning we woke up with a wonderful view of the lake right in front of our tent and we went to cook breakfast and wash up in the public toilets. All the amenities are at the entrance of the park where you can find the reception, toilets, a small kiosk and the BBQ area. All the shared facilities were clean and well kept. Even though we were camping around 1km from the facilities there were a few portable toilets scattered around the park and we bought a 10 Liters tank of water to use for cooking and drinking to be able to remain in our tent without having to drive back to the reception area every time.
Given it was summer, during the day the temperature was very high and we spent the day walking around in the shades of the trees and having a swim in the lake. The lake is particularly suitable for fishing and water sports lovers, in fact it was crowded with people going kayaking or running around with jet skis.
In the afternoon we went to buy some groceries for the night. The nearest town from the camping is Scone which is just a 20 minutes drive away from the lake.
When we came back it was already sunset time and with the heat going down a lot of kangaroos came out from the bushes and were jumping around the whole park. Following a group of kangaroos, we climbed a small hill from where we had a wonderful view of the whole lake and the surrounding hills. We watched the sun setting down over the lake and then we were lucky enough to enjoy another clear night with a spectacular view of the stars and the moon.
On the third day we dismantled our camp and we left the lake in the morning heading back to Sydney. On the way we had a quick stop in new castle to have a walk around the town and enjoy its windy beaches.
Overall we really enjoyed our stay, we had fun cooking in the bonfire and we loved the peace and quietness of the night. Lake Glenbawn confirmed itself to be a perfect weekend getaway and I highly recommend it to any nature lover especially for people who enjoy fishing and water sports.