Canoe the Hunter River this January

Book in for a fun family holiday this January at Belltrees and canoe the spectacular Hunter River all the way to Lake Glenbawn. Ample rain has kept a strong flow in the River which has made canoeing so much fun; Safe for all the family.... and there's plenty of great fishing as well; bass, perch and trout; so throw in your fishing rod and come and see us.

Run the rapids and paddle the ponds. Its soothing and rewarding with plenty of wildlife all the way downstream to Lake Glenbawn from the Belltrees Station (approximately 10 km).


Click http://www.belltrees.com/ for more information.

The playful Corella drops in

With all the rain comes overgrown grass , blossoming trees and an abundance of wild life. 100's of Corellas have decided to make their playground the Belltrees Country House lawn. The noise is unbelievable. The Hunter Bird Observers club would be estatic at the volume of bird specis now present . Finch , wren, butcher bird, grey thrush, heron, duck, cormorant, cuckoo, bower bird, pigeon, honeyeater, robin, babbler, parrot ...... and the list goes on; and thats only in the garden.

Up beat season at Belltrees

The river is up, the grass is up and so is the market. "The best season in 20 years" says Anto White. Outlook for beef cattle remains bouyant with feedloters cashing in on low wheat prices and restockers now struggling to find sufficient numbers of cattle to utilise the eccess feed. What a difference the rain makes.

"Belltrees Queen" wins prestigious pony prize at POLO Dinner

At the Scone Polo Club Presentation Dinner held on Saturday 11 December 2010, Alec White accepted the award on behalf of both he and William for the most outstanding first season pony; "Belltrees Queen".

The night was a great finalie to a very successful year. President Mack Lee Warner highlighted the enormous effort by members in raising funds to go towards the purchase of the new grounds at Dartbrook. Scone Polo Club now stands strong as one of the largest and most secure Polo Clubs in Australia.

Phoebe completes 3 weeks prac. teaching at Belltrees School

Two years into her diploma at ACPE, Phoebe has just completed her first 3 week prac teaching stint at Belltrees Primary School.

"Teaching children from kindergarten to 6 grade all in one class room has been a challenge but the experience under Mrs Jones' strict tutelage has been most rewarding. Ive learn't a lot. And the offer to go to Tonga and complete my next year's prac would be very exciting" says Phoebe.

School from Tonga visits Belltrees

61 School kids from Tonga came to visit Belltrees as part of an Australian Exchange School Program. When the doors of the bus opened the atmosphere came to light as the magnificent Tongan voices sang and laughed their arrival.

Anto showed them the art of branding calves , handling young horses, weighing steers and working polo horses. What an eye opener for the kids. One of the boys, Pita, billeted at Ed and Paulina's house, was dressed "Australian" for the special occassion. He had never been on a horse before.

http://www.nbntv.com.au/index.php/2010/12/02/sounds-of-the-south-pacific-ring-out-in-the-hunter/

Seven siblings annual get together

When Michael White passed away in 1999 his seven children formulated a Family Plan of Arrangements. This Arrangement set out a security agreement between the siblings for the continuation of Belltrees. Every year the SEVEN brothers and sisters get together for a catch up, a reminisce and a discussion of things 'family". In 2010 they visited the HL White Stamp collection in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. They were fortunate enough to meet with prominant philatelist Ben Palmer ( Royal Sydney Philatelic Club) and Dr Phillip Sharp, Nicky Parshal (Head of Conservation, Mitchell Library) and Sue Hunt who all helped explain the Collection. It was a proud moment.