Western Oka Gathering Easter 2013 (end of March)

Hi

As Deb is a school teacher we can only attend in school or public holidays

Any interest in a three day trip from Hyden to Coolgardie along the Holland track, plenty of flat large camping areas or has everyone been there and done it?

Terry & Deb

I thought, as most of us did maybe, that a gathering is just a few days of a camp together. Terry/Deb's idea of a short trip is also worth considering. Or could it be a combination: short trip and then a gathering? That way we can accommodate 2 timeslots and two locations.
Shall we wait until next weekend with deciding of place, time and format? I am doing a map and see where we all are, and some sort of timeline when people are available. I will post that on Friday evening.
hank

Hello all,just about anywhere,anytime should suit us with no plans for the march/april timeframe which to be the most popular time mentioned so far.Looking forward to it. regards, Chris.

Hank
I will be in Tassi untill 3 rd week of March,
I are 100 km w s w of Hydan, 100 km east of Williams, & have facilitys for camping.
it might work after Easter,for the OKA,s in Hyden for the racing.
OKA 91 is farm rego[farm to farm] 94 & 113; I can onley drive one at a time & hopefully 346 will be back from plan A of it,s rebuild. body still to be finished. if you call in here, I can get all 5 out for photo shoot.
If elseware; one is all I can bring.
From here, Lake Dumbelyoung is not far away or warever you want to go.

Hank, on another subject. I was out in the desert with Lex & he told me about your fuel tanks. I am interested. can ouy call me please 0429 831040 evenings is best

cheers Brett

Forget us gathering, Brett (Outyonda) has one every day with owning 5 OKAs. He does not need us. Sofar, and only counting one OKA for Brett, there are 16 owners with 16 OKAs interested, and if all are coming and if the gathering is close to Harrismith: 20 OKAs.
Does anyone know what the biggest gathering of OKAs has been?
Check this thread on Friday evening (late and very late for those residing East of WA), and an overview of those interested will be given. From there I imagine a date and place for a gathering can be decided on that weekend.
Just a question, before we decide: do we select a date and place to accommodate the most OKAs? Or do we take into account other variables? Please post your points of view.
Hank

Over last few days no new people logged their interest, so the tally still stands at possible 16 vans. Refer to attached spreadsheet for details.
It is obvious that March/April is popular:
- the only time that all can attend is the Easter weekend
- or, all minus one in April
- or, the same number in the April holidays.

Geographical location: from a distance point of view, most owners are form Perth, some from Albany and with a heavy concentration of OKAs in Harrismith, and then some coming from the North, and maybe some from the Eastern side. Therefore, from a pure distance/convenience point of view: somewhere in the triangle: Perth-Albany-Southern Cross.

There is only one suggestion to combine the gathering with a trip ie Holland track. But when the gathering is on a weekend, trip and gathering might more difficult to organise.

What are your views?
hank

Hank my oka is now W.A. rego so I am happy to go with the majority but as I live in Perth I would prefer to travel
martyn

What about Coolgardie????? Tee up a meeting with Robin etc.

Well, the attachment of the spreadsheet did not work, and copy/paste did not work either: spreadsheet is too big, as it shows a timeline of availability of those interested in the gathering.

About dates:
As Easter weekend is the only time likely available to all, is that then the preferred time? Is has only 4 days, therefore travel needs to be reasonable (short). Is a 1000 Km round trip too far? Coolgardie is that distance, and even more from Albany. Maybe if it a weekend a meeting place in a smaller triangle ie Perth- Narrogin- Cunderdin.

If the above is option 1, then option 2 would be a longer gathering. If we have it in the ie April school holidays, then Hal and Liza can't attend, if we have it outside the school holidays Terry and Deb can't attend. But, longer trips, further away can be considered.

Option 3 would be trying to combine the Hyden event where 2 OKAs are already anyway. If we were to have a gathering roughly between Hyden and Perth over the Easter weekend, then those interested and able could travel to Hyden which is the weekend after Easter. This travel can then be via Holland track, or another route.

Of course there are countless other options, ie along the coast ie North of Lancelin, on the scarp: Dwellingup/Collie, Latham as initially suggested by Richard/Bev.

So to recap:
Option 1: over Easter max 250 km from Perth
Option 2: further away and longer gathering, sometime in April
Option 3: Combination of Easter gathering and trip to Hyden
Please post your thoughts
hank

Lake Dumbelyound, Lake Yealaring Toolabin Lake Harrismith are all in the triangle & aprox 250 km from Perth & Albany. close to Hyden & 400 from Norseman via Hyden.
?is do the OKAs at Hyden races want to combine, they will have a big Weekend as it is ?

Brett

Hello all,a time and place will have be chosen and stuck with as you cannot please all the people all the time,just not possible.If people can attend,be prepared to travel and want to be there then they will be.We will be travelling from Ballidu so that will be 4 or 5 or 6 hundred Ks or more for us.I Am sure there will be other people prepared to travel further to attend.I know it is hard to pin something like this down but no matter where or when is chosen, some of the people who have put their hands up will not be able to be there for any number of reasons which may crop up between now and the date to be chosen. Whoever makes the decision,I do not envy you.Still plan to be there if possible. regards,Chris and Shirley James

Chris you're right, nigh impossible to find a time and place for everyone.

This is the list of interested OKAs.

Proposed OKA WA gathering
oka # name #1 name #2 persons attending place of departure
16 30
72 James Usha Byles 5 Karratha
80 Richard Bev House 2 perth
90 Terry Deb Morris 2 perth/kelmscott
91 Brett Arundal 1 harrissmith
Brett Arundal harrissmith
Brett Arundal harrissmith
Brett Arundal harrissmith
Brett Arundal harrissmith
96 Chris Shirley James 2 qld → Ballidu
159 Alan Bajaja Jo-Anne Allchin 2 perth
164 Frank Christine Thomas 2 perth
207 Craig Bowie 1 SA
236 Mick Bourke 1 albany
260 Hal Liza Harvey 2 perth/scarb.
304 Toni 2 albany
306 Garry Chris Mead 2 qld → carnarvon
313 Chris 1 perth
323 Martyn Hilda Swift 2 perth
391 Stephen Denise Knowles 2 perth
428 Hank Rosendal 1 albany

And this is the place where they are on the map, sorry Craig and James: I have put you a bit closer... I have added Hyden to put things in perspective. The red lines are 250 Km long.


Or is there a better way to display that?

However the choice of meeting place is not as important as the the time of it. For those who ride motorbikes know that often the destination of their trips is not revealed until the day of departure (no prize for those who guess the reason....). Just make sure your fuel tanks are full. I suggest to delay the decision on place for another week.

Back to timing then.
Can we still make a decision this weekend?
hank

Hello Hank. The Offroad Racing at Smithy's Place is held over the Easter Weekend not the weekend after as you wrote. That is where Hal,Liza and Bev and myself will be. It is an action packed weekend as it is part of the National round of Offroad Racing, so there will plenty to see. Plenty of opportunities for action photography for those into photography! There are toilets and showers and a Bar. There is plenty of paddock space for camping and I can't see a Gathering of Okas as a problem. As well as the Hyden 450 there are plenty of other sites of interest to visit in the area

Thanks Richard, I should have read Hal's post more carefully,

going to the Hyden 400 over Easter,

, however that link give me the dates in 2012.......which I took for 2013.
Timing of our gathering? Whose decision is that anyway? Richard's, as he wrote the first post in this thread? Brett's as he has more OKAs than anyone else? A democratic vote of the majority? If the latter is favoured then the Easter weekend is likely the preferred choice, and even more so if the gathering is held South East of Perth, in the direction of Hyden.
If anyone has support of these dates or arguments for another time slot, can you post that here?
hank

Unfortunately if it is easter we will not be able to attend. It is too far to travel outside school holidays and I have limited leave at that time of year. Don't let our schedule stop everyone else getting together over Easter if that works best for all else though. There will be plenty more opportunities for us to meet up with others and our place in Karratha is always open for people to drop in.

Hank we dont have a problem with time or place jet me know where and when and we will be there unless something unexpected comes up.
did you get your quote yet for tanks
martyn

Decision time
Decision on date for gathering? If no-one else wants to make a move, I am happy (well, not really) to make that decision.
It is the Easter weekend in end of March 2013. The dates are 29 March - 1 April. It allows most to attend (sorry James), it is at least 4 days long, weather is generally perfect around Perth.

Suggestion time
As far as place concerns...... we have a few suggestions:
* not too far from Perth, ie on the Scarp, in the direction of Collie, or the other way, beyond Lancelin
* Latham (see photos by Richard, but were these taken in spring?)
* around Harrismith so Brett can attend with his fleet of OKAs
* Hyden with the added attraction of a desert race. Hehe, would a fleet/group/gaggle of OKAs not attract a lot of attention, maybe to the detriment of the racing buggies. Can I call those contraptions on steroids "buggies"?
I think that any destination further than Hyden is beyond a 4-day gathering.
hank

A gaggle of Okas wouldn't distract the racers. Might attract Rusty's attention with his radio broadcast on the worldwide web,but thats probably a plus. As far as Latham goes, September long weekend is the time, we will be there!

2nd gathering in spring in Latham, amidst wildflowers? Maybe a good idea. I assume Richard, it is not your suggestion to forget Easter.
So, if Easter is still on......sofar, after the date has been set, not too much posts/interest in this thread, and no suggested destinations. I hope it does not mean people are not interested...... At least I will try to be where-ever the place will be.
Should we make more firm plans this weekend? Happy for anyone else to make a decision or to offer a direction.
hank

We had a look at the possibility of doing Harrismith for a day or two, then Hyden for a couple of days, then out to the Holland Track and up to Coolgardie (another couple of days) and back to Perth; but we really only can take Friday to Monday, so we'll have to skip the Holland Track idea ourselves. We're definitely doing Hyden and would be happy to go to Harrismith either on the way out or on the way back. Even 'during' if it worked out that way; they're only an hour and a half apart.

>> Here's a map <<