A Few words from the perspective of the Trip Visionary... Beachbums... (Event Organiser)
Well, finally the day arrived and around 50 adults and 28 kids of various ages and sizes From the Western Patrol Club, CampingWA, Kimberly Karavans Owners Group, Peel 4WD Club, VKS737 and the Ultimate Campertrailer Forum descended on Icy Creek for a weekend of camping , 4bying, talking, meeting new friends and learning a little here and there about GPS, Oziexplorer and HF Radio to name a few of the activities that were on for the weekend.
The first event was the Find The Bands Competition that was setup by Graham (GAC097) from the KKOG.
Everyone grabbed their sheets and tried to find the 75 different bands that were hidden in the picture. Some of the names that came up had us shaking our heads but it was a great way to break the ice and get the weekend started.
The first of the Tagalong Tours was cancelled as the weather wasn't really that conducive to us all stripping off for ET's "Swimming Hole Run" so it was rescheduled for another time.
The first of the ICY CREEK SUNDOWNERS got off to a good start as everyone gathered in the camp kitchen and did the meet and greet thing with a couple of cold ones to cut the dust out of their throats.
Saturday morning rolled around and after a slow start off ( could the Sundowners be the cause of this??) The Nanga Heritage Drive was led off by Brisey and a bit later ET led off the first of the Bumps and Bangs trips to Carnage Hill and a few more spots around the local area.
Over the day our first try at a 4wd Poker Run was available for those that wanted to test their navigation skills. After an hilarious 3 way shootout for first place, Rose ( Mrs Geordie 4x4) took out the Valentines Day Hamper that was donated by the Western Patrol Club.
Just before lunch we cranked up the Cobb Cookers and knocked together some Buffalo Wings and a Black Forrest Pound Cake that disappeared so quickly that they must have been pretty tasty.
After Lunch the Sudoku Challenge had everybody eyes down and scratching their heads looking for the answers. The kids did really well on this one and seemed to enjoy the challenge.
From here the afternoon got pretty hectic with the Oziexplorer / GPS workshop run by Brisey from PEEL 4wd club drawing quite a crowd.
They were so into it that they didnt want to stop for the HF Radio talk and demo by Stewart from VKS737. By getting a group at each end of the canteen area we managed to keep everyone happy and the two workshops went along side by side. (well, you've just got to be flexible)
Following straight in was Ecomuse with his excellent Photography talk that had everybody rapt. It was probably the only time on the weekend that there was something resembling silence around the place!!
Then it was time for the Scavenger Hunt! The kids had a ball finding the items on the list and I think most of them got some sort of a prize! The winners were the WPC team of kids and they certainly looked happy about it. Heres a couple of pics of some of the other kids searching for treasure.
Karl from CampingWA shared some of his underwater experiences with us by way of a slide presentation of Underwater Macro Photos of marine life around the West Australian Coast. Some of the most colourful and interesting critters were smaller than your thumbnail and I can imagine that it would be very hard to set up the shots underwater with the tides and currents pushing you around all over the place.
A quick break for tea and it was back for the Quiz Night, once again run by Graham ( GAC 097 ) and his lovely wife Gwenda. This was primarily on WA and Australian history via the Seven Dwarfs and Snottygobbles!
Whilst this was going on Mark from the DEC's Dwellingup office arrived to give us the "Ranger Chat + Dieback presentation" It was an interesting talk and it was great to be able to ask questions about dieback management and other issues pertinent to access to the forests and 4wding in general.
By the end of Mark's talk, Graham and Gwenda had marked the quiz sheets and the prize giving started, btw the lovely wines on offer were from Graham and Gwendas own cellar and I hope that the winners savoured them.
After the evenings activities wound down most of the crew went back down to join the Hut Monsters for drinks which seemed to go on for quite a while. In the end Brisey and Beachbums tucked all the younguns in, had a couple of quietys and wandered home so we could be up bright and early for Sunday.
Sunday morning saw the arrival of our Daytrippers from the WPC forum arrive and after a bit of a yak it was off around the Lumps and Bumps circuit from yesterday.
The afternoon saw most of the people packing up camp and saying goodbye to the dozen or so that were staying down for another night.
Those that stayed took advantage of the lull to go for a swim in the Murray, relax and just generally wind down. We all gathered for a Tabnabs Tea and the last Sundowner of the weekend.
The raffle that was run over the weekend raised $200 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service so well done to all that bought tickets. Truckie drew the tickets out to see who won what with the major first prize of a $250 4wd service donated by Lou Marino Mechanics in Rockingham. This was won by Stewart from VKS 737.
It was a terrific weekend and I would like to say thanks to everyone that came along and enjoyed themselves. The event wouldnt have happened without the efforts of the club contact people, so a great big thankyou to GAC097 from KKOG, ET from WPC, KitKat from CampingWA. Brisey from Peel4wd Club, and Stewart from VKS737 for all their help to make it work.
And a special thank you to their spouses for putting up with it all for so long.
Cheers, Wayne
For more details and pictures:
http://westernpatrolclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=1694.0