Schedule or itinerary?

[Terry]

Hi,

is the a schedule or itinerary of the event available, even in draft form?

Terry

[Newie]

Apologies for the lack of public info on our itinerary. We have both been very busy lately with trips and, well, life in general  . Rest assured though, all the plans have been made some time ago and all is pretty much in readiness. Just waiting for a drove of Mokes to show up so that we can show them around the district.

Those who have registered should be better informed by now. If not, please do not hesitate to contact either Greg (KMC) or myself with any questions.

For anyone who has not yet registered and are still tossing up whether it's worth making the long (but pleasant) Moke trek to Tamworth, this is a rough idea of what it's all about:

For those of you who have been to one or more previous Round Ups, you will be familiar with the plan, as we have not really changed much of the basic program format since the first couple we ran way back in 2010 and 2012. People keep coming back, so we can't really see a reason to change much. We do of course make a considerable effort with each new event to find as many new and interesting places to go and the best Moke tracks to get there.

Most Mokers (usually 100%) choose to stay at the Austin Tourist Park in Tamworth (Moke Central) which makes for a nice community environment for people to catch up before and after our daily runs.

More specific programs will be given to attendees when they arrive, but the rough plan is that we all gather at a central area of the caravan park around 9.00 - 9.30 each morning, and head off together in convoy from there for the day's adventures.

Our typical runs are around 200km for the day, and we always have plenty of time for morning tea and comfort stops as well as stopping to admire any points of interest along the way. Lunch will be booked in at a country pub along the way (or there are usually takeaway food options, or bring your own lunch if you prefer). We then make our way back to Moke Central, usually aiming to get back by 3.00 or 4.00pm. Once you've had a chance to wash the dust and/or mud off (or don't bother if you like) we encourage everyone to meet at Moke Central's camp kitchen for nibbles and drinks each afternoon (family-friendly drinks - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic is fine). After that, everyone makes their own arrangements for dinner and we do it all again the following day.

The exception to this is the Sunday, when we have a short presentation with morning tea in the morning and line the Mokes up somewhere so that everyone has a chance to come and have a good look at them. We usually just do a short drive within Tamworth, and then finish up at a pub for lunch. We often take a small group of hardy souls on an afternoon run somewhere for a couple of hours, but by this stage, most Mokers are happy to just sit back and relax, or start the trip back home.

Destinations for this year are:

Wednesday: Halls Creek Church for morning tea. Bendemeer Hotel for lunch - Combination of bitumen and gravel roads. Sections of the gravel road in the morning can be rough depending on the conditions

Thursday: Manilla Weir for morning tea. Somerton Hotel for lunch - Combination of bitumen and gravel roads. Sections of the gravel road sections on this route are usually in good condition

Friday: Bendemeer for morning tea. Walcha Road Hotel for lunch - Combination of bitumen and gravel roads. Sections of the gravel road in the morning can be rough depending on the conditions

Saturday: Sheba Dams for morning tea. Nundle for lunch (Pub and several sit down cafes available) - Can be completed all bitumen

Sunday: Tamworth - Display venue and lunch yet to be finalised, but will be within Tamworth - All bitumen


One final note is that we have become famous over the years for doing most of our runs on a combination of dirt roads and back country bitumen roads. If this concerns you, you are certainly free to attend and we will advise which runs may be a concern and give you alternatives to still participate (jump in with someone else for the day, or take a bitumen route to join us for lunch). Some day's runs are certainly rougher than others. Please know what you are signing up for though. If you really don't like getting your Moke dusty/muddy or hitting a few potholes, this may not be the event for you. All are free to come along and join in whatever way they are comfortable with though 

[Pete Power]

I will get there one year

[Peter]

Do you have an update for the Sunday photo shoot line up (where and approx time).
I meet a couple who would dearly love to come and have a look at the Mokes. I told them that it is not a show & shine type event but would probably be the best chance to see a lot of Mokes in the one place in the greater Tamworth area.

Cheers
Peter

[Newie]

SUNDAY!!!

We have been working on something a bit different for the Sunday morning activities this year, and it looks like we may have managed to get all the pieces to fall into place, so just about game to announce it now...

The plan is to gather as usual at Moke Central for a quick farewell presentation, then head up to the Tamworth Botanic Gardens. That was the easy bit. The part that took a bit more organising was to arrange for access to the Tamworth Miniature Railway and the Tamworth Observatory and Science Centre. All of these attractions are within easy walking distance of each other from a central carpark where we can line all of the Mokes up for anyone who wants to have a look.

Moke Central meet up will be 9.30am

The Observatory and Mini Trains are booked to open from 10.00 -  12.00

It's not the usual opening day for either of these venues, but they have opened up for us to have a look. We are (sort of) sharing the trains with a children's birthday party, but there will be a separate train and driver, with a separate hopping on/off point set aside for us, so there will be no need for anyone to be fighting with the kids for a spot on the train. Rides are very generously priced at $2 each. I have to confess, I haven't tried out the ride yet, but it does sound quite good and a cut above your average oval track that some of these places have. This is the description from their web site:

We have two 600 metre dual-gauge (5 inch and 7¼ inch) tracks in concentric circuits with a 4 platform station and ticket office, 10 metre tunnel, fully serviced steaming bays, loading traverser, and rolling stock storage. An additional 400 metre Oxley loop features an 18 metre Bailey bridge, a second 10 metre tunnel, and spectacular views back to the Tamworth airport.

There is also of course, the Botanic Gardens to look around and a cafe/coffee shop, so surely something for everyone.

Mokers can make their own way from there over to lunch at the other end of town in the Golden Guitar district, which features a great venue of the Longyard Hotel, with a large indoor/outdoor dining area. There are also a few of the usual take away options over there (Maccas, KFC) for those who just want something like that.

Sunday is deliberately kept casual, as of course some folk need to start heading home, so feel free to join in as much or as little as you need to. We have found however, that more and more people are staying the Sunday night and heading back Monday now, so we usually do a short casual run somewhere Sunday afternoon for any who are not totally Moked out by then. This will be arranged closer to the time and will depend on the level of interest we get.


Finally, to answer Peter's question in the last post, I would personally suggest that anyone who wants to see as many Mokes as possible all together, would be best to turn up at Austin Tourist Park (aka Moke Central) around 8.30am either Saturday or Sunday, to see them as they muster up for the day.

They could head up to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday morning, but there are always a few missing, with some needing to head home early and others back at the park already loaded up on trailers.

To be honest, Saturday morning is usually the best display.