How HUGE is this gunna be??.............
This is a good question, one that has been raised in several PM's to me.
When I first thought about organising this weekend, I reckoned that 30 vehicles would be a good number. Well, here we are, 7 months out, and we are nearly at that total, although some are (?).
As I have said in reply to PM's, the reserve can easily cater for 50 or 60 ct's. The annual Tolmie Sports, held in February each year (126th this year) attracts between 1200 and 1500 people with ease.
What does become an issue for me tho, is making sure everyone gets a great experience out of the weekend. Some may wish to just come and prop, talk to fellow swaggers around the camp and do the local kelly tour. Others may want to do something each day.
Its getting to the point where it may be better if we run, say for instance, two groups over two days around the kelly sites. The group not seeing these sites on the day concerned would go for a 4wd tour to some of the other sites mentioned.
Big numbers do change the experience tho, especially at night, where it becomes more difficult to experience the group campfire.
I am loathe to put a limit on numbers, so, at the moment, Ill let things run their natural course numbers wise until we get to 40. Once at 40, we'll put up a reserve list. The complete list will be revisited in late July/August when people will be asked to comfirm their ability to attend and indicate numbers.
Also, if there are a few swaggers out there who reckon that they will be attending, know the general area, and are willing to to become day trip leaders for a day (and then do the kelly sites tour themselves on an alternate day) give me a PM. If we get a few fellow swaggers who can do this, I can then concentrate on guiding 2 kelly tour days instead of one if need be.
Ive started working on the "self guided" itinerary and infomation booklet for the weekend, but it will be a while away yet!
Thanx to all posting up so far, especially the newcomers.
Al.