Written by Rowena Paterson

We had a total of 7 OKAs come together for a rally at Sheepyard Flat, 40km
from Mansfield in Victoria.
The 7 OKAs consisted of myself, Greg & Maree Boyle along with family
Phillip, Thomas, Emma & Robert, Jurgen & Claudia Mauracher & son Robbie,
Geoff & Sandra Wilkinson, Geoff Alush & Peita Moss, Paul Nott & Ian Jones &
Michael & Virginia Hession along with friends John & Jacki in their
Landrover.
We set up a nice base camp at Sheepyard Flat and completed day trips from
there. Saturday & Sunday was spent discovering the High Country. I
recently purchased a new Yamaha dirt bike and Geoff & Peita brought along
their Suzuki Quad bike, so the weekend was spent riding the bikes around the
mountains and 4wd tracks.
The others decided to take 3 OKAs for a drive around the cattleman huts etc,
doing a little of 4wding along the way.
Geoff, Peita & myself firstly headed up to Fry's Hut (not far from Sheepyard
Flat). We then headed back through Sheepyard Flat and followed the main
track towards Upper Jamieson Hut, stopping along the way for smokos along
the beautiful creek.
We rode as far as Upper Jamieson Hut and decided to tackle the steep track
and creek crossing into the Hut. Geoff had no problems tackling the creek
with the Quad but when it came to my turn I decided to walk my bike through
as I am a learner. I was a little worried when the water started to creep
closer to my engine, but was assured it was ok by Geoff. I ended up getting
stuck in the middle of the creek with the bike and looked up to see 3 OKAs
appear on the track and heaps of people watching me. They all showed me the
shallow area to wheel my bike through and I finally made it to the other
side with a few cheers.
We then watched the OKAs leave as they tackled the creek with ease and then
jumped back on the bikes and rode the rest of the way until we reached Upper
Jamieson Hut.
The Hut was nice with a fire place, upstairs sleeping area and small
kitchen, but it definitely needed a little repair.
We slowly headed back on the bikes to Sheepyard Flat. We had been riding
for 5 hours, how time flies when having fun. The OKAs appeared (shortly
after we arrived back) from their trip through the mountains. We stoked up
the fire, had dinner and all settled around a huge camp fire for the
evening. It doesn't get much better than that as the weather was absolutely
beautiful. I entertained with my Didgeridoo along with help from Sandra on
the tapping sticks. There was plenty of socialising and laughing happening
around the camp fire with the saying of the night going to Geoff Wilkinson
"gee it gets late early". If you can get understand that one you are doing
really well?
On Saturday we had nice surprise. Michael & Virginia had recently bumped
into a documentary maker on their travels and mentioned to him that the OKA
Owners Group was having a gathering at Sheepyard Flat. So Barry from
Melbourne and his girlfriend turned up in their 4WD vehicle along with their
2 dogs and camera equipment to make a documentary on OKAs.
They interviewed a few people on Saturday including Maree with the topic
being on what it's like to travel with children in an OKA. Barry also took
plenty of footage of the OKAs during the day.
On Sunday the Boyle family along with Paul & Ian headed up to Craigs Hut, Mt
Stirling & Mt Buller with Barry in tow filming them. The Boyles &
Maurachers headed home Sunday afternoon.
Geoff, Peita & I spent Sunday on the bikes, firstly travelling on a 4wd
track, which tested my skills. We then headed up another track, which wound
its way up through the hills, with plenty of little jumps & dips in the
track to give us a thrill. We ended up so high in the mountains that we
could see Mt Buller and all the ski runs. Geoff & Sandra went for a day
trip on Sunday to Whitfield and returned to Sheepyard Flat later in the day.

Sunday night we still had 5 OKAs left, so we had another camp fire and fun
night together.
Geoff & Peita were up early the next morning ready to roll by 7am. By 10am
Geoff & Peita were still with us, enjoying themselves I think as they were
still happily chatting away.
I had an interview with Barry before leaving. I was a little nervous and
had to answer questions like what is an OKA and what the OKA Owners Group is
all about etc... Most people had an interview and I noticed Paul was just
as nervous as myself as at one point he froze when the camera was pointed at
him. It's not easy when you are not used to it.
The footage will eventually be televised on Channel 31 in Melbourne and made
into a DVD to be sold in shops. We will all receive a copy of the unedited
version of the DVD at the next rally at Gembrook in March.
Geoff, Peita & myself were first to leave on Monday morning and I followed
them only getting a few km's up into the mountains before we ran into
trouble. Geoff & Peita were travelling a little way in front of me towing
the Quad and I noticed their OKA looked a little strange as they went around
the corner on the dirt road, like it was going sideways. I thought they
just slipped on the corrugations and didn't think much of it, until a
vehicle coming the other way stopped me. They told me to stop my friends as
their OKA was slipping all over the road. So I wasn't seeing things after
all and managed to radio Geoff to tell them to stop. When I caught up with
Geoff & Peita we discovered the problem. The rear axle & wheels had moved
out of place, nearly jamming the wheels into the mudguards. Geoff suspected
the centre leaf spring bolt had broken on the right hand side. So Geoff
jumped into my OKA and we headed back down to Sheepyard Flat to find Paul &
Ian (who were packing up). Lucky we had our fantastic OKA mechanics with us
(Paul & Ian) and in no time we had 5 OKAs on the side of road high up in the
mountains helping out. Paul & Ian quickly got to work and we discovered
that Geoff was correct, the centre bolt had broken. Geoff had another spare
rod in his tool box, strong enough to do the job to get them home safely.
So after a few hours the job was completed, the rear wheels back in their
normal place and we were on our way again. Paul & Ian did a fantastic job,
thanks guys. Even Peita gave "OKA boy" a big hug, as he was all OK & happy
again with rear wheels in place.
Our next rally will be at Gembrook east of Melbourne on the Victorian Labour
day weekend in March.
Thanks to everybody for coming along to Sheepyard Flat, I am sure everybody
had a great time, I certainly did, it was magic! Looking forward to the
next rally at Gembrook.