The 2010 National Gathering is being held in Western Australia and we are thrilled to advise the venue will be the Gunbarrel Laager Travelers Rest (just outside of Wiluna township). Information about the host venue can be found in our Directory.

Wiluna is adequately serviced to enable a full restock of supplies from the Gunbarrel Groceries store/servo and the Gunbarrel Laager is a suitable quiet spot to rest and recouperate ready for the next leg of your journey.

This Gathering has the interest and support of the Wiluna Shire Council who are keen to organise a number of local activities for us such as traditional damper making by Aboriginal people from the town and a display of their art from the Tjukurba Gallery, both to be held out at the Laager. The Shire has just appointed a Tourism Officer who is lending a hand to ensuring we have a really great visit so these dates have been suggested to tie in with the the council, the host venue, the peak travel season for the region and falls either within/or week before most states July school holidays. We may not have official activities through the full 5 days but this is the week in which we aim to hold the gathering - the official activities will probably be held on 3 days and the days either side give leeway for people arriving/departing so with a more casual theme.

Some other ideas for activities/games during the gathering we've talked about are:
* The EO Amazing Race - vehicle based Wiluna version with questions, clues, roadblocks, and riddles to solve in and around the Wiluna shire region.
* A special takehome gift/activity for every participant (1 per vehicle) curtesy of ExplorOz (this is a secret project so sorry no more clues).

Due to the remoteness of this location it is anticipated that attendees with school age children would need to consider taking a much longer break than school holidays would allow so having the gathering start near end of term was considered the best compromise. See our Holiday Dates page for details of when holidays fall in your state.

This location may be for some the turn-around and rest point after a big trip - and it is anticipated that a number of ExplorOz convoys may be co-ordinated across the major routes if people are interested in joining up with others en-route to Wiluna.
There are many routes that can be designed depending on where you're coming from and your time available. These could be: Plenty Highway,Simpson Desert, Gunbarrel Highway, or Corner Country, Oodnadatta Track, or Anne Beadell Highway, and maybe even part of the Connie Sue Highway.

After the Gathering, it is also anticipated that some travellers will want to continue touring, say the Canning Stock Route. We can use this page, the Forum, and Member Messaging to discuss this further as we get closer to the date.

Check out these post gathering trips: Wiluna to CSR via David Carnegie Rd

Sir Kev (Qld), Gone Bush (WA) and ourselves (WA) are your "organising committee!" so we've got a great team putting together a fun-filled gathering. There will be more updates throughout the year but as it's a big/long trip to reach Wiluna no matter where you're coming from we hope you'll start planning now and come and join in the fun!

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