Day 10 - Wednesday 14th August Mareeba to Mission Beach

This was our final day of this great adventure.  We have had an exciting time & have made some wonderful new friends.  Wiggo is now an 'honorary' Bushranger.

Because we had no spare tyres we couldn't afford to risk taking on the dirt roads so we finished the drive via bitumen.  We also took the opportunity to try & track down a few more tyres for the trip home. 

Before we left Mareeba Variety Qld presented a liberty swing.  Seeing the joy on the face of a wheel bound child reminds us of why we are fundraising.

Our scenic trip to Mission Beach took us via Paronella Park where we stopped for lunch, we then made our way to Mission Beach where we caught up with the rest of the bashers to officially finish the 2013 Variety Bash by driving through the golden arch and onto the beach.
Next year is the 25 year anniversary and the bash will be heading from Brisbane to Sydney as part of the National Bash.  Car 4744 is excited to start fundraising so that we can go again.

This is a last blog for this bash so I would like to thank all our sponsors. 

Moranbah Panel Works for painting the car.

Central Signs & Graphics for the theme stickers on the car.

Coalfield Tyre & Mechanical for sponsorship of the tyres.

Moranbah Community Workers Club for financial assistance.

BMA Matched Giving Programme.

Peter Roach who painted the theme picture on the bonnet.

Allan Moore who rebuilt the engine.

Big Ted would also like to apologize to Moranbah Panel Works & Central Signs & Graphics for the damage he done when he tried to climb into the car.  He constantly reminds us that it's not a 'bash' car unless it goes home with a few scratches & dents.

I hope that everyone has enjoyed following our adventure via this blog and I hope that you will follow Car4744 next year as we make our way from Brisbane to Sydney.  Don't forget to check out all our photo's that have been loaded onto our facebook page.

Until next year - GOODBYE...

Day 9 Tuesday 13th August Georgetown to Mareeba

Today saw Donna jump ship as she decided she needed some air-conditioned comfort and she joined the Ned Kelly gang for the day.  This left Wiggo, Patty & JoJo in Car4744 & Wiggo decided it was the girls turn to drive again so Patty took first shift with JoJo taking over after lunch. 

 

The roads were a shocker today with ninety percent of it corrugated.  It shook every nut & bolt loose in the car, and a few of our bones as well.   We were even called upon to help fix a car broken down on the side of the road.  As always JoJo was hands on, helping out wherever she could.  The best piece of advice we were given 'if it can't be fixed with a hammer then it's not worth fixing'.  Advice that JoJo took to heart.  It wasn't long & the car was back on the road.

After thinking that we had made it to day 9 without any real issues, trouble struck & we blew a tyre.  Not to worry, Barney was on hand to offer he's advice & assistance to Wiggo to change the tyre.

 

Not more than an two hours later & we blew a second tyre.

After such a horrendous start to the day it was great to find a creek with clear running water so Wiggo & JoJo, along with a few other 'bashers' took the opportunity for a cool down.

One of the teams decided that their car needed a cool down as well and drove their car into the creek.

The car was towed out & went onto finish the bash without any problems.

 

With no more spare tyres it was a slow trip into Mareeba as we could afford to blow another tyre.  It was dark by the time we got to the Rodeo Drive In and set up camp.  We had a wonderful dinner, a hot shower & settled in to watch Grease.

 

Can't wait to bring you our final day of the 2013 bash.

 

Day 8 Monday 12th August - Normanton to Georgetown

After yesterday's incident the girls decided to kick Wiggo out of the car today and 'do it alone' so Wiggo ended up with Ned Kelly & the Bushrangers, and it turned out to be a cruisey day for the girls.
Donna decided that she would like to try her hand at 'dirt driving' so she started the day on the road.

 

After about 30 klm she decided she had had enough and handed the reins over to JoJo who drove for the rest of the day with Patty playing navigator for the day.  Our route guide isn't always the easiest to read but after 8 days Patty has gotten pretty good at it and we didn't get lost once and JoJo figured out to set the navman to show a 'mileage driven' guide.

 

 

This morning started with a 'billy cart' race.  It's been so much fun watching the 'bashers' enjoying the fun spots that Variety has organised.

 

 

There was even a Qld vs NSW race.

 

 

Although NSW crossed the finish line first they were disqualified for knocking over a spectator & snapping their cart in half.  Go QLD...

 

To prove that the girls didn't need a man in the car they even managed to re-fuel the car on the roadside by themselves; although we won't talk about the service station stop where JoJo couldn't get the fuel cap off because she had the key in upside down.  Took a man to figure that one out.

 

 

JoJo even managed to blow a few cobwebs out of the old girl but we would show the top speed she managed to hit.  Don't need the speeding ticket.  Nor will we tell Wiggo about the tree stump she hit or the termite mould she got caught on or the fish tailing in the bull dust.

 

It's hard to believe that our trip is almost over.  2 more days and we will be at Mission Beach (Wednesday) then we are homeward bound.  2 more days of fun & adventure then we can start making plans for next years bash.

 

 

 

 

Day 7 Sunday 11th August - Mt Isa to Normanton

Today is officially know as 'Driving Miss Daisy' day. Why? Well it was Patty's turn to drive, and she thought she was doing alright but Wiggo (the world's worst navigator) kept getting up her; she was either driving to fast or driving to slow, so to get back at Wiggo Patty decided to drive at 40 klm/hr or slower.  This went on for an hour before she hit a rock on the road.  This was the conversation that followed:
Wiggo "Didn't you see that rock?"
Patty " No, I was going to fast, do you want me to slow down".
Well, the girls burst into laughter.  They were laughing so much they had tears rolling down their face.  All Wiggo could manage was 'What, what's so funny, what's the joke".  This of course made the girls laugh even more.  After this Patty thought it best to drive a little faster & the rest of the day went without incident.

Last night (Sat. 10th Aug) we had a surprise visit from James Blundell who did a camp fire sing along with a group of Basher fans.  He was even at the start line this morning to wave us off as we started our drive to Normanton.

 

We even had a visit from Bob Katter.

 

 

Our trip so far has been relatively good.  We have had no major problems.  The same can't be said for all cars and some even had maintenance work done on them on the road side.  After a little tender loving care the car was back on the road.

 

Our lunch stop for today was at the Burke & Wills road house.  To fill in some time the Clampett's  had a game of pool.  They even had their own set of family designed pool balls.

 

 

 

No stopover at Normanton would be complete without a visit to the world famous Purple Pub.

 

We have another late start tomorrow (8:30am) so maybe we will get a sleep in.

Until Monday night.  C ya lata...nighty nite.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Sat. 10th Aug. Mt Isa lay-over day

Today was a lay-over day at the 'Isa'.  We finally got to sleep in as there was no rush to hit a dusty road.  After a long hot shower we had a cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast & savoury mince.

Today's plan was for the girls to do some catch up washing at Patty's brothers place and Stephen had time to do some minor maintenance work on the car.  All the dust was blown out, car had a much needed bath, a check over and all is good for the remainder of the trip.

 

The girls decided to give Wiggo some 'alone' time (no females) by himself so off to the  Mount Isa Rodeo they headed.  The girls got to watch some poddy calf roping, barrel racing,
bucking bronc's & steer riding.
 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the local RSL club for dinner where JoJo landed

herself in trouble with the security guards.

 

 

 

We're off to another early start tomorrow so it's time for bed.  Look forward to bringing you the next exciting instalment, but for now NIGHTY NITE & don't let the bed bugs bite.

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 5 - Friday 9th August: Boulia to Mt Isa

We got to have a sleep in this morning as we didn't have to leave until 8:30am, not that anyone got to sleep in as someone set off the 'rooster cry' on their speaker system at 6:30am.

After brekkie the 'sheriff' & his deputy arrested a basher for bad taste in clothing.  He was handcuffed then had to carry a 'ball & chain' for the day.

Wiggo decided it was his 'drinking day' & it was the girls turn to drive for the whole day.  Patty took first stint but JoJo decided to jump ship so Patty had drive the whole way. 

 

Donna was so comfortable with Patty's driving ability she decided to take a snooze in the back seat.

 

 

We think that the 'fairies' must have ran out of fairy dust as Wiggo had to help them out not once, but twice; first with a flat tyre then with a busted power steering hose.

 



 

We had a break at Duchess Hotel where some of the bashers decided to play a trick on Mark (winner of the variety car) & they wrapped it in black plastic while Mark was having lunch.  There was quite a bidding war going on for it.

 

While the cars waited for the slow pokes to catch up at the Duchess Hotel there was a karaoke competition held with the guys from the 'Auzzie Rock' car declared the winners.

 

'Big Ted' decided that seeing as there was a spare seat in the back he should be allowed in the car so he jumped off the roof of the car (with his chair) and tried to climb into the car.  No major damage was done but Patty was not happy.  'Big Ted' was banished to the top of the car for the remainder of the trip.

 

We eventually made it safely into Mt Isa & to the Rugby Union fields which will be our home for 2 days.  We had time for a quick bite  before we had to get ready for the Rodeo parade.

 

It was getting late so we didn't hang around for the rodeo and went back to the union grounds for an early night.  The excitement wasn't finished with as Mark decided to move Donna's sleeping arrangements while she was still in her swag, and dragged her all the way up to his campsite.

Not to worry, JoJo was to the rescue & saved her.

 

 

 

Saturday is our lay over day so we are doing washing at Patty's brother Peter's place and off to see the rodeo !!!!!!!  Have a great weekend BLOGGER PALS !!!!!!

 

 

 

CAR 4744 SIGNING OUT :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 4 - Winton to Boulia

Sorry there was nothing to read last night but we were camping at Boulia & we didn't have access to power.  We have settled into a routine; out of bed at 5am, breakfast at 6am and hit the road at 7:30am.  Early starts are not doing our beauty sleep any good.  People pay a fortune for that sun kissed look with tans, we get the same effect with dust.

Day 4 saw us hit the road for Boulia leaving Winton behind us. Barney & Bah said a quick goodbye to Barney's cousin before we hit the road.

Barney was sad to say goodbye but it wasn't long before he was making new friends with Mark.  Mark was the lucky winner of the Variety Qld art union.  He won a BMW variety car & free entry into this year's bash.

 

Everyday we had our very own convoy of cars.

We did promise Stephen that we would stop at the first pub we came to and true to our word we stopped at the Mayne Hotel.

Wiggo was not amused but he did manage to find the only cold beer at the hotel.  After a quick coldie we hit the road again and you wouldn't believe it, in the middle of bum f#ck nowhere (JoJo's favourite saying) we came across road works.

 

 

We dropped into the Old Cork Homestead.  A bit of a 'fixer uppera' but it did come with all the mod cons; a stove, laundry, open plan living, all season air conditioning & a back verandah.

 

Patty tried to get Wiggo to buy it for her but for some reason he wasn't keen.

We finally arrived safely at Boulia, set up camp & got ready for our 'tight & bright' night.  We will spare you the pictures of that one.  Hit the sleeping bags around 10pm for another night of beauty sleep dreaming of the adventures that Friday and our journey to Mt Isa might bring.

 

 

 

VARIETY BASH 2013 DAY 3 > STONEHENGE TO WINTON

Another early morning start , breakfast at 6am and set off at 7.30 . We collected our lunch in paper bags that the RFD Ladies had made ( YUMMO ) Patty was designated drive for the day , the dust is not a good thing first thing in the morning when the sun is coming up !!!! You cannot see sh#t .Patty soon ditched the driving as her and Donna got to travel in Sao's car . So it was JoJo's turn to drive ............. Dirt roads are not her forte

 

We did a quick detour at the Winton Dinosaur tracks were we had our packed lunch & checked out the fossilized tracks.

We made out way into Winton were the first stop was the Tattersall's Pub for a quick 'coldie' to wash down the dust then off to fuel up as we are in for a BIG day tomorrow.

 

The car is travelling well, no major problems.  It's getting late so it's off to bed.  Nighty Nite.

 

 

 

 

VARIETY BASH 2013 DAY 2 > BLACKALL TO STONEHENGE

What a couple of big days we have had.  Yesterday we left Blackall at 7:30am for another long day in the dirt.  Our first stop was at Barcaldine for a quick re-fuel and a bite to eat then it was onto the Isisford school but there was fun & games to be had along the way.
JoJo had the sh#t beat out of her by the 'clown' but Donna took one for the team & earnt $50 'bash cash' for 2 minutes with the clown.

We aren't able to publish photo's of JoJo's beating as the images are to disturbing for public viewing.

We had a long wait at a dry creek crossing as many of the cars were getting bogged in the soft sand, but Wiggo's defensive driving lessons paid off as he managed to get through the sand & over the crossing without needing help. BUT, of course he had to lighten the load so he off loaded the 'dead weight' and he kicked us girls out of the car & made us walk across.

We were greeted by 12 friendly faces when we reached the Isisford State School, which made up for all the dust & long roads.  Had lunch, gave out goodies then it was back on the road to Stonehenge.

Well, what can we say about Stonehenge! Definitely a 1-horse town, 3 houses & 6 school kids.  They did have the most important building of any town, the local pub.  Oh did we forget to mention 1 fuel bowser for 140 cars, so yes people it took us 2 hours to refuel our car and then we had to set up our camp for the night before a quick shower, dinner then bed.

It was a long 2nd day but without the wonderful volunteers of the RFD service  we won't have been fed & watered.

 

 

car4744 signing out