Well, we got the two cars upgraded, serviced and ready to take around NSW dirt roads while raising a stack of cash for Variety Childrens Charity and our charity partner Lifechanger.
The Maverick carby was still playing up before we left so we were a bit nervous getting on the road with it. But we got the cars down to Dubbo and ready for the start of the Bash.
The Dubbo Park hosted the start of the bash where 100+ cars were all lined up in their selected theming, there were Toy Story cars, a Tonka theme, Unicorn Volvo, Footy team themed fords, even a limo! The theming wasn’t just limited to the cars though, everyone was dressed up as a character! Our costumes and theme for the event was NASCAR, the cars were kitted out with giant numbers, our sponsors and a red & white colour scheme, our uniforms were Mechanic overalls In a racing theme.
Day 1 – Drive from Dubbo to Cowra via Eugowra… we our first turn was our first mistake… we went 15km in the wrong direction before heading back to the start to attempt to read the notes correctly. The first day’s stint was around 220km, we found that at 90kms in we’d gone through ½ the fuel in the maverick! We got to about 12kms out of cowra and thought we’d be fine… unfortunately the fuel gauge on the mav wasn’t to be trusted, we ended up running out of fuel needing to get the 20L jerry off the roof.
Day 2 – Cowra to Leeton vua Greenthorpe and Stockinbingal, we started by filling the Maverick and jerries to the brim annnd then fouled the plugs… it was -2deg and we all huddled around the engine bay while hayden changed the plugs and adjusted the carby. We then headed to the first school in Greenthorpe to share some freebies with the kids and a cheque for $5500 for sporting equipment. The maverick with Hayden and half the film crew decided to go to Repco in Temora to grab some new plugs and extra Jerry cans. While we were gone the unfortunate happened and the falcon threw a belt, it was the serpentine belt running the fan and alternator so the car overheated and ran out of juice 100kms from the checkpoint… and guess where the spares were… yep the maverick. We were 100kms away without phone service so we were of no use. Thankfully, we had 5 cars pull over to help us and we had a new belt on and the car back running again within the hour.
Day 3 – Leeton to Echuca in Victoria for the night, this was a good drive for us, we ended up stopping at the schools to do some lifechanger sessions and bring some interesting mental health and gratefulness session to the small town schools.
Day 4 – Echuca to Narrandera, another great day on the road, heap of sun and a small town school with 60 kids all had a go on the Mini Pit-stop challenge, we gave out a heap of prizes, shared a cuppa tea with the teachers then hit the road again, no break downs and only one jerry can needed for the maverick.
Day 5 – Nerrandera to Goulburn – sun shining, air temperature low, maverick coughing and spluttering but it was time to hit the road again, we spent the morning having fun in the cars while the film crew got the drones out and filmed a few dirt slides, off roading and then hit the road to get to our next checkpoint.
Day 6 – Goulburn to St Mary’s, This morning was pouring rain and the dirt roads were nice and muddy. This was one of the more enjoyable days due to the road conditions. We got to Thirlmere school and had another activation with lifechanger and the Mini Pitstop challenge.
Day 7 – St Mary’s to Newcastle. The final leg of the adventure, the cars were going strong and the final stage was the best drive yet! Trees, rivers, twisty dirt roads, 13 degrees NSW finally put it on for us, the cars were loving the drive. We arrived to Newcastle on the waters edge to a family fun day at the finishline. It was so great to finish the trip with 2 intact cars and bigh
If you haven’t seen episode 1 where we get these cars ready – check it out here!
