2009 NSW Variety Bash (16-26 August)

Starting at the forecourt of the World famous Sydney Opera House on Bennelong Point. This was the starting point for the very first Bash organised by Dick Smith in 1985 before the cars headed to Bourke and finished in Burketown. For this year's participants, they will head south west to the history filled town of Parkes.

A note from Ben.....We had a fantastic start to the bash this morning. There were approximately 130 cars all lined up in front of the Opera House on a spectacular sunny Sydney morning. We headed west through the Blue Mountains and onwards to Orange for lunch. It was here we were introduced to a local school designed to cater for special needs children.

The Bash proudly donated a Liberty swing (designed for children in wheel chairs), worth about $19,000; a young child describing it as "10 out of 10". This school that has a sailing programme uses a single boat.  Variety kindly donated a further $4,000 towards a new boat with an official donated a boat of his own. A worthwhile stop in deed.

We continued on after lunch through the bush on some challenging terrain, causing our first puncher of the trip!

A note from Ben....

We all gathered like a flock of old geese at Hay Public School where we were cooked another full filling breakfast. It was here that we were advised a sad fact of the town. Many of the kids are often sent to school without breakfast. This in turn has affected the kids ability to learn and their behaviour. Varity were proud to offer $8000 for a breakfast program along with other offerings.

We left Hay in a spectacular parade through the town, heading to a very small town called Ouyen located near the Victorian border and known for their vanilla slices. We had lunch at the Ouyen Primary school where we were served up another wonderful lunch, with vanilla slices for desert of course. Variety donated $3,000 worth of lego plus books, sporting goods and an amazing 132 skateboards.

We left Ouyen at 3.30pm heading for a night at Berri which is located on the boarder of Victoria and South Australia.
As you will see from some of the in-car photos above, it was very dusty, often causing low visibility.  

Tonight was Italian night on the bash, that being basher's dressing up in traditional Italian costumes, an Italian dinner and Italian music to top it off. The Berri community were very kind to offer their local hall for us to celebrate in and it was decked out in an Italian theme.

A great day, Woomera here we come on day 4.

This day is a ripper for country vistas as we head through the fertile valleys of South Australia. We skirt the Clare Valley and the Southern Flinders Rangers as we drive into Jamestown for our first ever stop there, for lunch, on the way to Woomera. Should be interesting, bring your own rocket fuel!!

A note from Ben.... We began our day with our normal BIG breakfast, this time supplied by Berri Primary School. Whilst having breakfast we were entertained by a local brass band made up from the local school children.....very impressive. Once again Variety was proud to donate an obstacle set designed to compliment their coordination programme for the less developed kids, worth $3,405. Some of the other Bashers also donated various sporting equipment such as cricket sets and AFL balls.

We left Berri and headed for Jamestown. We had a great run over some very fun dusty, windy roads. Once at Jamestown we were served up yet another wonderful cooked lunch together with real home made sweets. Jamestown is a very small town with only a few streets making up the community. It was an unbelievable contrast to some of the flat scenery we were used to but beautiful country all the same.
Jamestown was donated several different types of sporting goods valued at $3000.

Following Jamestown, we headed west through the outskirts of Port Augusta towards Woomera, a very small outback town in SA, known for its contribution to the space race. Not driving on a dirt road was a change, bring back the dirt!!

Highlight of the day, being presented, with others, my 5 year Bash certificate!

Welcome to the Outback, OUTBACK!!

A note from Ben.....After our night in the cell accommodation, we headed over to the only oval in this strange little town where the Navy team hosted the annual armed forces games. As usual whoever paid the biggest bribe wins. This year the Navy team paid a staggering $57,500 to be named the winners.

It was here Variety donated $2,500 worth of special needs equipment to a young child named Liam who had been struck down with a crippling disease which will see him have a very short undesirable life. This is the exact reason we all do this......a very special young man. "We drive the miles for the smiles".

Following this we had a look at some of the relics left over from the space race. It was a long tough drive today as we headed to Coober Pedy. My father and I had a great start and were able to avoid the many breakdowns and bingles, however did have a breakdown of our own.

We broke a clip on the accelerator link causing the peddle to go to the floor with no revs. A bit of bush mechanics and we were back on the road.

I would consider this track as one of the best I have been down in 5 years of bashing. My father did a great job of driving today proving there's life in the old dog yet.

We limped into Coober Pedy as one of the 1st bash cars in town at approximately 4.00pm.

Tomorrow we head for Alice down a 730km tough track. Let’s hope we can fix the accelerator issue or we will be going down the tar......we don’t want that. 

Following an early breakfast teams will head north to Alice Springs via the nearby Breakaways. It's a long day on tar! 

A note from Ben.....I am pleased to say we fixed the accelerator issue meaning we are going dirt, some 730 km of it.
Well, what an eye opener Coober Pedy was, a place I will not forget in a hurry. Variety did not donate anything at Coober Pedy as we are returning here in a couple of days.

We had a bit of a late start this morning following our repairs and headed out of town. The terrain  this morning was again very tough as we headed for a quick stop at Marla, just a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately after picking up our lunch bags at Marla, we had to drive the last 500km's down the black stuff (tar) to Alice. This was pretty much straight, hot and boring.

We arrived at Alice in 35 degree heat and are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow after the national parade through the town in the morning. This is where all states are meeting and culminating in, let’s say a small party.......
 

Tonight marks the coming together of all Variety Bashes from around Australia for the National Bash gathering for dinner for over 2,000 people. 

A note from Ben.....Today we had a so called rest day....ha ha. We had to be out at the Transporters Hall of Fame at 6.30am for breakfast and entertainment, organised by one of our fellow basher's, Mr Chas Kelly. He did not disappoint. There was a small country band singing various country songs including True Blue. It was strange to hear this song given John Williamson was walking through the gate at the time.

As you will see in some of the pictures, there were various exhibitions of trucks and other transport items of note.

Following this, all the states aligned for a parade through the main street of Alice Springs which was shrouded with locals and tourists alike.

All the different states had come together for what is known as the National Bash Party, held every 5 years. The venue was outdoors at the race track with a stunning backdrop of red rocks that changed colour as the sun was setting.

They had some very special guests given this was the 25th anniversary of the bash. They included acts from John Paul Young, the Screaming Jets, John Williamson, Brian Cadd and Dick and Pip Smith, the founders of the Bash. Dick Smith started the Bash back in 1985 with some of his mates such as John Singleton and John Newton. They set out from Burke to Burketown all those years ago and Dick advised that they were hoping to raise about $5,000, however they ended up raising about $250,000.

It was also announced that following this bash, the total will hit $100,000,000, a truly staggering amount and one all can be proud of including all of our sponsors.
 

Head down the Stuart Highway and back to Coober Pedy for the night. Stop in at the famous Kulgera Roadhouse which proudly boasts, 'The first and last beer in the Northern Territory!'. 

A note from Ben.....What a start to the day, alarms going off at 5.00am after a National Bash Party.....please. Anyway whinging aside, we were all pretty keen on today as we get to experience the famous Finke River Rally Road, one of the most desired rally tracks to tackle in the world.

After leaving the checkpoint just after 6am we soon hit dirt, quite challenging when it was dark and dusty but what a sunrise on the left.....magnificent.

After quite some driving we hit the Finke. On first impressions it seemed like a lot of other tracks we have done, however, it soon turned to velvety soft red sand and one of our cars soon became bogged. We were able to get it out with our other car whilst holding the show up. The track became very narrow in places and it was pretty slow going there for a while due to many cars getting bogged and blocking the track. Bashers always help each other so no worries.

The track eventually comes onto the old Ghan railway line albeit the tracks are gone but the sleeper pins remain everywhere just waiting to jump through an unsuspecting tyre. It was along this stretch that we discovered we had no breaks at all. After finding a safe spot we discovered the back right brake line had been broken together with the protecting bracket. We were able to crimp the brake line to the rears and continue with front brakes alone.

We made it through the Finke and entered the Finke township, a very small Aboriginal Community in the NT. We continued on to Kulgera Roadhouse where we jumped on the Stuart Hwy heading for Coober Pedy for a well earned break. The day itself was in excess of 12 hours in the car.
 

Heading South to Hawker, a little town which is the launching spot for most Outback treks and Flinders Rangers sorties from the southern states.

A note from Ben.....It is now our one the last days of bashing for 2009 and our last full day of bashing as day 10 is a shorter one and day 11 being a short trip to Silverton for a party.

Before leaving the Coober Pedy region we took a quick run out to the Breakaways, a formation of rocks that can only be described as a mini grand canyon. Legend has it, the rock formations are a breakaway section of the MacDonald Rangers and thus the name. As you will see in some of the pictures, they are quite impressive and I would recommend a look at them if you are in the region.

We headed back to Coober Pedy for breakfast, held at the Italian Club where some of the town's children had gathered to see the funny cars off. The children were also treated with a show from our super hero magician, Super Hubert. Super is a very special performer as he has had a very serious illness for many years. Super has dedicated the rest of his life to helping the disadvantaged children and never fails to put smiles on those little dials. Makes his passport an interesting conversation if he is in customs.

We had breaks again in car 451 and headed towards Marree. We went over some quite nice dirt roads and we were all instructed to gather some largish rocks on the way as we were going to build a rock monument to celebrate 25 years of bashing. By the time it was finished it looked like a small pyramid with a classy Variety plaque attached.

We carried on through Williams Creek, a tiny one pub, couple of houses town and onwards past Lake Ayre until we finally came to Marree race course for a well earned lunch. Marree is another tiny little town in SA, only a fraction larger than Williams Creek and the race course is the main attraction here. It has two horse races per year as well as one camel race.

Following this we headed south and soon found ourselves on the western side of the Flinders Rangers. It was quite a change to see proper mountains when you have been in the outback for a period of time.

Following the tar for the last couple of hundred km's we came to our destination at Hawker. We had dinner supplied by the local community at the entertainment centre, a large shed located at the race course. It was an unbelievably windy place to put it mildly. The Bash put on it's annual "Bash Idol", where we were shown how much talent really exists with the bashers......not. Quite a fun night in deed.
 

Climbing over the ranges with some pretty interesting tracks to travel, we work our way to Australia's most iconic mining town, Broken Hill, the town that gave its name to the Big Australian, BHP! 

A note from Ben.....Today is the last real day of bashing this year. Before we left Hawker we were advised to have a look at the Jeff Morgan art gallery. Jeff is what I would consider as an exceptional artist as you will see from the photos. I wish I could take credit for the photos but they are actually his interpretation of the surrounding landscapes, an extra ordinary man indeed.

We had breakfast at the local school where Variety was pleased to donate a "FrontRow" phonic sound equipment and an industrial toaster for their early breakfast program. This program assists many of the area's indigenous children who came to school feeling a little hungry and will help the kids’ concentration.

After leaving Hawker we headed for Broken Hill via a small town called Yunta for lunch. It was a very challenging track we headed down and appropriate for the last real day of bashing. Unfortunately one of the cars had a roll over but thankfully all were ok, I can’t say the same for the car however.

Yunta was a lot like Marree, a small town with a dirt race track that is only used a couple of times a year. We were met by the local school kids, that being 6 young boys. The parents advised me that there are two young girls starting school soon. I hope the population does not die off here....haha.
From Yunta we headed down a bit of dirt and onto the main road to Broken Hill for our final parade. There was a large amount of locals who covered the streets to watch the 130 funny cars go through the Silver city and onwards to the local show ground for a few well earned drinks.

We all then headed for our motels and will gather again at the local club for a dinner and some small celebrations as we have our party night tomorrow where awards will be distributed to various teams.
 

The final day will see us finish with a parade and presentation dinner.  

A note from Ben.....This is the last day....boo hoo. Broken Hill is a mining city in the outback of NSW and predominately mines for silver, thus being known as the silver city.

We met this morning at the Broken Hill Nth Public school where we were treated with our best breakfast of the bash and would go as far as saying, the best breakfast I have ever had. There were many stalls with a huge variety of the tastiest things you could ever imagine.

This school caters for mild, moderate and severe disabled kids. Variety specifically designed a playground set for these special kids and were proud to unveil it on our last day. This play equipment is valued at $20,000. We also presented the school with various sporting goods, books, DVD’s and CD's.

Following this amazing breakfast, Variety had its annual remote control car race at the school grounds. A very entertaining exercise given they were all on the same frequency......chaos.
We then headed to a local park to unveil another liberty swing. This was a very special occasion as there were many special kids there to have their first go on a swing in their life. There were not many dry eyes at the park this morning.

We headed to a small mining town about 30kms out of Broken Hill called Silverton, now better known for the various movies that have been shot there. The most famous being the Mad Max series and i satisfied a childhood dream of seeing the Interceptor, the car used in Mad Max. Any guy around my age will understand. There are mostly ruins around the town however the Silverton Pub remains with the car and has become quite the tourist attraction.

We were treated to a visit by a distance indigenous school whilst at Silverton and were shown where some of our money goes. In this instance it was a medium sized coach that is used to pick up the kids and take them to school and various other endeavours.

It was party night and presentation night tonight held at another local club in Broken Hill. A great night was had by all and our cars are proud to advise that we raised $25,500 this year. We were awarded one of the over $17,000 awards, an award we have been able to achieve many times over now thanks to a great team and great sponsors of whom we thank very much. We are even prouder to say that Variety raised in excess of $2 million for NSW alone for this year’s "B to B bash 2009".     
    
It has been a great Bash and has been fun writing the updates for you all each day albeit some days late due to various reasons. I hope you all have enjoyed them and look forward to hopefully doing it again next year. Time to sleep.......