2010 XXXX Gold Port to Port Variety Bash

  Daily Diaries and Updates

Day 1 - Thursday 29 July - Southport to Gympie

We set out this morning from Sea World, waving goodbye to the wonderful staff and characters that assisted with bringing together the start of this years 2010 XXXX Gold Variety Bash.

After taking the Esplanade of the Gold Coast first up for a glimpse of the ocean, we headed inland.

One of the highlights this morning was paying a drive-by visit to the RAAF Base at Amberley, a fantastic sponsor of our Variety Bash.   First stop was Walloon Saloon ... our first Passport Stop!! (For those non bashers - passport stop means PUB)

We also visited 2 schools today - Fernvale State School this morning and then Kilcoy State School for lunch.  We saw our second appeal at Kilcoy, presenting over $7,000 worth of Sporting equipment to the school.

After lunch, we headed towards Jimna and enjoyed some good Bashing roads this afternoon on our way to our overnight stop at Gympie.

The Gympie community really turned on the hospitality for us tonight with a wonderful feast of Fish, Salad and awesome potatoes!  Then we were treated to our first live show of the Bash ... none other than Beccy Cole ... great start to this year's event ... we're all in Bash Mode now!

Day 2 - Friday 30 July - Gympie to Biloela

With Day One under our belt, and a yummy breakfast provided by the Gympie Lions to kick start the day, we had a wonderful surprise before heading off today - we presented a $24,000 12 seater Sunshine Coach to the Gympie Special School this morning ... what a wonderful feeling!

A school stop first up at Gunalda State School with only 40 kids, but boy were they excited!  We drive over the free flowing Mary River this morning.  Then onto Lunch at Mount Perry State School, where we P & C cooked up a Steak Sandwich Storm!  Then we returned to the road but not before leaving behind some goodies for the students.

It was a great run this afternoon, with another school stop (Ventnor School) and some fun stops along the way including a visit to the Callide Dam.

Our Passport Stop was at the infamous Thangool Hotel. Now, for those of you that were around in 2007, the Thangool Hotel was responsible for losing a few Bashers on the trip into town, and it is still commonly referred to amongst Bashers as the "best passport stop ever!!." And today they didn't dissappoint .. even making a $500 donation to our cause!

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Day 3 - Saturday 31 July - Biloela to Lake Fairbairn

Day three and today saw us heading north through a few properties this morning and straight down the highway this afternoon!!

First up was Lynvale Station, where it looked like every family from the entire region had gathered to wish us well on our journey.  There were plenty of kids to take our goodies of our hands and you could see they don't see a spectacle like us very often!

The ladies at our Sandy Fun Stop this morning were treated to a numbers of shows by cars missing the Right Turn immediately after the Grid heading down into the Creek Crossing.  Car 24 won ‘Best Air' for their efforts.

Steak sandwiches were on the menu again today at Duaringa Golf Club catered by the Duaringa State School.

Our afternoon run into the beautiful Fairbairn Dam was an easy one with a Passport stop at the Blackwater Hotel, a lovely little pub, where the manager is good friends with our very own Panda!!

Then a visit to the Blackwater International Coal Museum, where the local police kidnapped our very own Mavis (Damian) the Bowling Lady.  They put Mavis in a Man Cage hooked up to a Crane and then hoisted her in the air. Bashers were encouraged to pay money to have Mavis released with all funds going to our wonderful children of course ... however she seemed to get more money to go higher, and stay up there than she did to come down!!

Dinner and camping tonight was at the Emerald Ski Club at Fairbairn Dam, and with our Hats and Hearts worn proudly we partied the night away with band Rockforce.

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30 year old cars and 2 wheel drive make flowing or dry creek crossings immense fun...but don't laugh too hard, chances are you'll need help too!

Day 4 - Sunday 1 August - Lake Fairbairn to Lake Dunn

What a wonderful morning!  Waking up at the magnificent Lake Fairbairn to a delicious breakfast of Bacon & Egg Burgers!

Today we continued our journey north and west, to the most western point of Queensland that we will visit on the 2010 Bash.

The roads were dusty, and today there were a LOT of gates!

There were even a few creek crossings today that put some of us to the test, but in true bash style – everyone made it across ... one way or another.

Once we got through our first property of Florence Vale, we stopped at Peak Vale for a special presentation for nine year old Ivy Hensley – the daughter of the station owners. Ivy is a gorgeous little girl and she was so excited by our visit.  We presented her with a Modified Saddle ... beautiful stuff!

Lunch was a very special occasion today, at Islay Station ... voted by Bashers as THE BEST pies EVER ... Mannings meat pies – yummy!

After a passport stop at the Jordon Valley Hotel in the tiny town of Jericho.  Then onto another Lake stop for dinner and camping - the Desert Recreation Club at a lovely little spot called “The Lakes” on the property of Lake Dunn.

With Dinner on the tennis court tonight the theme was Wimbledon and many got right into the spirit ... and it was ‘Advantage Basher’ tonight with a great show put on by the very funny Pete Denahy.

Day 5 - Monday 2 August  - Lake Dunn to Charters Towers

Well we may have been headed for the Country Capital of Charters Towers today there was a still a few more dusty roads to tackle first, so off we set at 7.30am after farewelling the beautiful Lake Dunn.

Our Fashions on the Field Fun Stop today saw many budding fashionistas setting a style of their own.  Car 24 won but we think it was the body piercing that got them across the line!

After great laughs at the fun stop it was onto lunch at the Twin Hills Race Track supplied by the Twin Hills Camp Draft Association  - voted by many as the best lunch spread ever seen on a bash!

Bashers were treated to an amazing display of talent by the Station’s Helicopter Muster Pilot – putting our very own Bull, Damian the Clown through his paces!  A great display, something most of us will be talking about for a very long time!

Ladies (and some gents!) were in for another treat at lunch today as the Variety Secrets shop was also set up and selling! 

It was a fairly easy afternoon run for everyone this afternoon – particularly those who wussed out and took the ‘skirt route’ on the highway.  Perhaps they just wanted to get in early to get dressed up for our Skirts and Flirts night tonight.

Rod Stewart (impersonator – Morgan Kent) has been with us on the bash the whole way so far and Tonight was the Night ... the biggest flirt of them all took to the stage with his Tonight’s the Night Rod Stewart Show.

We’re not so sure if those ‘gifts’ the guys bought at the Variety Secrets shop today will make them home after seeing them being ‘stretched’ over manly bodies tonight!

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Day 6 - Tuesday 3 August - Charters Towers Lay Day

A big THANKS to the Interact club at Blackheath & Thornburgh College for our Fundraising Car Wash this morning!  They washed all of our cars (and they really needed it!) for $20 a car.  All funds made today are going towards their fundraising for a Charters Towers Liberty Swing.  Good Stuff guys - do did a great job and we're really proud of what you're doing.

Today is our LAY DAY!  We are all very happy about that. After a yummy breakfast at the school, and getting our cars cleaned by the students some of us had some maintenance to get done on the vehicles, others needed to do washing, some needed to catch up on sleep and the rest of us headed over to the Charters Towers Show!

Dagwood Dogs, Cows, birds, fish, horses, rides and sideshow alley ... everything you picture a country show to be ... and even the Bash Shop were there.

The Australian Idols also flew into Townsville today to join us at the Charters Towers Show tonight.  All except Mutto who has been with us since the start line at Southport and Kimmy Cooper who is already here performing at the show.  Today we were joined by Casey Barnes, Kate Cook and Klancie Keogh.  Plus the Legendary Basher from last year, Mr James Blundell!

Tonight was also the much anticipated Australian Idol Concert hosted by James Blundell, at the Charters Towers Show, and it's all thanks to the XXXX Gold Variety Bash ... it was fantastic and topped off with the Show Fireworks!

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 Bashers were fined according to how far across the creek crossing they travelled before needed assistance.


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Day 7 - Wednesday 4 August - Charters Towers to Innisfail

With another yummy breakfast cooked up by the staff and students from Blackheath & Thornburgh College, we celebrated a massive $8,000 raised by the School's Interact Club for a Charters Towers Liberty Swing.  Charters Towers Wheelchair bound kids are well and truly on their way to having a swing installed!

After this exciting announcement we were on our way to our next destination - Innisfail.  But first we had to hit some dusty roads.  And almost as if to celebrate the end of the outback leg of our journey there was one last Sandy Creek Crossing to pass.  As usual there was much hype, excitement and bravado ... and a lot of 4WDs and Snatch Straps!!

As we continued along it was amazing to watch the scenery change from Outback Dust to Coastal Rainforest.  The trip down the range today was magnificent with some awesome lookout stops along the way.

Lunch was a feast today ... an Italian Feast prepared by the Trebonne State School P&C.  With full bellies and smiles we watched as the students performed a number of songs and poems for us.  It was pretty clear they had been rehearsing for this day for a long time ... and we loved every minute of it!!  Before we left, we announced the purchase of $8,500 worth of outdoor furniture equipment that has been purchased for the school.  Just another gift for a grateful school along our Bash route.

Apparently after our visit to the school last year, the kids were hard to settle after all the cars eventually finished passing by...and I doubt it would have been any different this year!

After lunch was an easy run this afternoon with a couple of school stops at Macknade and Cardwell and of course a Passport stop for good measure, before hitting the busy little metropolis of Innisfail.

Tonight is our Wogs and Mobs night at the Innisfail Brothers Leagues Club and we're all very excited about James Blundell's performance tonight also!

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Day 8 - Thursday 5 August - Innisfail to Tinnaburra

What a better way to start the day than by launching a Liberty Swing for the community of Innisfail, and enjoying a nice hearty breakfast supplied by the Rotary Club of Innisfail.  It was a fabulous morning as you can see from the photo and even though the Bashers had already left, the children from Innisfail Special School came down after 8.30am and used the Liberty Swing for the first time.  They were so excited - a brand new swing and they couldn't believe it was just for them!

After this wonderful start to the day it just kept getting better with a stop at MaMu Rainforest Canopy Walk. This walkway is in the heart of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Listed Area and is designed to have minimal impact on the rainforest, having been built with environmentally sustainable and durable materials. The walking track was a 2.5km round trip and for those of us who made it to the top of the viewing tower, there was a magnificent view plus a special treat of wine and cheese!!

After departing the Canopy Walk, we headed through the Misty Mountains across to Ravenshoe for lunch, where the views just kept getting better and better.  As we weaved our way to Ravenshoe we drove through a Wind Farm ... an absolutely awe inspiring site ... makes you wonder why we don't have more of these natural energy farms all over Australia.

Once we arrived at the school we were treated to another amazing lunch by the Ravenshoe State School and a performance by the music students and the Sugar Daddies.  We now know why they have won awards for their cheesecake!  ... mmm heaven.

With lunch out of the way, we travelled to our next stop, a Passport Stop at Hotel Tully Falls.  Here we took our traditional annual Virgin Bash Photo (see right)!  Gotta love it ... this one gets them every year!!  This was also the pub the 2010 Bash Painting is based on!! And what a great pub it was too!!

Tonight was our awards night at one of the most beautiful spots on earth - Lake Tinnaroo ... WOW!  Many awards were announced including:

Highest Fundraisers - Car 08, Wayne & Robyn Webster who raised over $150,000!!!

Basher of the Year - Mark Smith

Congratulations to all of our award winners!

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Day 9 - Friday 6 August - Tinnaburra to Port Douglas

First up this morning was the awe inspiring Cathedral Fig Tree - one of nature's greatest feats. This tree is over 500 years old, and if people tried to encircle the tree and stood around it with their arms out it would take 24 people to fully surround it.

Lunch was at Rainforestation Nature Park, Kuranda where we stopped for a couple of hours to enjoy a delicious buffet lunch as well as enjoy some of the activities on offer including a Dreamtime Experience and an Army Duck Tour.  And well, the Mango Gelatto ... don't even talk about it!

Then it was time to tackle our last Bash Route in the 21^st Anniversary 2010 XXXX Gold ‘Port to Port' Variety Bash ... and Rob wasn't going to let us off lightly, with some wonderful scenery and challenging roads.

But it was all worth it as the locals cheered us on over the finish line into Port Douglas this afternoon.  There were a lot of hugs and congratulations as every single team who started this amazing journey 9 days and 3,500kms ago drove under the XXXX Finish Line Arch.

With the Court House hotel offering a complimentary beverage to everyone over the finish line, it was easy to see why people love Port Douglas so much.  The finale this evening was nothing short of spectacular with a 21^st Birthday Bash to rival any celebrity party.  It was a ‘Hot August Night' as we enjoyed Port Douglas fresh local produce on the edge of the ocean and were treated to a Neil Diamond Show ... a perfect end to an amazing trip.

154 cars and over 400 people came together to have the time of their lives - and they did!

Oh, and while they were doing it they also managed to raise an amazing $1.2million for Qld's sick, disadvantaged and special needs children. These funds will be used to continue to put smiles on the faces of thousands of Qld families over the next 12 months.

From the bottom of our hearts we say ... THANK YOU BASHERS!!

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