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2018 RBR, Day 9 - Done and Dusted!

7/18/2018

Well it’s day 9 today which means it’s the last stretch to Booligal, our finishing destination. What an adventure the last 10 days has been since we all arrived in Brisbane for registration. For so long we all counted down the days until the rally, then it comes around, the first few days are hard as we all adjust the the early mornings and late nights, and then all of a sudden we are saying goodbye to our Rallytives until the next year.

Over this past week and a half we have seen a huge variety of landscapes, from the Mallee scrub, Pilliga scrub and the Hay Plains .. not to mention the Murray River.

This morning we had the driver’s briefing at the Quambatook Tractor Pull Grounds. Quambatook has been recognised as the tractor pulling capital of Australia with an annual competition held on the Easter long weekend. The entrants all had a great time checking out the sooped up tractors this town is home to.

Today’s rally routes are completely different again! Today we ventured out and around the wide and dusty Hay Plains. Very flat, long, vast country with very few trees to be seen. We all caught up at the One Tree Hotel to gather everyone before we headed on into Booligal.

Todays ‘DumbleBee’ recipient went to Marty Crouch and crew from car 109. The family all packed into the car early this morning at the caravan park and were all ready to go. Just as they took off, “BANG!”. He drove the drivers side of the car straight into the side of this tree. Then the car wouldn’t start… They all hopped out in a bit of a daze and popped the bonnet. There was nothing they could see that was wrong it, “Why won’t it start?”. Ten minutes later Marty jumps back in the car and found he must have turned the kill switch! Haha oh Marty, how could you BEE so stupid?!

Today marks Day 9, the last day, of 2018 Road Boss Rally! When finishing this rally a lot of entrants get the feeling of great accomplishment, and that they should. They country we travel through is rough, rugged, dry, wet, and holds weather of all extremes. To do this for nine days straight, early mornings, late nights, is such an accomplishment. Our Rallytives spend a fair bit of time preparing their vehicles before the rally. Lots of time, money and effort out in. A fair quantity of our rally entrants have 2WD vehicles, so to complete the rally routes we do, they deserve a big pat on their backs.

Well folks, we hope you have enjoyed travelling with us by reading our daily updates.

Until next year… it is bye for now.

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2018 RBR, Day 8 - RB's RDO (Road Boss's Registered Day Off!)

7/17/2018

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This morning we all high sailed it out of Mildura. All our Rallytives are all refreshed and rejuvenated after a quiet day… well that was the plan… I think the RBR crew gave some good business to the local Mildura Distillery last night!

Today something a bit different and very unexpected, Mr & Mrs Road Boss’s RDO! They chucked the keys over to son, Jordan Lawson, to lead the pack as a Road Boss today, and what a job he did! Mr & Mrs Road Boss (Jamie & Michelle Lawson) jumped in Jordans car, Car 104 Big Foot - Ford F100. Jordan left them with the one and only rule and regulation… leave it with a full tank of fuel. (This F Truck has a 200 litre tank… that gets filled everyyydayyyy!)

Road Boss mapped quite an exciting sand dune for everyone to navigate over. It got really boggy quite quickly and 80% of cars were needing to be snatched out. But that’s all the fun isn’t it!? Soon later we come across yet another sandy predicament. After a few vehicles tried to get a run up through the bog, they decided to make an alternate track through the bush and out the other end. By this stage the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped, the cloudy grey sky was full of dust and gloom. “Is it going to rain?” Was the question everyone was asking. Well along came a shower of rain along with the biggest dust storm Victoria has seen!

Juliette Wright from GIVIT was at a checkpoint today with the Jim Beam Boys, greeting everyone as they came in from the first Wacko.

We arrived in Quambatook later this afternoon, it was nice and chilly so we weren’t surprised to find everyone snuggled into the local pub warming their tummy with a nice beverage! Tonight we are having dinner at the Quambatook Golf, Netball & Footy Club. We will also be having our Mascot Races. So if you all remember from our Day 1 update (Brisbane to Texas), every vehicle received their own team mascot. They were all told to hold onto them and keep them safe for the duration of the rally. We weren’t told what we would be doing with them. Tonight we will be having the RBR Mascot Races (nearly the same as the famous Ascot Races!). We will make sure to let you know what the outcome of the races in tomorrow’s update.

Today’s notable happenings:

Car 888 smashed windscreen from the thick scrub through Murray Sunset National park, they taped it up and headed for the closest town to track down a new windscreen.
Car 19, Gary and Ben Zieser, had a few rear suspension troubles today. They pulled up at the end of Wacko 1 and pit crew were onto it! They continued continued on with the remainder of the wackos.
Car 74 lost a wheel today. They went to replace it and found the studs from the spare wheel on the back were different and didn’t fit. They took it slowly back into Lalbert to track down some spare wheel nuts.
Here’s one for you! Sandman got stuck in the sand?! Now isn’t that ironic.

Today’s ‘DumbleBee’ recipient went to Mick Sears, also known as Attitude. He was riding in car 104, Big Foot, the other day and as they were driving along they went over a bridge. As you do, you look out the window and he said, “Ahhh look, penguins!” The rest of the crew excitedly looked over to find they were not penguins, they were… pelicans. How could you BEE so stupid?!

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2018 RBR, Day 7 - Rallying around the Mighty Murray

7/15/2018

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Today was a little different as it was our second night staying in Mildura. For the rally course, Road Boss mapped out a short, sharp and quite exciting course for the day. It was an optional rally day, so if people wanted to do a few vehicle repairs or maintenance, or just wanted to have a rest day and check out some of Mildura’s local attractions, this was a great day to do so.

For those who hung around Mildura for the day, were seen looking in places like AutoPro, Super Cheap and the like, as well as hanging out at the local laundromat. The local cafes also did a roaring trade from having the Road Boss Rally in town as many of our crews have been hanging out for a coffee.

For those who decided to do the rally course, they had another day of action packed rally routes. The course consisted of a short, sharp and quite exciting little lap to the west and back along the Murray River. The route was just under 200km and saw everyone coming back into town covered in mud from ear to ear.

Later this afternoon we had a river boat to collect everyone from the Mildura Wharf. These took us all on a two hour river cruise, with food platters and a bar! How could it get much better? The Murray River is just spectacular. Especially for the river cruise, we had a pirate theme so crews could dress up and ‘behave’ like pirates… It goes without saying, that we all enjoyed a few belly laughs along the way.

We are all looking forward to heading to Quambatook tomorrow which promises to have more fantastic roads, more fantastic scenery, more fantastic company and more fantastic entertainment tomorrow night.

All’s well on the Road Boss Rally…

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2018 RBR, Day 6 - Have You Ever Seen A Pink Lake? We Have!

7/15/2018

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Well what a great night in Dimboola last night! Small communities have always been the best overnight stops for us, it’s where the RBR shines the most. Last night we auctioned off two canvas bags, the money that was made was going directly to the Dimboola Primary School, for those students who’s families are struggling with money due the drought. This money was going towards these children so they could go on school camp this year.

Today we had more miles, more Mallee and more mighty Murray river towards the afternoon.
We had some really cool Wackos today, some nice soft sand and some tight and twisty roads. As we left Dimboola this morning we rallied around the back blocks of the sheep and wheat belt of the Victoria Wimmera country.

We all stopped for lunch at the Patchewollock Hotel. This great little town is well known for its Silo Art Trail. As part of a regional tourism initiative, various artists were commissioned to paint amazing portraits of locals on massive seed silos.

After lunch we rallied north of Underbool, through back tracks, sand hills, salt hush plains and clay pans and come across the beautiful Pink Lakes. Like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Amazing.

Tonight we arrive into Mildura and we will be here for two nights. We have a sit down function for dinner at the Mildura Working Mans Club. Juliette Wright from GIVIT has flown into Mildura to be with us for remainder of the rally. Tonight we are also going to be officially acknowledging and thanking our wonderful, amazing volunteer officials, which is something we rarely get to do “officially”.

Our ‘DumbleBee’ recipient today went to Lyle Swallow in Car 2020. Lyle was serving himself up some dessert last night and thought he’d scoop a bit of cream into his bowl. He got the spoon and was jabbing the cream in the bowl and said, “Geez this cream must be frozen!” Now it is cold down here in Victoria, but not that cold! He was soon made aware he needed to remove the cling wrap to get to the cream. How could he BEE so stupid?!

Today’s notable happenings:

Gearbox is slipping, and there is a hole in the fuel tank of car 666. They drove straight to Mildura today and didn’t complete any Wackos.
Car 104 had a large oil leak. Got to Mildura and found it was the tappet cover not sealed properly. Being fixed tonight.

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2018 RBR, Day 5 - from dust to sand to mud

7/14/2018

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Last night our Ooky Spooky, Berri Scary night was a hoot! Our characters put on a great show with costumes and accessories which kept us entertained for hours. We also had a great auction, full of entertainment, bargains and plenty of $$’s for GIVIT.

As we geared up and got ready to leave Berri this morning, it wasn’t Berri Berri cold as we were all suspecting. Most people were enjoying not having to wear 50 layers!

Our ‘DumbleBee’ award recipient today was Stuart Hill from car 55. Yesterday he was waiting at a checkpoint in the passenger seat of his car and someone asked him to move his vehicle forward a little. Stu thought to himself, “You know what I’ll just sit in the passenger seat and put the car in drive.” He did just that. When it come time to stop…. he didn’t, he couldn’t. He run straight up the end of car 17, Normy, Bobbie & Peter. How could you BEE so stupid?! Road Boss, as he does, enjoys a gag or two and on announcing Stu his ‘DumbleBee’ award, Road Boss organised for the boys from car 17 to walk into the room wrapped in head bandages and neck braces. A good laugh was had by all.

‘Via the Mighty Murray’ is the theme of this year’s rally, and Berri was our first good glimpse and taste of this magnificent river and surrounding area. We headed away from this river for today but we will revisit it in the days to come.
Today’s rally kilometres included sand and Malley scrub as far as the horizon. It was quite challenging in some places where there was very soft sand. Most vehicles were advised to lower tyre pressures, but if that didn’t work, we had recovery gear ready to go!

As we arrived at Dimboola a large flock of Corellas flew over and between the trees of the Caravan Park, getting themselves ready for their roost along side the river tonight.

We have dinner organised tonight at the Dimboola Rowing Club and our theme is, ‘Kings & Queens of Karaoke’. We’ve had photo evidence of our Rallytives practicing their chosen karaoke songs for tonight. Some have been multitasking, Heather from Car 1959X was showing us footage of KL reading lyrics from her phone, holding her laptop with the music playing and having the Road Book on the dash reading the next instruction. Can’t wait to hear what they’ve been practising!

As the cars were arriving in this afternoon, it looks that they’ve found some muddy tracks in this drought country. They’ve all said it was definitely a different change from the sandy tracks they have been on during the last few days. As the cars and crews were arriving into Dimboola Caravan Park to the admin check in point, we couldn’t help but notice they were covered in thick black soil mud!

Notable vehicle happenings for today:

Car 58 done a starter motor and had to replace it on the side of the road, he fixed it and is in Dimboola tonight.

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2018 RBR, Day 4 - Berri Berri Cold!

7/13/2018

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Well what a frosty start to the morning in Pooncarie. The local hall sign was saying it was -3 degrees and a thick frost layered everything! People were using anything they could find to scrape the ice off their windscreens. We even heard there was a 12 volt hair dryer getting around!

The Pooncarie locals made us all a delicious breaky and had our lunches set out for everyone to take with us on today’s trip. One thing we have learnt to love about these lunches is the ‘treat’ which is always home made and sweet - probably from a very old recipe.

Pat (S1) decided he would be smart and camp on high ground up near the hall instead of down at the camp grounds along with everyone else. As he woke up on this chilly, chilly morning he was showered with an in ground water sprinkler!!

Jacko bought a raffle ticket number 17 last night from a raffle the locals were running and it come time for the tickets to be drawn. “First raffle goes tooooo ticket 33,” says the Pooncarie local.
Jacko says, “Argh dammit,” and throws his ticket in the fire.
“Second raffle goes toooo ticket 17!”
“Ahh seriously?!”

Col and Kurt (Car 81) were awarded the ‘DumbleBee’ yesterday and had to carry him around all day. Once they got to the Pooncarie Golf Course they placed the Bee in the Tee on the Golf Course and went and enjoyed at beer and some dinner. They came back to find a dog peeing on the bee!!! So that’s that, Col and Kurt were awarded the DumbleBee once again (and were strongly advised to pull over and give it a scrub in the river haha!).

Not a very long day today, it was only 360km. There was still some very twisty, bumpy, wacky Wackos though. All cars and crews enjoyed a good early arrival into Berri this afternoon, with most people arriving in around 2:30pm onwards. It allowed for everyone to get any parts they needed, do a bit of car maintenance, or get a head start on a few drinks! Tonight we are having our ‘Berri Scary Night’ function at the Berri Motel.

If anyone hasn’t realised, it is Friday the 13th today so what can be more fitting then a berri scary night in Berri! It will be berri interesting to see everyone dressed up scary tonight!

Today’s notable happenings:

The Loveboat, Car 1978, broke a bolt in the rear brakes. They fixed this on the side of the road and made it back into Berri around 6pm
S2, Danny and Emma Reed got their Prado put on a tow truck and they are currently on their way to Mildura (we will all meet them there Sunday afternoon). The issue was injector failure.

That’s all for tonight. We hope all the family and friends out there are enjoying the RBR Road Noise.

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2018 RBR, Day 3 - Leavin’ Nothin’ but Dust!

7/12/2018

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As promised, today was a long, long day. Lots and lots of dust, also a bit cool! On arrival to Pooncarrie, we started to see a few clouds come over which hopefully means there will be no frost in the morning.

Most crews will be camping at the camp ground where the golf course is, however some crews found accommodation at a couple of nearby shearers quarters. The cricket oval at Pooncarrie, next to the Golf Course and campground was very nice and green, and it attracted a large mob of roos and even a few emus!

Cars 101, 118 & 888 joined the cruise course today and followed the main roads to Pooncarrie. These roads were still rough and dusty, but just not as much as the rally course. The cruise course went via Cobar, Wilcannia and Menindee where the famous Menindee grapes are grown, check these out next time your travelling through!

The winner of the ‘DumbleBee’ award went to Car 81, Col Desbrow and Kurt Carlyon for having a “boot full of loot”! What they did was drive through the forestry with their boot unlatched and each time they went over a bump the boot would open and something would fall out. The car behind, car 62, was stopping and picking up their loot, consisting of a water bottle, sleeping bag, jacket etc. Soon after winning the award car 81 was looking for a bungee cord to keep their loot safe.

Any cars that were spick and span this morning are now chockers full of dust! We are all interested in watching the bus boys do a sweep out of the bus!

Everyone received a packed lunch at their smoko stop today and were encouraged to eat it near the old W Tree Hotel site. A fair few people stopped but some wanted to keep going as they knew today was a long hard day and they didn't want to be getting home too late after dark.

Roads were quite rough and dusty, there were a lot of unexpected bull dust holes, so we all had to be quite cautious. Lots and lots of pigs, roos, goats and emus seen on everyone's travels today.

Notable vehicle happenings today:

Cars 55 broke a shockie and 707 helped fix it on the side of the road. They were back on the road and checking into admin at Pooncarrie by 6:30pm
Car 14, Sandman, decided to skip the suggested lunch destination at W Tree Hotel and ate lunch on the run. They left Nyngan towards the end off the pack and made up a heap of time by skipping lunch and arrived mid way through the pack this afternoon.
S1 broke a rear shackle mount and had to weld it up on the side of the road
Not many others today which is fantastic! Hopefully this means everyone has had their shake down over the past two days and are ready to rally on for the next five days.

Tonight everyone kicked back and enjoyed a game of golf and a bottle top throwing contest.

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2018 RBR, Day 2 - There's something in the pilliga!

7/11/2018

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Day two and we headed off from Texas bright and early this morning. Everyone received their team mascot last night. They have to keep it safe and have it travel with them for the rest of the rally. They are all little teddy bears which match at least one aspect of their car or crew. Some are funny some are cute and some are downright outrageous!

Today we rallied over the Queensland border into New South Wales... how ironic being the State of Origin tonight! Very big day today, total of 625 rally kilometres. We drove through some amazing county, very dry and dusty through in some areas.

Home made morning tea was enjoyed next to the Gwyder River this morning for everyone... jam scones, homemade brownies and much more devine food!

By 3:30pm there were still about 5 cars to arrive at the lunch stop at Camp Cypress in Baradine.... that means a late night ahead.

Notable vehicle happenings include:

Car 753 broke their radiator in the Pilliga and got fixed up by rallytives.
Car 250 needed a brake part so they made one at Baradine.
Car 104 broke 2 bolts off the master brake cylinder and a few brake lines, fixed in the Pilliga
CC thought he had a fuel leak last night and pulled fuel lines off and unbolted the skid plate only to find he had over filled the tank
Car 888 and 1959X went via Bingara
Car 311, Groot went via North Star for repairs
We had lots of different routes taken today which allowed for cars and crews to fix a variety of mechanical issues in a variety of towns.

A number of cars and crews cut and run to the overnight stop to get in and ready for the origin football tonight at the Nyngan RSL.

Today's 'Dumblebee' recipient goes to one of the JagMen who broke down yesterday (Day 1) before they even got to the first Wacko!

All cars made it into town tonight in Nyngan and enjoyed an international cuisine at the RSL.

Football proved to be popular entertainment for some while others enjoyed a good shower and only a few drinks before heading to bed, ready for a repeat of another long, longer day tomorrow.

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2018 RBR - Day 1 - Headin' for Texas

7/10/2018

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Texas QLD 4385, it’s home sweet home out on the border line, as Lee Kernaghan would say! Well here we are and here we go, ready to go rallying all the way to Booligal, via the Mighty Murray River. We had a big send off from everyone at the HMAS Naval Base this morning, perfect opportunity for photos. lots of family and friends coming to wish their loved ones off for the next nine days to Booligal.

Last night we had our G'Day G'Day welcome function at Brisbane's Eat Street Northshore. What a hit that was! Besides stuffing ourselves with yummy food, we did announce our top 23 fundraisers. Our top 23 fundraisers not only get recognition of their efforts for raising money, but also get the chance to pick their starting positions for each morning on the rally. Top fundraiser so far is Car 55, Stu & Lenny.

No major problems today, Car 75 and 101 had to bypass to Warwick in the Transport stage this morning to get a few minor things fixed up, but finished remaining Wackos and are in town tonight. Dakar Jag 274, pulled off to the side of the road through 14 Crossings Wacko 1, fixing some thermo fan wiring. They were back on the road and in Warwick for lunch.

Thanks to Pat & Rob Devine for organising the Warwick Sunrise Rotary Club to provide lunch at their beautiful house in Warwick today. The home cooked soup was to die for. Oh and not to forget the upstairs bar, there were a few comments on how much beer Pat and his little army of men would have had to of drunk over the years to make the amazing wall features!
Car 311, Groot, had to pull into Warwick to get a shocky mount welded. He was on the road by lunch time and finished the remaining of the Wackos, in Texas tonight.

Each night we have a self volunteering ‘Dumblebee’ recipient, rewarded to the dumbest person of the day. Today’s recipient was Barry Stubbs, Car 707, The Booze Brothers.

Everyone is accounted for in Texas tonight. Now for tonight’s theme, ‘Meet your Mascot in Texas and Hold ‘Em!’

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RBR 2018 - Rally Eve - Registration day!

7/8/2018

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Well it’s nearly time! Today we started seeing all the Rallymobiles arrive in the big smoke of Brisvegas for registration. We were all greeted warmly by Navy Able Seaman, Commanders, and the CEO of the Naval Base as we arrived through our guarded gates.

Vehicles were all scrutineered and then sent inside to complete the remainder of official paper work. All the entrants received their road book, number plates, name badges and reusable coffee cups (donated by Danny & Emma Reid S2 - Noosa Jetty Builders). GIVIT have organised everyone with warm gloves for the cold trip down south, they have been a hit with everyone (they are all wishing it was colder in Brisbane so they could test them out!)

We had a total of 77 cars flow through the HMAS Naval Base gates today, 53 vehicles entered (including 1 bus!) and 24 official vehicles, all eager and ready to hit the Road Boss Rally Road.

Tonight we have dinner at Brisbane’s Eat Street Northshore for our tradition G’Day G’Day welcome function. With a South American Grill, L’as Catrinas, Miss Claudes Crepes, Redgate Chargrill & the bar of course! We should have the perfect recipe for a great night to open up the show.
Short sharp update for tonight. Tomorrow night we will bring you a detailed Road Noise Update, so keep tuned!