Well that is one successful wrap. The 2017 Workwear Discounts Road Boss Rally is now run, won, done and dusted. Wow, what a ride.  The roller coaster of emotion that we all travel on is quite hard to describe. From the lead in chaos of trying to get everything ready, to the excited anticipation of waiting and wanting to get the show on the road then the long, busy, exciting, chaotic, hilarious days out on the road then poof, it’s all over in a flash. A blinding flash that leaves us wondering where the last ten days has just gone and what just happened.
 
What an incredible event and an incredible outcome.  Success can only come from one thing, and that is incredible people.  As we often highlight, we are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  Well the extraordinary thing we did this year was raise $264,321 for our charity GIVIT. That’s now over half a million dollars in two years.  The best part, is everyone’s a winner.  These funds not only allow GIVIT to stay alive and keep their lights on, but it also gets dispersed and spread right around the country helping other charities, community groups and not for profits delivering exactly what is needed to those in urgent need.. The charitable footprint (tyre track) and positive impact that the RBR makes to Australia is simply amazing.  If you are reading this, then you are an important part of our Road Boss Rally community and therefore part of this inspirational result.  Congratulations everyone. Each and every one of you should feel very proud and very much part of this success and outcome.
 
Another amazing milestone and success story is John Leadbetter.  This year marked thirty years since the Original Road Boss (Allan Lawson) started it all and headed out on the unknown Road Boss rally road.  What has happened and what we have all achieved in those thirty years in just incredible.  But there is only one man and one car that has seen and driven every single mile of over single rally.  John Leadbetter and his inspirational 1968 XT Flacon drove over the finish line for the thirtieth time.  Well done and congratulations John.
 
How do you wrap up and explain such a mind-blowing event and outcome.  A lot of people, and particularly the media always ask what the highlight of the event was.  There are many, but if I had to pinpoint one, I think the proud feeling of delivering an event that is equal too, or better than anything we have ever done would be the greatest highlight and sense of achievement for us.  It is the outcome we strive for, but never know if it is going to actually happen.  To see people who have lined up for the first ever rally as well as the entrants who have done many rallies all bursting and beaming with excitement, like hyped up school kids was very rewarding.  We then know that the enormous work and worry load was worth every painful bit.  We also love watching and feeling the connection between us all with our fundraising achievements.  It is a combined team effort and an effort we can ALL feel very proud of.
 
So that’s it from the 2017 Road Boss Rally. I could go on and on and to tell you another million exciting and funny stories of things that happened in the past ten days, but we have to close it off somewhere and put it all to bed.  If you have been reading and enjoying our updates from the road each day, thank you and we sincerely hope you felt part of the journey.  If you travelled on the 2017 Road Boss Rally, all we can say is “thank you”.  Great outcome by great people for a great cause. We are all driving to make a difference and boy, didn’t we do just that.
 
What’s next?  Well we are having a 30yr rally reunion at Tara on the weekend of 14th/15th of October this year.  Everyone is most welcome to come and enjoy this weekend and help us celebrate thirty years out on the Road Boss Rally Road. It is looking like it is going to be HUGE!
 
2018 Road Boss Rally.  Entries are now open (and flowing in) for the 2018 RBR which is traveling from the Story Bridge to Booligal via the Mighty Murray. 9th – 18th July 2018/
 
Thank you ALL once again and we look forward to seeing you soon somewhere.
 
NOTE regarding photos:  The photos used for our daily updates are not the official event images. These were just a few happy snaps we grabbed as we bounced around doing our RB duties each day.  Our more professional and quality photos and images will be dispersed and made available over the next month or so once we do all the culling and editing.  We look forward to placing these on the web site as well as posting our all the Hi Res images and producing the 2017 RBR hard cover albums that everyone will receive.
 
2017 WINNERS & GRINNERS:
 
The big winner: GIVIT & the thousands of charities they help all over Australia. $264 321.00
 
Highest Fundraisers:
Car 55, Shark from Cronulla NSW. ($25 000)
Car 62, Red Rocket. Goondiwindi QLD ($19 942)
Car 420, Daimover, Aspley QLD. ($19 908)
Car 707, Booze Brothers, Oyster Bay NSW. ($13 815)
Car 81, Red Bull, Maroochydore QLD. ($13 670)
 
Inspirational RBR Achievers:
 
Supreme GIVIT Everything Award: Jeff & Bronwyn Schultz, Biloela QLD.
Spirit and Spotlight: Car 16, Ghostbusters, Gladstone QLD.
Never say Never: Car 18, Jurassic Park, Roxby Downs SA.
Picture Perfect: Car 420, Daimover, Aspley QLD.
 
Cruise Course:
 
1st: Car 012, Deja Moo, Toowoomba QLD.
2nd: Car 053, Happy Hippies, Allora QLD.
3rd: Car 042, Odd Couple, Westbrook QLD.
 
Rally Course: (Wacko results)
 
1st: Car 707, Booze Brothers, Oyster Bay NSW.
2nd: Car 250, Rumblur 250, Biloela QLD.
3rd: Car 109, Mammary Masseurs, Mt Mee QLD.
4th: Car 202, Qwitchabitchin, Toowoomba QLD.
5th: Car 58, Eliminator, Oakey QLD.
 
Class Awards:
 
Class A, Car 707, Oyster Bay NSW.
Class B: Car 17, Ionic Capalaba QLD.
Class C: Car 19, Super Hero’s, Lake Moogerah QLD.
Class D: Car 236, Just In Time, Dalby QLD.
Class E: Car 220, Suparoo, Toowoomba QLD.
Class F: Car 252, Border Patrol, Mackay QLD.
  
THE END!

​Wow, what a busy day.  The last day is always hectic, chaotic, exciting, busy and full of a million things to do in a very short space of time.  I will apologise now for the short update today.  So much to do.  We promise we will do an in depth wrap up and lots more stories tomorrow for you.
 
Although the last day, it certainly packed a punch and was as enjoyable, challenging and exciting as all the other days out on the Road Boss Rally road.  The big and exciting news that you would all want to know is yes, EVERYONE made it in safe and across the finish line.
 
It sure is an odd look when you come into a city where everything is clean and tidy with shiny cars buzzing round. We really do stand out like sore thumbs.  Filthy dirty, rattling and squeaking cars with broken exhausts.  It has been a cracking rally and war wounds and battle scars are signs of a great time had by all.
 
Big night tonight as we have our final farewell presentation function.  Looking forward to announcing all the winners, achievers and most importantly, our 2017 fundraising tally for GIVIT.
 
Thank you everyone and we will look forward to bringing you all up to speed with all the news and winners tomorrow.

​Last night at Lightning Ridge proved to be very entertaining, even though it didn’t quite go according to plan. Our plan was to have a heap of Ralliers hypnotised so they could entertain the bigger mob. Well, as it turns out, Ralliers don’t hypnotise so easily… except 1 or 2. The number one was Ash from GIVIT who proved to be hilarious as he had his belly button stolen, was grossed out but the smell of the person next to him and was giving the crowd an evil eye as he thought we were all talking about him. The number 2 was Belinda who also smelt funny smells and couldn’t remember her name. So, even though we weren’t such an hypnotisable bunch, we had a great night of entertainment.
 
Back to the club this morning for breakfast where we had a garage sale of auction items which we won’t get time to auction. All monies to GIVIT, all stock cleared so a win-win all round.
 
We also handed over another one of our GIVIT donations to the local neighbourhood centre. Very well received and very much appreciated. Only simple items (vacuum cleaner, microwave, digital camera and hand knitted Beanies from the Mackay Northern Beachs Lions Club) but they are essential items and will make a huge difference in many peoples lives.
 
A few opal stalls set up at the start line. A couple of us picked up a piece or 3.
 
Lunch was another spread of homemade delicious dishes and sweets. The cooks in these small communities have the catering down pat. Variety, cost, taste, quantity…
 
Well the Road Boss Rally was never meant to be easy, and never will be!  If anyone thought the tough stuff was over, RB certainly saved the best for last.  What a day with a mixed bag of everything our entrants love.  Sand, mud, creeks, rocks, hard to see and find tracks.  This is what they come for and what inspires them to keep linin’ up year after year. The 2017 RBR has certainly delivered on its promise.  The best part is, it’s not over yet. Still a very interesting day and a few challenges lie between here and the finish line in Tamworth tomorrow.
 
Boy, hasn’t the weather made a downward spiral.  From warm balmy days to near sleet.  Just like the rest of the rally though, we love everything that is thrown at us and we lap it up in jovial spirits.
 
Very busy day once again where the action and jobs at hand never stop.  From the second we open our eyes early in the morning to the time they close eighteen hours later our minds are racing and fleeting around keeping everything on the road and running smoothly. Love every second of it.  Just wish we had a few more seconds sometimes.
 
All the cars are now rolling into Boggabri under the cover of darkness and a healthy coat of mud. Smiles from ear to ear though.  Big roaring fires are the order of the night as we get set to enjoy our final night out on the road.
 
Both cars of the The Jagman team caught up again this morning and it turns out they are now a three car team.  In order to get the parts they needed, they bought a whole car.  It is known as P753. (parts753)
 
Tamworth tomorrow where we cross the finish line and get to have our final farewell presentation dinner. Lots of laughs, memories to share and no doubt a little tear or two as we say goodbye for another year. We also get to announce what our 2017 total fundraising achievement is.  Very exciting!

​Goodbye Toompine and oh what another fantastic night shared with Road Boss Ralliers. The food was once again amazing. This time cooked by Robyn Dare. That’s right… Dogga’s wife and part of his amazing catering crew. The one pub, no house town had everything we need here on the RBR. A great campfire (2 of them actually), great camping and great entertainment by Adam Kilpatrick. Not to mention the side entertainment by way of auctions – Road Boss style.
 
After leaving Toompine this morning we went straight onto more ‘rough as guts’ roads with deep washouts and rocky creek crossings. Don’t tell anyone but there are more to come yet. It never ceases to amaze us where these old 2WD vehicles can actually go. It is something you need to see to believe. RB goes to great lengths to find and access these roads so it is great to see everyone enjoying them. Even those who choose to take the alternate routes around the super rough stuff, get to enjoy all stories and photos.
 
Today we crossed the border into New South Wales. The weather so far has been amazing. Definitely not cold anywhere yet. Warm days wearing t-shirts and night times a light jumper has been heaps. We are having many conversations amongst ourselves at how warm and in some cases quite hot, the weather has actually been.  We are expecting it to get very cold from here on in.
 
Lunch on another station - Widgeegoara. A steak sandwich made with the tenderist steak I have had in months. It was done by the Paroo Education Group. Did I mention the variety of homemade slices? OMG is all I can say.
 
Looking forward to a shower and motel at Lightning Ridge tonight as we have a special guest joining us and entertaining us for the evening. He is the ‘Outback Hypnotist’ and we have had a few laughs already in expectations of what is to come. The RBR is made up of colourful and humorous characters who do dumb stuff without being hypnotised so I can only imagine that tonight is going to be another night we’ll remember forever and will leave us with sore bellies from laughing so hard.
 
The GIVIT van dropped the sporting gear off at Toompine this morning and then left with the cruise cars to Eulo where the official handover of portable landing lights took place.  These items make a significant difference to these small communities and we are privileged to be able to play a part in this.
 
I had a look on the My Cause Road Boss Rally fundraising page yesterday and was surprised to see the fundraising amount to be almost at the $230 000. This is amazing! Will we reach the $250K mark? I can tell you that I have about $10K to add onto the page from auction items and cheques etc. WOW, WOW, WOW!
 
Notable vehicle happenings include:

• Car 753 – JagMan had fuel pump issues. One of these issues was that the spare fuel pump was in the team mate’s car.
• Car 1959 – Heather found the parts needed at the local tip and the workshop and Ralliers chipped in and got it working again.
• Car 55 – Stuie broke a transmission line – all going again and much happier to be back in his home state.
• Car 1978 – The Love Boat belted a gate post. Both the Love Boat and gate post are straight again.

 
So far so good. Although we have been organising these events for 30 years, no two are ever the same and each event brings with it a number of difference challenges. Even though we meticulously plan and work so hard to achieve perfection, we know full well that anything (and we do mean anything), can and sometimes does go….. well..…not quite according to the plan.  Well, so far and to date, we could not be happier.  Even though we run the show, we are never presumptuous or bias, but we have to say it has been an amazing event to date.  All of this can only happen with amazing people around us.  It has been a great group of generous, hilariously funny and supportive people.  We are all just ordinary people doing extraordinary things as we like to say.  We would like to sincerely thank all the family, friends, supporters and loved ones back home for lending them to us for a couple of weeks.  We also hope that you too can join us one day on this amazing adventures we call the Road Boss Rally.  

Last night saw the running of the 30th annual Stonehenge Gift. Lots of laughs and lots of $ for GIVIT. We had a number of fit and healthy specimens racing in the 80m, and just a few which were… um… not so fit and healthy but provided us with a night’s entertainment anyway. Runners were auctioned off with half of the total proceeds going to GIVIT, a quarter to the runner and a quarter to the buyer. Well done to Jackson from car 420 who flew past the winning post.

Last night on the bar was the original visitors book from the Stonehenge hotel from 1988. In it was the night that the rally was in town. 13/10/1988.  Lots of great names and we have two people on this rally who were there in '88. Roycie Hodge wrote in the same book in the same spot, 30yrs later.  Pretty cool.
 
More country hospitality was experienced in Stonehenge, provided by the local RFDS volunteer auxiliary. Our Ralliers were fed the ‘best ever’ corn meat & vege, as well as individual sticky date puddings with custard and ice-cream. All homemade of course and was simply devine!
 
Our rally day started with a 50km spectacular, but rugged and rocky loop out of Stonehenge. Car 1959 got stuck in a gully with a broken ball joint and had to be recovered by S1 with the tow truck. The rest of the day had awesome views of mountainous ranges and spectacular wide open plains.
 
The servo at Stonehenge ran out of fuel last night which caused mild anxiety in a few crews who were last to town, but this was short lived when we found out the fuel truck was due early this morning.
 
Beam Team, Car 217 have been with us for a long time now and are a full 4 member crew. Well this year, team member Paul, was sick at the start of the RBR so the rest of the team had to leave him behind… That was until yesterday when Paul flew into Longreach to join his crew. Well, what a sight. They are all happy and smiles today that they are all back together.
 
Birthdays today were acknowledged, especially of RB’s sister Lynette. Happy Birthday Lynette! Sharing this day with you are Karen in car 109 and Stuie Hill in car 55.
 
Toompine tonight with no phone service. Or at least, almost none. Some lucky Ralliers may get a bar from the wifi on the deck of the pub.
 
Tomorrow morning in Toompine, GIVIT are delivering sporting equipment to the local community so no doubt that will start us all off on the right foot for the day (as we do every day here on the RBR).
 

​Big day out at the Boulia camel races yesterday. I must say our RBR brought along an atmosphere which was welcomed and rivalled by the locals. They certainly put on a great show with the camel races. After our big day out, it was early to bed for most. Everyone is well organised and ready to go when the light turns green – so to speak.
 
Dogga Dare catered for us during our stay at Boulia. Some of you may have heard of him as he is an absolute legend in these parts and most of Qld for that matter. We have been fortunate enough to work with Dogga on a number of projects and he always produces the quality goods. Not only did Dogga have our crew to cater for this weekend, he also had catering at the Races. Well, with an extremely limited crew, we had a few spare hands that jumped in and gave Dogga a lend of them. He was full of thanks as he has been on the road for a few weeks catering at a number of events around the place so Trish’s, Donna’s and Digger’s helping hands were very much appreciated.
 
Lunch today was at Davenport Downs… What can I say… OMG! This is a massive station, in the middle of nowhere, and lunch was by far and away, up there with the best over the past 30 years. It was amazing! So Yummy! So fresh!  All their proceeds wer going to support their beloved charity, the RFDS, so huge win for everyone.
 
We also had a fuel shipment to Davenport Downs so that all crews could fuel up and get to Stonehenge where the next available fuel is.
 
Another long, dusty, rough, dry day…. Just how we like them.
 
Jurassic Park left town early this morning just after our official team as they are finding it slow going in their little rig. Although the whole field passed them throughout the day, the littlest car in the fleet made it to town in daylight.
 
Today we had a few crew members change over by flying in and out of Longreach. So a couple of sad faces that had to leave, but a couple of happy ones also for those who get to join us for the run home.
 
Tonight the Stonehenge gift… back to its birthplace. For those of you who don’t know, this is a simple footrace, wearing a hat and boots under the cover of complete darkness. Always good for a laugh and a dare – not to mention the possibility of a few funds being raised for GIVIT.
 
I am sure there are many notable happenings today, I just haven’t heard of them yet. From the jovial laughter coming from the packed pub, I am sure there will be plenty.  The ones I do know of are:

• Car 16 got a flat tyre (well, destroyed really…)
• Car 19 was ‘crabbin’ it’ (I don’t know what that means but it got fixed.)
• 753 had some fuel issues and at the time of writing is the only one still waiting to hit town……. Update.  Just as we are getting ready to upload this story the Jagman in #753 has rolled into town, however the old girl stopped just 50m before the days final check in point.  Oh so close….. update, ran out of fuel!

 
We would also like to use the opportunity to highlight and thanks our amazing volunteer officials.  Very early starts, long hot and dusty days out beside the road and a faultless commitment to getting their job done and everyone in safe every night.  From check points, to sweep vehicles, photographers, work shop mechanics, medics and video crews, we’ve got the lot.  All amazing and generous volunteers doing an incredible job and doing us all proud. Our never say never spirit shines bright in this little close knit mob.

​A day at the races, RBR style.  As only we know how to do, we had another hilarious and action packed day at the Boulia Camel Races.  Weather was perfect, the races were a spectacle and the Camel Tagging event was a scream.  Camel tagging is something like a rodeo crossed with branding where the person crazy enough to give it go, races into the arena and chases the camel about, tags it with a bit of tape, races back to the start then returns to the beast to retrieve the tag once more.  About fifteen seconds is all it takes. What a show.  We had two of our member’s brave/crazy enough to GIVIT a go.  Brett from car 82 the Lyre Bird team and young Jacko from the JagMan.  Jacko only missed the quickest time by half a second.  Well done boys.
 
Kids chasing sheep, cal-cutters and running races, auctions and side shows. It really was a great event and one of the many highlights of our trip so far.
 
It was quite a sight to see our ralliers in amongst the 2000 strong crowd.  It is safe to say, they were all a stand out in their frocks and colourful get ups.  There were people from all over the country, so it was a magnificent and proud opportunity to showcase who we are and what we do.  Everyone was very inquisitive and impressed with our event and charity GIVIT.
 
Once again our media footprint is spread far and wide with continuing radio interviews and exposure everywhere we go as well as back in the populated areas.  Everyone is really latching on and enjoying the stories that we are providing in relation to the many donations we are making along the way.   RBR and GIVIT, a great team.
 
The sun is setting as we type this update and yet another wonderful day is coming to an end.  The upside is, another cracking day awaits us tomorrow.  Quite an early start with first car away at 7.00am in readiness for the 8hr, 500km journey across to Stonehenge.  As everyone knows, we don’t do normal on the RBR, so yep, it’s a challenging and rough road ahead.
 
Halfway there and time to turn our heads for home.

Oh what a night we had in Winton! Great meals cooked especially for us by the Pony Club, the funniest entertainment by well known artists, the ‘Crackup Sisters’, our own RB style entertainment by way of auction and on top of all that, we had a local charity presented with whitegoods and food vouchers for urgent and genuine need in the community.
 
If you have never seen the Crackup Sisters perform, make sure you put them on your bucket list. What an hilarious night. We even had a ‘complaint’ by someone who hasn’t laughed that hard in years and is suffering from sore belly muscles today. One particular antic had 3 rally people in a zipped up, two man tent, racing to a finish line. It was a sight to be seen!
 
Road Boss auctioned a few items, which is always entertainment in itself, but one notable auction last night was when he almost auctioned some toys that GIVIT had bought for a local charity, so instead of auctioning the toys it was an auction NOT to sell the toys. Another great donation for GIVIT!
 
GIVIT presented some whitegoods and vouchers to the Winton neighbourhood centre. GIVIT got the privilege of spending up big at the local supermarket, butcher and fuel station buying up hundreds of dollars in vouchers for this donation. It is truly inspiring to hear some of the stories of the difference made by supporting local communities in this way.
 
We are still hunting treasure with some pretty cool hiding spots set up by the Outback Queensland Tourist Association. We’ll see who’s a winner tomorrow night at the races.
 
Breakfast at Winton this morning was provided by the scouts and a poet happened to be passing through town so came to entertain the rally crews.  Another very funny morning to kick start the day and set the scene.
 
Another airplane joined us last night and will hang around literally, for a couple of days. So sixty cars, two trucks and now we have two planes in the fleet.  Pretty cool sight when the RBR comes over the hill and rolls into town.
 
More thick bull dust and more rough tracks through to scrub through to Boulia.   A few crews are choosing to cut and run into town early to preserve the car and make sure they make the finish line in Tamworth next week.  The road boss Rally was never meant to be easy and the 2017 rally is certainly living up to all expectations and tradition.  We are also seeing plenty of our rally spirit shine through with everyone using our rally motto, “Never say Never”.  A lay-day tomorrow will be very much appreciated for those who wish to work on their cars.
 
Tonight at the Boulia racecourse is a Slim Dusty tribute band! Some crews are very excited while others are not so much (me-Michelle)!
 
All is well on the RBR front line and everyone is safe, still very excited and bursting with excitement and enthusiasm.  They truly are like kids in a lolly shop. Camel Races tomorrow.  No doubt another hilarious day and a breeding ground for another thousand funny stories.
 
Few notables:
 

• Our smallest car in the fleet, Car 18 – Jurassic Park has had a great day and no breakdowns or repairs. (First time since leaving their home town of Roxy Downs). And a special hello to Verity’s Mum, who we know is eagerly reading each update.
• Car 420 the Dameover had to do a little bit of fencing repairs as did our zero car C2.  Very dusty!  No troubles though. Few scratches on the duco and fence all fixed in no time.
• Car 888, Rally Rats broke a steering component.  Bit of an all hands on deck road side repair and they were under way in no time.
• 753 the Jagman had to stay back in Winton to do some repairs but are underway again and will be in Boulia early tomorrow.

 
Once again, not a real lot of photos taken today  Very busy buzzing around doing our Road Boss duties and also spent a fair bit of out road side time filming today more so that still pictures.  That in its self is something to look forward to when we get a chance to edit a bit up to show you.

​The only thing better than day two on the RBR is day three. It just keeps getting better.
 
Last night at Aramac the locals certainly put on a show for us, much like the Queensland team put on a show for the State of Origin. What a great night full of colour and entertainment. The local hospitality students catered for us using a mobile state of the art kitchen facility, purpose built for catering students from a number of schools in this outback area. Pretty cool to be able to experience that. Not to mention the Calcutta which was held and raised $3500 for the local kids to go on school camp next year, which is to the Commonwealth Games.
 
After leaving Aramac this morning we went to an amazing spot on the edge of a rugged range escarpment. It was a great opportunity to do a unique photo shoot and do some team bonding while we were all together on top of the world. What a hidden gem! Wow is all we can say, and keep an eye out for the spectacular photos.
 
Great day out on the road with lots of dusty, sandy, narrow tracks through quite a few properties.  Termite mounds and ant hills were the hidden hazards everyone had to be careful of.  Many of the tracks were quite over grown and narrow. Everyone made it through un scaved and just like the last two,  gave the day a big thumbs up!
 
Lunch in Muttaburra and the sausages were worth awards. Nothing like an all-beef sausage made locally.
 
Using our RBR fundraising money, GIVIT also answered a call from theMuttaburra school and dropped off some iPads to the local Kindergarten.  It was a great chance to further show case how our connection with GIVIT works so well and we are able to directly support and contribute to the towns and communities where we travel.
 
If you don’t already know, we have a daily ‘you can’t be that stupid’ award. Yes, believe it or not, we have plenty of contenders… Today’s winner was Nick from Car 19 who saw the ‘Hospitality’ truck at Aramac and thought it was a Hospital truck. So Nick was thinking ‘oh wow, Aramac has a hospital on a truck.’
 
Outback Queensland Tourism has set up a treasure hunt for the RBR to do. It goes over 4 nights and when we get to town we need to find special ‘card’ to be in the draw to win $100 at Boulia. It is proving to be a bit of a challenge! The race is on. With 160 people on the rally and only about 20 cards in each secret spot, they run out pretty quick.
 
This afternoon all cars and crews got into Winton early enough to use the facilities and have a good shower and get ready for the night’s entertainment.
 
Notable happenings today include:

• Car 18 had a broken spring hanger which got welded up – using the tow truck as a bit of a hoist.
• Car 621 travelled via Longreach for tyres.
• Andrew Tilly from Car 24, lost his keys (oh no!) and found his keys (thank goodness).
• Car 2016 found a farm stay for some accommodation last night. I’m sure they were a bit disappointed when they were expecting a 3 star rating but got 5 star! They were a bit excited to show us all the photos. We might have to put Joe on accommodation duty next year.
• Cars are starting to look and sound a little like rally cars now.  Rattles, squeaks,  broken exhausts, tie wire, zip ties……  Cars with character!  Never say Never!

​Bye bye Baralaba, hello Aramac.  Day two out on the Road Boss Rally road is now done, dusted and everyone is settling in to get ready to watch the State of Origin.  Game three, THE DECIDER!  Not the Caldron here, it’s on the side of a cattle truck.
 
Last night we enjoyed a wonderful night in a small town called Baralaba.  Wonderful hosts and great cooks.  It is always a pleasure to see twelve months of hard work and dedication come to fruition.  We work closely with all the towns and areas that we travel through and it is a lot of hard work on everyone’s part.  Local community groups cater for the event and do a sterling job putting on a great show.  Some of the volunteers from the show society never actually got to bed. By the time they finished up last night, it was time to begin preparation for the 4.30am start for our officials.
 
Big day today with 700km to cover.  Every day is quite different out on the RBR. Yesterday was green and lush vegetation with running creeks. Today we travelled over rugged stony ranges and west into the termite mounds and bulldust above Jericho. 
 
Before leaving town this morning, car 2016, Farkawi had to get some welding done at the local garage.  Showing his dedicated approach to help everyone, Bernie and Joe chipped in and ran the fuel pumps and service station while the young chap repaired their car. 
 
Not long out from the start car 23 had starter motor issues and came to a grinding halt.  The boys in car 4 jumped straight in to help get it sorted, only for them to have similar issues an hour later. Quick detour via Emerald got them sorted and away again.
 
Once again, we had a great lunch and spread put on by the Springsure P&C.  We are only two days in and probably two kilo’s heavier. 
 
We have two courses that make up the Road Boss Rally. The rally route, which comprises of some very challenging and interesting roads, tracks and country and the Cruise Course, which takes an easier route to each overnight stop.  Our Cruise Course cars have been enjoying the diverse country and are kept busy and amused with the activities and challenges that we give them each day.
 
Long dusty day, but it is just the way we all like it.  Rugged bush tracks, wire gates, bull dust, termite mounds and a long straight road direct into the western sun to finish off the day.  Plenty of stories to tell tonight over a few cold ones as we all rib each other of whose team is going to be triumphant.
 
Not a real lot of photos today - sorry.  Being a long day, there isn’t a real lot of opportunity to pull up often then jump ahead like we normally have the luxury to do.  Have to keep moving to mow down the k’s and make it to town before the footy starts.  Tomorrow is a different story though, as we have some really cool things up our sleeve.
 
Thanks everyone and we look forward to updating you again tomorrow from Winton.
 
At the time of writing (6.29pm), all is well and only a couple of cars, the remaining officials and sweeps to arrive in town. However we can hear them on the UHF coming into tow, so another great and successful day out on the RBR.