NO BIRDS...AND THE
VARIETY VICTORIA BASH
A tale of our journey to support the children's charity Variety in empowering Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or who have special needs to LIVE, LAUGH & LEARN.
Drive Down
About our participation in the Variety Victoria Bash
The Variety Bash is Australia's largest motoring event with participants travelling to rural and other parts of Australia, which they would otherwise not see, at the same time raising money for children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs.
About our participation in the Variety Victoria Bash
Nobirds car rental owners & brothers Arnold & Dirk Kluck decided to enter the event to help raise funds for the charity.
We switched out our normal trusty Toyota Corollas for a 1974 Ford Fairlane for the trip.
About our participation in the Variety Victoria Bash
This trip took us on 10 day adventure road trip driving from Melbourne all the way to Port Douglas, starting on Wednesday 12 August and ending on Saturday 22 August.
DAY 1
KICKING OFF FROM
MELBOURNE TO WAGGA WAGGA
Halfway between the two biggest cities in Australia, Wagga Wagga is an important agricultural, military, and transport hub. Far more active and larger than some of the other places we visited. It is the largest inland city in NSW. It has been dubbed "the City of Good Sports" due to its being a breeding ground for some talented sportsmen.
Our first day saw us off from Melbourne for a five hour drive to Wagga Wagga, crossing the first state boundary.
Back in 2012 there was a flood in Wagga Wagga which forced spiders to climb from the ground and spin webs that carpeted areas. View Images
The "Wagga effect" A disproportionately high number of elite sports men and women come from regional cities. This effect is named after Wagga Wagga due to it being a particular highlight in this area.
CITY OF GOOD SPORTS
A whole town evacuated
In 2010 the entire population of St George was evacuated ahead of a severe flood that rose to a record 13.5 metres high. This came as a shock, as the town had been ravaged by drought for years that nearly destroyed local cotton crops.
DAY 2 WAGGA WAGGA TO COONABARABRAN
Just north of Dubbo, Coonabarabran is the Astronomy Capital of Australia. It has several telescopes, but it's most famous is a mighty beast 3.9 metres that measures across and was built in the 1970's. The largest optical telescope in Australia, it was the first ever completely computer operated telescope worldwide.
DAY 3 COONABARABRAN TO ST.GEORGE
We finally crossed the border into Queensland, headed for the hometown of Federal Minister Barnaby Joyce and a little known man named Warrant Officer Leonard Victor Waters, the only known Aboriginal fighter pilot to serve in World War II.
A whole town evacuated
In 2010 the entire population of St George was evacuated ahead of a severe flood that rose to a record 13.5 metres high. This came as a shock, as the town had been ravaged by drought for years that nearly destroyed local cotton crops.
DAY 4 ST.GEORGE TO CHARLEVILLE
It's also the home of a man called Clement Lindley Wragge, who in 1902 thought he could end the drought by firing cannons into the clouds. The cannon remains on display in the centre of town to commemorate Wragge. We think he sounds like a bit of a loose cannon. Get it?!
Charleville is famous for being enshrined in a song by Don Walker (formerly Cold Chisel), which later went mainstream when Slim Dusty covered it.
DAY 5 CHARLEVILLE TO LONGREACH
You might've heard of Longreach before, or spotted it's name printed on the doors of a national icon, that's because Longreach is home of Qantas, where it was founded in 1920.
One of the airline's original hangers remains in use at the Longreach Airport and nearby is the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, where you can check out vintage airplanes. It's also home to former Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce, comedian Carl Barron and the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, so we knew we'd be in good company.
2010 saw Longreach swarmed by millions of locusts, following the best rainfall the town had seen in decades. They filled homes and attacked plants, although thankfully stayed away from any crops growing in the area.
DAY 6 LONGREACH TO HUGHENDEN
The further north we went, the hotter it got. so we weren't surprised to learn that when the Americans stored explosives here in World War II, they were unprepared for the bushfires they accidentally caused when sitting around a campfire one night.
The campfire set off the explosives which left craters 20 feet deep and caused widespread damage. We suddenly felt very grateful for the strict fire bans in the warmer months!
Hughenden and the surrounding towns are well known fossil digs, having turned up the Muttaburrasaurus in 1963 and several other dinosaur bones across the region.
DAY 7 HUGHENDEN TO FORSAYTH
It's surrounded by several Indigenous land reserves, which Forsayth and several neighbouring towns handed over as part of a native title agreement in 2004. The town organised it outside of the courts, as they believed it was important for the large Indigenous population to secure housing and land and also have their traditional ownership of the land acknowledged.
Former mining town Forsayth is the smallest town we visited on the trip, with a population of only 101.
DAY 8 FORSAYTH TO COOKTOWN
The second last stop on our trip, Cooktown was named after James Cook, who landed there 18 years before permanent European settlers arrived in 1788.
He made contact with the Indigenous population of the area, who taught them about the local flora and fauna. Cook incited anger in the Indigenous Australians when he hoarded turtles on his ship, which started a skirmish. They later reconciled in a spot now called Reconciliation Rocks, the first known reconciliation between European and Indigenous Australians.
cooktown nearly wiped out by cyclone ita
In 2014, Cooktown was left badly damaged after Cyclone Ita stormed through the region. Much of the town was evacuated and more than 200 homes were damaged by the storm.
DAY 9 COOKTOWN TO PORT DOUGLAS
Discovered during the gold rush, Port Douglas was the only holiday stop on then president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton's historic visit to Australia and is also where Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died in 2006 following a stingray barb to the chest.
Port Douglas is home to two major festivals, the Port Douglas Carnivale and the Sunset in the Park Music Festival, both of which attract thousands of visitors annually.
We finished our road trip in popular tourist spot Port Douglas, where pristine beaches and endless sunshine greeted us.
Who would have thought that two guys exploring Australia in a rustic Ford could have their hearts and minds cracked open in such an epic way?
We crossed paths with so many incredible people and learnt a lot about Australia's history, while being nudged out of our comfort zone. All that time on the road taught us a lot about ourselves too.
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