RHYS THOMAS
AFTER sitting on a waiting list for over three years, a young Gordonvale couple have their first chance to take on the annual Shitbox Rally as it kicks off in Port Douglas tomorrow, 13 October.
The Rally challenges people to take inexpensive cars on a journey across the Australian countryside battling the weather, other drivers, and even the cars themselves.
This year’s Shitbox Rally kicks off in Port Douglas tomorrow and ends in Adelaide on 21 October, travelling through several different remote Australian towns along the way.
Using the same car they take their kids to school in, a Toyota Corolla they purchased from Innisfail for $1000, husband and wife team Danielle and Brodie Massingham are excited to finally take on the Rally as The Bogans.
The couple have been on the waiting list for the Rally for the past few years, missing out on three previous opportunities but this year they made the cut.
“We have watched a lot of YouTube videos and it just looked awesome,” Danielle said.
Brodie said they have followed the Rally for a while, especially when the budget for the vehicle was only $1000.
“But now it has gone up a bit cause of how much things cost at the moment,” he said.
The couple, like every other team that wants to participate in the rally, must raise a minimum of $5000 for Cancer Council to qualify – for the Spring Rally a total of over $2m has been raised.
The Massingham received an outpouring of local community support from multiple small businesses, friends and family that helped them get over the line.
One of the main reasons they decided to participate in the Rally was how closely cancer had affected both of their lives, having both lost one of their grandparents to separate forms of cancer.
“I lost my grandad to prostate cancer when I was younger and Brodie lost his eight years ago to cancer – everyone is touched by cancer, whether it is family, friends or whatnot,” Danielle said.
Coincidently the Rally dates line up with their 10-year anniversary as well so the two are excited to get away for a bit and enjoy the rally for their anniversary.
Keep up with the latest news in Cairns and the Far North, and check out some of our top stories this week: The Reef House celebrates Palm Cove history and Cairns restaurant regains former glory.