Past Bash destinations
over the course of
time include the following:
1985 Bourke to Burketown
1986 Bourke to Barossa
1987 Bourke to Barrier reef
1988 Bourke to Blatherskite
1989 Bourke to Broome
1990 Bourke to Burnie
1991 Bourke to Beagle
1992 Heart to Heart
1993 Bondi to Bathurst
1994 Bondi to Ballina
1995 Bondi to Busselton
1996 Bondi to Batchelor
1997 Botany Bay to Barrier Reef
1998 Bondi to Billygoat Hill
1999 Brickpit to Broome
2000 Bayside to Barossa
2001 Beverly Hills to Broadbeach
2002 Bate Bay to Barrier Reef
2003 Blue Mountains to Barrier Reef
2004 Burramatta to Bathers Beach
2005 Bakery to Bethany
2006 Brookvale to Bundaberg
2007 Base to Bathurst
2008 Blacktown to Batemans Bay
2009 Bennelong Point to Broken Hill
2010 B-Shed to Byron Bay
2011 Baulkham Hills to Buccaneer Rock (Broome)
2012 Balmain to Bamaga (Cape York)
Car 800, Car 2214, bash car, variety bash, b to b bash, 2011 bash, nsw variety bash, spartans, trojans, 1967 valiant, 1967 fairlane, warrior legends, warrior legends bash team, Bash Gallery, 2010 Bash Gallery, 2011 Variety Bash Gallery,
The Bash is not a race or rally and speed is not important. What really matters is that everyone has an enjoyable time travelling in parts of Australia that they would not normally see, at the same time raising money for special needs children.
The Bash was originated by businessman, explorer and philanthropist Dick Smith in June 1985 when he organised a group of people to travel from Sydney to Bourke in far west NSW and from there to Burketown in far north Queensland.
Dick wanted to take a few mates for a drive in the outback in old cars while at the same time raising money for charity.
He charged everyone to enter, and entrants were able to bribe officials or be fined.
That first event raised $250,000 for charity and was known as the Bourke to Burketown Bash.
The annual Variety Bash is Australia's most successful charity motoring event. It is the focal point of fund raising efforts by many hundreds of supporters of Variety, with the money raised helping ill, special needs and disadvantaged children.
Since the original Burke to Burketown Bash was completed back in 1985, the Bash has travelled thousands upon thousands of kilometers criss crossing Australia. This unique FUN fundraising event is tagged.......
"a drive in the outback with a few mates"
About the 2012 Bash
Join our next Bash adventure in 2012
Details will be advised in the coming weeks by Variety, the Children's Charity.
Yes we are off to Cape York an area we have come close to but never dared to go all the way to the top, well in 2012 we will! Having been scared by all the stories of how rough it was etc., it’s taken a few years to work up the courage to take the grand drive north. Well, we decided to give it a go – and – to our surprise it was nowhere near as bad as it had been made out to us.
Don’t get us wrong, it’s rough, very rough in some places and I wouldn’t want to take the family car up there without a lot of consideration – but – in some places it’s as smooth as a baby’s b………. well you know what I mean? But seriously, the rough parts are no worse than those of the worst parts of the Gibb River Road from this year.
And a third of the Peninsula run is now bitumen plus there will be more laid before we get there in August!
There are some great roads along the way with beaut things to see and do. We’ll visit some old favourite towns and we’ll visit some new locations. We’ll have a “lay day” in Cairns to refresh (and do some running repairs) and we’ll be taking a train ride up to Kuranda and return via the award winning Skyrail gondola ride.
We’ll visit some of Queensland’s iconic Outback towns, the tough cattle town of Roma we haven’t been to for 22 years and likewise Charters Towers, a famous gold mining town we haven’t visited since the mid 1990s! It’s where Australia’s first Stock Exchange was located!
We have a “Camp Out” night at the Archer River Roadhouse where the owners promise us a special night at their location along the Peninsula Development Road.
And then of course, Bamaga, at the tip of Cape York which is a stone’s throw from Thursday Island where we’ll take a cruise over to and have lunch at a local school. You’ll be surprised at how beautiful it is.
And as we take the short run from Bamaga to the actual tip, we’ll stand on the headland and as it’s pointed out to us that, “Just there, that’s right just there, Captain James Cook sailed through those passages in front of you.”
But definitely NO swimming, there are crocodiles around that could well spoil your our day!!!!!!
It’s a Bash distance of 4,202 kilometres and we are looking forward to sharing every one of them with you.
19th August
20th August
21st August
22nd August
23rd August
24th August
25th August
26th August
27th August
28th August
Day 1 - Balmain to Inverell
Day2 - Inverell to Goondiwindi
Day 3 - Goondiwindi to Roma
Day 4 - Roma to Emerald
Day 5 - Emerald to Charters Towers
Day 6 - Charters Towers to Cairns
Day 7 - Cairns
Day 8 - Cairns to Archer River Roadhouse
Day 9 - Archer River Roadhouse to Bamaga (Cape York)
Day 10 - Bamaga
And then we have to come back to at least Cairns before we can have the cars transported back to Sydney!
Car 2214 - Raising money for special needs children
through the 2012 Variety NSW B to B
Bash