PINK Bitz team mates Emma Harman and Rebekah Moore recently returned to Mount Isa after participating in the 2016 Shitbox Rally.
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The Shitbox Rally is the largest privately organised fundraiser for Cancer Council in Australia and all the money raised goes to cancer research.
“The Shitbox Rally is not a race, but a challenge to drive cars worth $1000 across Australia via some of its most arduous roads,” Ms Harman said.
The team left Mackay on May 7 and arrived in Hobart on May 13, but this wasn’t without a convoy of 220 other rally cars.
“We went via Thargomindah and while we were there they received the biggest rains they had in years and it was flooded!” Ms Harman said.
“Someone said they received 44mm overnight, so we were in our swags and watching the water and grass float past. People’s tents were destroyed and the place was a mess the next morning.
“When we woke up the route was changed from a dirt road to Tilpa, to a sealed road to Cobar.
“The Tilpa community was so fantastic though as they moved our breakfast, lunch and dinner for 450 people to Cobar, so we still had meals on our journey. They were then stuck in Cobar for four days due to the road being closed.”
Continuing on their journey, the weather conditions worsened. Pink Bitz encountered a blizzard at Mount Hotham in the Victorian Alps. Ms Moore soon discovered winding roads would become her worse nightmare.
Ms Moore suffered from car sickness for the rest of the trip and was unable to drive after injuring herself at Thargomindah.
“I continued to be sick when we jumped on the Spirit of Tasmania in the rough sea, so I ended up being sick for about four days straight,” Ms Moore said.
“The sickness was worth the scenery and adventures that we had though.”
Ms Moore said that her favourite part of the trip was making her very first snow man at the top of Mount Hotham. While Ms Harman said she enjoyed attacking other rally drivers with silly string and being nominated for the ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award.
“We would pull up next to someone who was fixing their car and ask them if they were ok. When they confirmed they were all good, we would cover them in silly string and drive off,” she said.
When arriving in Hobart, Pink Bitz auctioned their car for $200. Although this may not seem like a lot the full income from the auction of the cars totaled to $40,000.
Pink Bitz said they would be taking a year off from rallying but were happy to have raised $7700 for the Cancer Council from their Colours for Cancer event.