Redland Bay trio travels through out the top end to raise money for disabled.
Redland Bay trio travels through out the top end to raise money for disabled.
Redland Bay trio travels through out the top end to raise money for disabled.
A REDLAND Bay rally team has raised dust and dollars for the disabled.
Drivers Norm Haupt, Bob Grant and navigator Ian Doyle drove their car from Toowoomba to Yeppoon last month for the Endeavour Foundation.
They embarked on the 9,000km journey to help raise $560,000 with 220 rally teams.
Norm said this was their 10th year competing in the rally which has been running for 25 years.
"I still enjoy being with everyone on the rally. The rally is great, but the camaraderie is fantastic," he said.
Bob said the journey took them through sections of north west Queensland and the Northern Territory, but believed the highlight was travelling from Nhulunbuy to Gove.
"It was the best rally of the ones we've been on so far. The experience with the aboriginal community was awesome," he said.
Ian said the track from Gove was more of a "grazing track" which involved some hairy moments.
"The track from Gove down, which was cut along the coastline was amazing. We had water over the bonnet more times than we could mention, it was tremendous," he said.
He said despite ruining four tyres within four days, they had one spare left so they ordered four more in case.
"We're also keen fishermen, and hauled in fabulous fresh fish at Nhulunbuy and cooked over the coals," he said.
Endeavour Foundation Events Coordinator Joel Stephens said this year the rally raised much more mud and "moolah" than previous years.
"We really enjoyed the support of Indigenous Australians as we've spread the word for people with a disability," he said.
He said heavy rainfall proved to be a challenge, turning bush tracks into rivers of mud.
"But it's all done so that people with a disability can have the choices of an ordinary life," he said.
This year the funds raised by the participants will help Endeavour Foundation build a new food handling facility with state-of-the-art equipment at Wacol, providing meaningful employment opportunities for people with a disability.