Great Endeavour Rally CAR 81 The "RED BULL" 

Well - we are done and dusted - another year down!

 

You might recall that we had a small hiccup on the first stage of Day 1 - an electrical wire came loose off the relay and caused us to lose power.  As we are bloody poor mechanics - it took us about 45 mins to find the problem - once that happened we were basically out of contention for the "points race" - not that it matters (all losers say that).  We place more emphasis on raising much needed funds for Endeavour and we were pretty successful in this regard. - with your generosity we raised this year over $60,000.  This means that in 4 years of the "Red Bull" doing the rally we have raised over $130,000 for the Endeavour Foundation:

 

2006    -    $13,000

2007    -    $35,000

2008    -    $25,000

2009    -    $60,000

 

As an aside, it would be remiss of me not to mention Lionel Moore of Moore Trailers, Pittsworth.  Lionel had 4 cars entered this year and raised over $100,000 for Endeavour.  Lionel's car alone raised $65,000 for Endeavour.  In fact each of the top 12 or 13 cars raised over $20,000 for Endeavour - a fantastic effort.  This will be a record breaking year for the rally in terms of fundraising.

 

It really was a great rally - highlights were:

• driving our cars on to the tip of Cape York and having a few quiet ales whilst watching the sun go down over the water
• the rest day on Thursday Island was a great relief from dust, dust and more dust
• camping on the beach at Seisia was fantastic
• Shane not having to get out for one gate for the entirety of the rally

The lowlights:

• having Col's swag sprinkled with sparkles on Night 2 - every night he went to sleep he woke up glistening in the morning sunshine.
• having a tyre removed from our vehicle by certain persons (revenge will be sweet)
• vegemite under the doorhandles at least 4 times during the rally
• zip ties around our tailshaft

Our revenge:

• taking all four wheels off a competitors car (after midnight - whilst they were asleep) - and then placing each wheel flat under the car and lowering the car down onto those four wheels.
• the compulsory zip tying of gates
• at the request and direction of others - entirely gladwrapping (using commercial wrap and going round and round and up and over for what seemed like a thousand times) the officials cars (once again, after midnight and whilst everyone was asleep)
• stealing of keys in unlocked cars
• taking sweet revenge with "sparkles" our on arch nemesis.  Fortunately we found a stash of sparkles on Thursday Island.

Once again, thank you for your support.  We are always keen for volunteers to assist with fundraising and the organising of events - is this rocks your boat then please give either Col or I a call.  Next year will be "Burleigh to Bargara via the Beaches and Bays" - not exactly sure what the organisers have in mind but nevertheless - should be a great event.

 

Cheers

Shane and Col.

 

 

 

 

The 2009 Great Endeavour is finally underway, as the rally progresses we will keep you posted on these pages as to what's happening with Car 81 and crew

.Well - if you are reading this it means that we have departed Toowoomba for Mackay for the start of the rally. The car all kited out and ready to go. A big thank you to our sponsors and to all who supported the "Thank God You're Here Night". This year we beat our fundraising target a for Endeavour - something we are really proud of. The rally officially starts on Wednesday morning and sees us off to Mingela. We are not sure if we are the highest fundraiser yet and we will not find out until the day. We aim is to send out updates as and when we can.

You might recall this year we have a back up crew with us - Adan Tully and David Power. No doubt we will able to share some stories of how much "backing up" they have to do. Reagan Wilson and Paul Best also have a car this year so we will try to let you know how many times they get lost, or how many times the Jeep breaks down.

Cheers Shane Charles & Col Desbrow

 

DAY 1 Tuesday 14th July Registration & welcome dinner in Mackay

DAY 2 Wednesday 15th July Mingela

 

DAY 3 Thursday 16th July - Oak Park

The first few days have been pretty hard going with several cars getting into trouble.  The "Red Bull was sidelined for half an hour so.  A loose cable was soon found to be the culprit so with the help of a good Samaritan we were back on the road in no time.

In other news, Reagan and Paul haven't fared quite so well with Car 36 losing its shockies during the river crossing.  "Best-Willie" headed off to Collinsville to repair the Jeep and were taken in by a very hospitable mechanic and knocked back a few (read carton) cold ones while they waited to get the Jeep fixed.

Car 81 is currently the second-highest fundraiser in the Rally, with Moore's Trailers coming in first by just a few thousand dollars.  The final results don't come in until the second last day of the rally so any further donations to get us over the line would be much appreciated.

That's about it from us for the moment.
Cheers, Col & Shane

 

DAY 4 Friday 17th July Chillagoe

Equal 50th and looking to improve and the car is running really well.  Col’s cupcakes are proving very popular with all (including the officials).

A Game of two-up at Oak Park resulted in a win, the proceeds of which we have donated to Endeavour.

Col bought a blanket for his swag at auction. Bidding in general was feverish so no other items were bought.  Col has also found some old mates from Goondi in Car 049.

Unfortunately, any headway brought from the bribery that has been attempted on officials fell short after zip locking the gate on Sherry Wilkinson.

DAY 5 Saturday 18th July Wiepa

Success! Ours was the first car in Weipa. No dramas with the car at all. We slept well in the motel after a fairly uneventful day apart from the dreaded corrugations.

DAY 6 Sunday 19th July Seisia

Today we reached The Tip. Very rough corrugated roads so slow trip up to the beach right at the top. We have attached a photo of us at the very tip, and some photos of the beginning of the rally in our "official uniform". We think we are about 43rd position now but scorers need more updating to be sure.

 

DAY 7 Monday 20th July Seisa / Thursday Island

Reags and Besty (bit of shocky trouble) and Marc Kennedy spent the night at Weipa with a few others with car trouble but were heading to Seisia this morning, so the we are looking forward to catching up with them.

We have been the victims of a few practical jokes so apparently the hijinks will continue this evening with some form of ‘revenge’.  We will keep you posted.

We are currently on the boat over to Thursday Island to spend the day off over there and then back to the mainland for a Hawaiian night tonight. No shoes allowed.

We hit the road tomorrow to start the trip south and head home to Townsville on Friday.  The final results for fundraising are announced tomorrow night and we are still just a few thousand short of beating Moores for the honour of most successful fundraiser.  Any donations would be much appreciated. 

A big thanks to Vince Ernst for sending in a cheque for $300.

Until the next update...
Cheers,

Col & Shane

 

DAY 8 Tuesday 21st July Coen

 

DAY 9 Wednesday 22nd July Cooktown

 

DAY 10 Thursday 23rd July Ewan

 

DAY 11 Friday 24th July Finish line & trophy presentation in Townsville

Car 81 finished in 23 place overall.