Bruce Peddlesden, and Peter Benjamin, Discus, are getting their fill of eating dust in the back of beyond as the Variety Bush Bash reaches Mt Isa, over half way through the 4,608 km marathon.
The two industry notables in Car #15 limped into the far western Queensland town with a broken front suspension on their trusty Holden. Punishing corrugations 40 km outside town finally brought the adventurers undone after six days and over three thousand kilometres, much of it on the dirt.
“We’re not the only ones. Every workshop in town is busy fixing up half the cars in the Bash. We’re lucky to be able to get the suspension welded. But we’re still alive, rumours of our passing are greatly exaggerated,” said Peddlesden.
He does confess that the lay day on Wednesday is a great relief before they start towards the coast and the final destination of Airlie Beach and then to Hamilton Island. It's a long way from where they started out in Shepparton Victoria, via Deniliquin, Broken Hill, Moree and Birdsville.
“We’ve been more than half the time on dirt roads, out along the edge of the Simpson Desert and the Birdsville Track. We’ve been driving six to seven hundred kilometres a day. When the suspension cracked I was just about ready to give up,” said Peddlesden.
However he is buoyed by the thought that the pair has raised over $30,000, much of it from the industry, for the Variety Club. You can still contribute here.