YOU can hear the nerves in Ron Fraser’s voice.
It’s not driving thousands of kilometres from Shepparton to Hamilton Island that has him daunted, nor the prospect of the 1973 Ford Falcon EB breaking down in the middle of this month’s Variety Bash.
It’s the ‘rookie’ sticker the car will sport that has the West Footscray resident worried.
“It’s our first year and I suspect we’ll cop a bit from the others,” he said.
Fraser will be joined by Altona’s David Lueddeke and Kevin Thomas. Each of the 300 entrants has a theme, and for this trio it will be lifeguards. They’ll be decked out in the distinctive red and yellow of the lifeguard movement.
“The cars in the bash have to be over 35 years old. Ours will be easy to work on and we will have lots of spare parts on board,” he said. “Some of the cars are absolutely fantastic.”
Fraser has an idea where they’re heading, but no real sense of how they might get there.
“We know the trip takes us through places like Mt Isa, but we don’t know the route until the start of each day,” he explained. “They like to send you off the track quite a bit.”
The bash kicks off in Shepparton on August 23 and pulls into Hamilton Island on August 31.
While Fraser expects it to be a great week it isn’t all about fun and hijinks.
“We hope to raise $10,000 for sick kids,” said Fraser, whose son was born with chronic heart disease.
Since the first one in 1985, the annual ‘bashes’ have covered more than 80,000kilometres and raised more than $16million for children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs.
It’s Variety’s largest fund-raising event and organisers hope to top last year’s $1.15million.
To donate, visit variety.org.au
