Variety, the Children’s Charity is all about supporting kids who are sick, disadvantaged or living with special needs. They help thousands of youngsters and their families each year.
They do that, in part, by organising entertaining fundraisers, and their motoring events are LEGENDARY.
The Variety Bash (for 30+-year-old vehicles), Variety 4WD Adventure, and Yamaha Variety Jet Trek are awesome to be a part of if you like the idea of seeing the best of Australia with a great bunch of people.
Now there’s a new addition to the Variety Calendar for participants who are perhaps less able to commit to the bigger trips.
Introducing … Variety Dash for Kids!
Just like its iconic events, this makes the most of Queensland’s big beautiful backyard, but it’s a shortened six-day adventure that begins in Gladstone and arrives in Hervey Bay, via sandstone country.
Event Director, Craig Marriott, says the big difference is that it’s open to ANY motor vehicle.
“So you can take your 4WD, you can take an old car if you want to, or you can take the family car as long as you’re willing to take it on a dirt road,” he says. “We’ve sort of designed the tracks so it will be okay to bring along a camper trailer if you want to, but it must be an off-road trailer, you can’t bring along a camper trailer that’s designed for the bitumen.”
“The reason we went for the camping is we want to get as many people as we can on this event and we don’t want them to be deterred by accommodation costs.”
That means that for the first time, children will also be allowed to participate.
Highlights of the Dash include an overnight stay and a full day to enjoy magnificent Carnarvon Gorge.
Variety often gets access to private property, but this time organisers have gone above and beyond to secure a very special overnight stop on Rockybar Station.
As Craig explains, “we’re going to RM William’s property where he’s actually laid to rest. His son Peter still owns the property and we went in there and he brought us in for a cuppa and some cake and he said ‘why don’t you bring everyone here for the night/’. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
In 2021, the Variety Dash for Kids is scheduled for November 8-13. Visit varietydashqld.com to find out more about how to enter, the fundraising goals you’ll need to meet… or how to donate to a participating team.
