For most people, a 20-something-year-old car with hundreds of thousands of kilometres on its odometer wouldn't be the first choice of transportation to cross the Australian countryside.
But today, more than 400 people, driving cars worth less than $1,500, will start the almost 4,000-kilometre road trip from Newcastle in New South Wales to Townsville in north Queensland via the small inland town of Betoota.
Known as the Shitbox Rally, the bi-annual event raises money for the Cancer Council.
In a nutshell, it's not a race, it's a challenge to reach the finish line.
Nut Truckers
Childhood friends and Hunter locals Kurt Speirs and Mathew Gilbert are joining the rally for the first time this year, driving a 1999 Toyota Camry with about 300,000km on the clock.
Two years ago, Mr Gilbert was diagnosed with testicular cancer and shortly after having a testis removed, doctors found a tumour on his abdomen.
"I had to have about two months of chemo, thankfully it's all good now," Mr Gilbert said.
The pair have called their team the Nut Truckers.
"We've only got three nuts between the two of us. The name seemed like a good fit," Mr Gilbert said.
Mr Speirs jumped at the opportunity to join Mr Gilbert on the journey.
"My dad was sick [with cancer] too … in 2009. I had just finished high school," Mr Speirs said.
"Raising money for research is really important and not just research on how we treat cancer, but the aftercare, the palliative side of it and the diagnostic side, too.
"Cancer is a leading killer in Australia … so anything that's helping that much of the population is going to be a good thing."
The men have raised almost $40,000 in their fundraising efforts, one of the highest amounts out of the 220 teams.
An important cause
Hunter locals Maxine Jongerden and Allison Bourke are rallying for their close friend Tracey, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
"That was actually her second bout of cancer," Ms Bourke said.
"It was hard because we couldn't see her.
"So it just got me thinking, 'What can we do to show that we care?' And so we thought that we'd do the rally."
The pair have raised $13,600 in the lead-up to the event.
Ms Jongerden said she expected the rally to be a trip of a lifetime.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what is out there and just looking at where some people choose to live and work," she said.
"Some of the places we're going to I have never even heard of.
"We just want to take it all in, meet new people and have fun."
30th rally, 13th year
James Freeman started the event in 2010, after losing both his parents to cancer within 12 months of each other.
"I hoped in year one that we'd raise $60,000 and I was blown away when we raised $104,000," Mr Freeman said.
"I thought we might have something here that's worth pursuing … and here we are 13 years later, about to do our 30th rally."
The rallies have raised more than $37 million for the Cancer Council since they began.
This year's event has already raised $2 million.
It's also the first time the rally has incorporated Newcastle in its route.
"We've had some people who have rallied for years with us that are from Newcastle and the Hunter, so it's great to bring it to the region," Mr Freeman said.
Mr Freeman said he loved the joy the seven-day event brought to both participants and residents of the towns it visited.
"To take this $1,500 car and drive it across Australia, it's funny," he said.
"And I think that's a wonderful quality of Australians that we're happy to laugh at ourselves somewhat."
