Surf Coast pair rallies for cancer cause

TWO Surf Coast locals are embarking on a trip from Perth to Darwin as part of the winter Shitbox Rally, all in the name of cancer research.

Nick Vivian and Ryan Reed will make up Team Bogans, leaving Torquay for Perth on June 14, before starting the rally and making their round trip just shy of 15,000km in 3.5 weeks.

The pair were called to the challenge after both losing somebody to cancer.

“A couple of years ago, I lost a very good friend as well as a boss. He’s been a family friend of Ryan’s for a very long time; we lost him to prostate cancer,” Mr Vivian said.

 

“That gave us a bit of a drive and a bit of thought about wanting to do something and the Shitbox Rally is a really good event and obviously all the proceeds all go to the Cancer Council.”

This will be Mr Vivian’s second year competing in the event, while Mr Reed is taking on the trip for the first time after receiving the call up.

“I got the phone call one day saying ‘Do you want to do the Shitbox Rally?’, and I said ‘Yes’. It took all of about a second to say I’ll do it,” Mr Reed said.

Both drivers are confident the car will last the journey after pouring hours of work into it, with Mr Vivan saying he made the decision this year to drive something a “little bit older and a little bit cooler” after just making it back to Torquay last year.

 

Mr Vivian said the rally was a very positive event with great people.

“It’s just a really good experience in terms of the places you go, the things you see, the people that you surround yourself by.

“It’s literally a laugh a minute; there’s always something going on, some groups sitting on the side of the road doing something stupid.”

The team aims to reach at least $15,000 in donations and is currently sitting around $9,000, hoping their trip will bring in the bulk of the contributions.

For more information and to donate, head to winter2025.shitboxrally.com.au/team-bogans