A wonderland adventure

By Lachlan Ellis

A team of three women are taking part in a charity event for sick, disabled, and disadvantaged kids, driving from Melbourne all the way to Cairns in Queensland.

Elizabeth Porter from Bacchus Marsh is the Captain of ‘Team Wonderland’, hitting the road with long-time friends Liz Barby and Susan McIntosh.

“We started doing the Variety Bash in 2017, that year we travelled from Melbourne to Fraser Island. If COVID hadn’t happened we’d be doing our sixth Bash, but this will officially be our fourth,” Ms Porter told the Moorabool News.

“We’ve been friends for about 20 years, but we all live in different parts of the country…Liz is from WA and Susan is from Geelong. One day we were sitting around on New Year’s Eve, talking about what we could do to catch up in the future. We all enjoy fundraising, so we said, what about the Variety Bash?

“They help children in need, and we thought it’d be a great time for us to get together and drive across Australia with mates. That’s how we got here – we love it, we’re hooked!”

This year’s Variety bash began in Melbourne, travelling to Beechworth, Cobar, Broken Hill, and Marree in New South Wales, then onto Birdsville, Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Karumba, Atherton and, finishing in Cairns after an 11-day journey.

Variety Bash participants are encouraged to dress up for their journey – Ms Porter is dressed as Alice, while Ms Barby has taken on the appearance of the Queen of Hearts. Ms McIntosh is dressed up as one of the Queen of Hearts’ playing card soldiers.

Ms Porter thanked the Bacchus Marsh community and the range of local sponsors that had gotten behind their fundraising efforts.

“We don’t have major corporate sponsors; we get out and sell raffle tickets and do things like that. But we are lucky enough to have local people in business such as Arbee Real Estate, Bacchus Marsh Farm Supplies, Bacchus Marsh Towing, H&K Auto, and Hine Signs that have come along and supported us,” she said.

“That makes a big difference to getting some funds for the children. Last time we went on the Bash in 2019, the Bash raised $1.8 million in total, so we’re certainly hoping to surpass that. As a team, we’ve raised $70,000 since we began in 2017.”

The Variety Bash began on Tuesday 16 August, and will conclude in Cairns on Friday 26 August.

For more information on the Variety Bash, and the fantastic work Variety do helping kids in need across Australia, visit www.variety.org.au.

You can donate directly to Team Wonderland’s funding tally by heading to fundraise.variety.org.au/fundraiser/Car2278Wonderland.