Travelling Jackaroo makes an impact

A YOUNG man who’s raised close to a quarter of a million dollars for charity has passed through the Moorabool region in quite an unusual mode of transport.

21-year-old Sam Hughes, also known as The Travelling Jackaroo, is journeying around Australia to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, Dolly’s Dream, and Drought Angels.

Mr Hughes, who hails from a 300-acre cattle farm in Maleny, Queensland, has been on the road for three years now, and hopes to finish his long journey back where it started, on the Sunshine Coast, before Christmas.

Driving around Australia in a car is a big effort, but Mr Hughes is doing it in a 1960 Chamberlain tractor, with a caravan on the back, and a dinghy and a plane on top.

“I sort of wanted to help people, and experience Australia and see my country, and thought the best way to do both is to do something that stands out so much that people can’t miss it,” he said.

“I’ve been on the road for about three years now, and done 23,000 kilometres with about 3000 left to go, give or take.

“I picked the Royal Flying Doctors, Dolly’s Dream, and Drought Angels to support, because they all support people in the bush, and are all really people-orientated causes.”

During his time in Ballan, Mr Hughes received a donated, custom sheepskin seat and backrest cover from The Skin Inn, had a chat with locals at The Commercial Hotel, and stayed at the Ballan Caravan and Tourist Park on the house.

“The people in Ballan were wonderful, absolutely wonderful. It was really good chatting with people at The Commercial,” he said.

“People have been very welcoming everywhere I’ve been. Some days I’ll have really big days, especially in Queensland, WA and the Northern Territory, I drive 200 or 300 kilometres in a day just to get between places.

“Here in Victoria there’s a town every 20 odd kilometres, so I’m doing a lot shorter days, mostly focusing on the fundraising side of it.

“It’s been going really well. I didn’t think I’d raise this much, it’s certainly gone better than I thought it would.”

For updates on Mr Hughes’ journey, or to support him, visit the The Travelling Jackaroo Facebook page.