RICHELLE Mills didn’t tell her husband Greg she had entered them in the Shitbox Rally.
She simply waited until the couple was accepted before revealing they were about to embark on a 5000-kilometre adventure together.
For her, the experience was an opportunity to make memories with her husband, who is currently battling stage four cancer.
“I wanted to do this to create memories with him,” Ms Mills said.
A lifelong Molong resident, Ms Mills proudly named their team, Molong Rocks. Together they took to the road in Krusty, a car purchased for just $1000 and held together, according to Richelle, by little more than “thumb-tacks”.
While the exterior looked semi-respectable, according to Ms Mills the interior was considerably rougher, making it well within the rally’s criteria.
The Shitbox Rally requires participants to raise a minimum of $5000 for cancer research, and the Molong Rocks team went well beyond that target, raising more than $11,500.
Ms Mills said the support from the Molong community was overwhelming.
The team attracted 17 sponsors, with support coming from local businesses, Molong residents and people with connections to the town, including former schoolmates and sporting families.
“We were just blown away by the generosity of people,” she said.
The fundraising was particularly meaningful to Ms Mills because the money raised goes directly towards cancer research.
The rally itself was an adventure of its own. The route was changed three times due to wet weather, with the team eventually travelling through towns including Cobar, Longreach, Cloncurry, and Chillagoe.
Participants travelled about 500 to 600 kilometres a day, often covering hundreds of kilometres of dirt roads.
Ms Mills said it was the people she met who made the experience most memorable.
The rally’s participants were divided into groups of seven vehicles, with each group travelling together for the week.
Ms Mills said if one vehicle stopped, everyone stopped. If someone needed fuel, the group pulled over. If a car broke down, support was available.
“Those other 12 people became our family,” Ms Mills said.
The group, known as Buddy Group 22, remains in regular contact more than a month after the rally ended.
There were emotional moments along the way, with participants supporting one another through personal challenges, celebrating good news and rallying around those who needed a little extra encouragement.
The wider rally community also impressed Ms Mills, with volunteer mechanics working through the night to repair broken-down vehicles and medical professionals providing support along the route.
The adventure also resulted in an unexpected new addition to the rally family.
While crossing a river in Queensland, one participant felt something touch the back of her leg.
It was a tiny puppy, found all alone in the middle of the outback.
The puppy was covered in ticks, but after being checked over and treated by a vet travelling with the rally, she was given a clean bill of health.
The rally participants named her Chilly, after the nearby town of Chillagoe.
Chilly spent the remainder of the journey following her rescuers every step, before eventually travelling to Sydney, where she has now found a loving home.
“She couldn’t leave it there,” Ms Mills said.
For Ms Mills, the rally was also the fulfilment of a bucket-list goal.
She had originally hoped to complete the rally with her father, who was a Molong mechanic for 40 years, but decided to enter herself after realising he would no longer be able to manage the physical demands of the journey.
Now, she hopes to return to the rally in the future. If Mr Mills is not well enough to join her next time, Ms Mills’ son has already volunteered to take his place.
For anyone considering nominating for a Shitbox Rally, Ms Mills said, “just do it!”
“You make friends for life. You see parts of Australia you would never think you would ever see.”