The Road Boss Rally set off from Brisbane last Tuesday, July 10, on a 3,500 kilometre nine-day four-state adventure and they will roll into Dimboola on Saturday.

Road Boss Rally organiser Jamie Lawson (known as The Road Boss) leads unique rallies across all corners of the country while raising funds and delivering vital items to charities along the route with the support of national online charity GIVIT. Jamie's family are leaders in the field of charity road rallies and his father Allan began organising rallies 31 years ago. The Lawsons have raised a combined $20 million for charities.

The 70 character cars and support vehicles left Pooncari on Friday morning for their overnight stop at Berri this afternoon where they made a donation of musical instruments to charity Headspace from the rally and GIVIT.

Above - Ryan and Verity Hollobone from Roxby Downs with their "The Lost World: Jurassic Park' themed car

Today they leave Berri bound for Dimboola where they will stop overnight before the convoy heads to Mildura for two nights, Quambatook and the finish line at Booligal, in NSW Riverina, next Wednesday.

The highlight of the nine-day off-road rally will be zig-zagging the mighty Murray River.

Online charity GIVIT is the recipient of fundraising from the Road Boss Rally. Go to givit.org.au for more information on the national not-for-profit that connects 2,100 charities with generous members of the public who are able to give. In nine years, GIVIT has provided more than 736,000 new and used items to needy Australians.

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Groot !


Day 4 - Pooncarie to Berri

The outback adventure seekers taking part in the nine-day four-state Road Boss Rally had a chance to shake off some of the dust accumulated over two arduous days with a sedate 360km drive from Pooncarie to Berri on Friday.

The drivers, crew and vehicles all survived unscathed a challenging 670km trek yesterday over rough and corrugated back roads, heavy with dust, to arrive in Pooncarie from Nyngan.

Almost 70 character cars and support vehicles left Brisbane on Tuesday and headed south for their first night in Texas near the NSW border.

The rally of more than 180 adventure seekers is led by Jamie Lawson, of Toowoomba, dubbed "the Road Boss" for fearlessly taking participants where other rallies wouldn't dare go.

Mr Lawson followed in his father's tracks taking over the charity rallies that he began 31 years ago. After 20 years working with his dad Allan, in 2015 Jamie launched the Road Boss Rally, a major sponsor of national online charity GIVIT.

The rally's leader promises no two days are ever the same on the Road Boss Rally. "One of the reasons for giving the drivers two long days was to get them all down into this neck of the woods in South Australia then slow things down a bit,'' he said.

Today's trek traversed several private properties. Mr Lawson said it was a privilege to be able to drive through and enjoy them. "Apart from a few wheel tracks, be sure to leave them exactly as you find them,'' he told the drivers.

Mr Lawson and his wife Michelle spend a year leading up to every rally seeking permission from landowners to access their properties, organising accommodation and catering.

A highlight of the day was entering another state on the 3,500km odyssey. "In typical RBR style, where we crossed the border into South Australia we weren't met with fanfare, pomp or ceremony. Just a rusty old gate on a rusty old wire fence,'' Mr Lawson said.

After spending the night in Berri the rally will make tracks into Victoria to Dimboola, Mildura and Quambatook until the finish line in the tiny NSW Riverina village of Booligal. The feature of this year's rally is zigzagging the Murray River.

Mr Lawson estimates that in the three decades his families has led rallies they have travelled 1.3 million kilometres and spent more than $50 million in some of the country's most remote and struggling towns on fuel, food and accommodation.

The rally entrants and GIVIT will make several donation drops to charities doing it tough along the route. Tonight (13th) they will deliver musical instruments to the Headspace charity in Berri.

Mr Lawson said the rally would live up to its mantra of "driving to make a difference" by helping communities along the way.

"It's not just the tens of thousands of dollars that the rally participants spend along the way in some remote towns that are doing it tough but the fact we are teaming up with GIVIT to find out exactly what's needed in the communities we visit. Rally entrants will help these communities get what they need," he said.

GIVIT's CEO and Founder Juliette Wright said the rally raised $264,321 last year.

"I couldn't believe it when Jamie Lawson handed me that cheque last year - I actually had tears in my eyes," Mrs Wright said. "The Road Boss Rally allows GIVIT to do what we do best, helping some of Australia's most impoverished people.''

The Lawson family has a dedicated following among the rally entrants. One driver has competed in every rally over 31 years.

The vehicles all have their own character such as Groot, Car No 311, a modified 1945 Dodge 4WD military wagon. Owner Ian Rodgers, of Caboolture, says "Groot leaves its mark wherever it goes.''

"Once you take part in your first rally you're hooked,'' Mr Rodgers said. "It's so much fun. You get to see countryside not normally seen. Jamie gets permits and permission to close off areas.''

South Australian couple Ryan and Verity Hollobone from Roxby Downs are competing in their second rally in their 1999 Honda HR-V. Ryan, 28, says he and Verity, 29, enjoy the camaraderie of the rally and raising funds for GIVIT. They describe GIVIT as "a charity for all other charities''.
"We wanted to do something for charity and have some fun and we found the Road Boss Rally and GIVIT,'' Ryan said.

First-time Road Boss entrant is recently retired Sydney police officer Alex Campbell who is travelling with three friends in their converted 52-seater 1993 Hino bus. The bus is decked out in the theme of the 1970s' TV show, On the Buses. Mr Campbell's vehicle will take the rally's cruise course, the less adventurous bitumen alternative to the main rally.

The 2018 Road Boss Rally set off from Brisbane on Tuesday July 10, with overnight stops in Texas (July 10), Nyngan (July 11), Pooncarie (July 12), Berri (July 13), Dimboola (July 14), Mildura (July 15 and 16), Quambatook (July 17) and Booligal (July 18).