Together they raised $60,000.

Presenting the cheque to Glen McGrath for the McGrath Foundation

Together WE Have Made a Difference

At last count this all came to a total of $42,000!!!

A very very very very very big thank you to all of our major supporters and to anyone who came out and donated along the way!
Below are a few photos from Speed on Tweed.

Ross shaking the tin

The Melbourne to Murwillumbah for McGrath Team

Breast Cancer Fact:   If you are at all uncertain about YOUR or your partners breast health do something about it immediately; early detection saves lives.

Only someone who has gone through this disease can truly understand the experience.  We can’t begin to understand the trauma, pain and uncertainty but we can marvel at the positive spirit and joy for life of the wonderful women we’ve had the privilege of meeting these last two weeks.  Syd and I would like to pay tribute to a woman with the most amazing strength, courage and beauty of spirit, Jane McGrath.  One of the legacies she leaves behind is that of helping women personally in the most supportive way, when they need it most.  They accomplish this by raising money through the McGrath Foundation in order to place breast care nurses wherever they are needed – especially in regional areas.

There have been many stars of this show.  The first is the magnificent piece of engineering built by Walter Owen Bentley in 1929, our glorious Speed Six, that was driven, HARD, the whole way from Melbourne to Murwillumbah.

But more importantly, Syd, who drove this huge, heavy, ancient motor car for 10 or 12 hours a day more than 2500kms over eleven days and without whom none of this would have happened.

We were sitting in an RSL club, one of many visits organised along the way to give us the opportunity to talk to people about breast cancer and raise some money.  It was just after 10:00AM; Syd heard the sound of someone winning a fair bit on the pokies and rushed off with our collection tin.  From Kim Warner came the comment, “the chinking of donations.”  Ross’s ideas firstly of visiting RSL clubs was an inspired one; Syd and I don’t usually spend any time in a club but were amazed at how great they are and what a community spirit surrounds them.  But Ross had another great idea and that was to send collection tins ahead for us to pick up on our way north.  The management of the clubs have been so supportive and have handed over suitably heavy, full cans of money that they have collected on behalf of the Foundations.

We had no idea just how much we would collect in those tins.  I initially fetched two, 2, yes only TWO! from the Foundation.  Then Ross asked if he could have a couple of cans to send to his friends at various clubs, so I picked up a few more. So far we have filled 6 cans to the point that we can hardly lift them; those that I have emptied and counted averaged just over $1000 per can.  Thank you Ross!  Thank you also to Terry Hurst who taught us to just get out there and ask people for money.  We were hopeless initially.  And thanks also to Jeanette George who went into Murwillumbah late today to buy four more tins so that we can keep collecting over the weekend.

Today was another great day.  NBN Channel 9’s Gold Coast regional station met up with us on the highway at New Italy just north of Yamba for an interview which I believe aired on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane; so far we haven’t seen a single second of footage but have heard that it has been terrific.  Between us we also did three radio interviews.  Tomorrow morning there will be more TV, radio and newspaper coverage.  Syd and I are proud and delighted to have been able to help in this small way to continue Jane McGrath’s wish and to raise the profile of breast cancer in such an amazing way.  For that we thank Roger and Noella at the Festival of Speed and Belinda from Fluid PR; they have all been wonderful.  Belinda has been incredible, a pain in the ass at times, she made us work very hard.  She created such awareness with her media massaging that most people knew who we were and what we were seeking to achieve the moment they saw the Bentley or our Pink overalls.  Thank you Belinda.

So to all of those women who are fighting this fight of their lives we pay tribute.

The message of the McGrath Foundation is ‘Together we can make a difference.’  We all can and in so doing we can keep Jane’s memory and vision strong.

Breast Cancer Fact: Dragons Abreast is an international movement established by a doctor in Canada, who discovered that rowing is a beneficial exercise for women who have had their lymph nodes removed. He put together the first dragon boat crew. Dragon Boating as a human sport is more than 20 centuries old; the boat is a very long human powered boat manned by 22 people, 20 who row, one drummer and one sweep. No sexist ideas please; the sweep is she who steers the ship. The women we have met who are dragon boaters have been inspirational in their positive attitudes.

Paparazzi or what! In the smallest way possible, we are getting a taste of what life must be like for a celebrity; between us we have done 7 media interviews today with TV and radio; had cars following us up the freeway with TV cameras hanging out of the window. We have our first one lined up for 6:30am tomorrow morning, second at 9:00am, TV in Ballina at 11:30am and we go from there flat out all day. We’ve averaged two or three interviews most days this week but it is ramping up now that we are close to Murwillumbah.

Dinner tonight in Grafton was magical; we wandered down the road to the local art gallery and sat under the stars in the courtyard surrounded by twinkling fairly lights. Kim weaved some kind of magic in finding our overnight stop here; a lovely cottage all to ourselves at the end of tree lined lane with sensational food just 5 minutes away at Georges at the art gallery. We had just settled ourselves in and moved on to the wine when she realised that this was our last night on the road. Incredible! We toasted all who have helped us with this amazing adventure.

My day began in Port Macquarie with a really great cup of coffee, a rarity this trip. Two in fact, wasn’t going to miss out on this experience. Were served up a brilliant brekkie at the same place as we had dinner Tuesday night before going around the corner to the Port City Bowling club. Yes, bowling as in old people with stiff looking knees chucking big black balls down a bowling green. Dressed in white clothes. And hats. And flat shoes. Not so much anymore though, there were dozens of kids bowling. It was a high school interstate State bowling championship.

There was an additional car on this leg of the trip other than Ross and Kim, Syd and I, Terry Hurst in his Bentley Continental S. What an absolute collection tin charmer; the Foundation would have been considerably less fortunate without his decision to join us. He is amazing. He actually enjoys it, loves it in fact I think. He fetched the tin from the car, disappeared onto the bowling greens and had everyone eating out of his hand. He even had someone rushing into the bar to buy a drink so that they had some change to put into his tin.

Of course we couldn’t go past Armin Koch the Swiss Toymaker just outside Nambucca Heads; we are going to see little Jack in Yamba after all. And waiting to meet us in Sydney are Madison and Rhys, our niece Lauren’s twins born last Saturday. Left Armin with a MUCH lighter wallet and such cool toys for all of them.

Belinda was on the phone again, “Hi Nicki, it’s Belinda.” This I know; the familiar 07 phone number has become a constant on my phone over the past 10 days. “Hi Belinda” – me . . . . “sorry to worry you again but a TV crew would like to meet you as you go through Urunga” – Belinda . . . . . She has been wonderful and has organised so much publicity for the Foundation that we would never have been able to achieve without her.

We beat the crew to Urunga. Called them as we left Nambucca; they obviously decided that we would take forever to get there, only about 20mins down the road, because when she called me as we rode into Urunga she was shocked that we were there. We had to hang around waiting for them for about 15 minutes. Which was fine because also waiting for us at Urunga was a group from the Coffs Harbour Classic car club. Syd did that interview looking so cool in his leather flying helmet, goggles and pink.

Syd’s best friend in Cape Town from the age of four was Pete Hurst. Amazingly, Pete’s brother, John now lives in Coffs Harbour and organised a huge welcome for us at lunch time. As we drove up to the Coffs Harbour Services Club there was bouncing, shouting, smiling contingent in pink, there were photographers from the local media and a welcoming committee from the club. Once again, there were these amazing women, bright, positive, shining faces; they bring tears to your eyes. They were mostly Dragon Boaters and called themselves The Titivators. . . . . .

Terry did his thing again, filled the tin which has given us a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge problem; not an unwelcome one, a positive one. He filled all of our tins. What to do? Fortunately Ross had had the foresight to send some ahead so we have one left to fill.

The club did us proud and donated lunch for the whole group; a long table of happy smiling faces, most in pink. And then we were off, heading at a great rate for Grafton. But you already know about Grafton.

Gorgeous Gwen

Jack Jolley hands over a full collection tin

Three of our collection ladyLunch with Mayor Paul Braybrook and Ken and his group

The Mayor takes a ride

All the staff at the Wagga RSL made their hair pink for the day

English language group donating to Jane

Such an exciting day! 

ü      Ross and Kim joined us for the rest of the trip to Murwillumbah

ü      And Terry and Andy – and Terry is a tin can supremo

ü      We were on Sunrise

ü      We took nearly $12,000.00 to the foundation to add to the $10080.70 that we took them before we left. 

And more than anything we had the privilege of meeting Glen McGrath.

Woohoo!

Not so cool was the fact that we were both shattered, exhausted.  I didn’t even get time to wash my hair before going on national TV!  And if you know me, you know that that is NOT good.  Despite a sleepless night the night before Syd got hyped up when we got home; there was a tricky petrol leak in the Bentley, frustrating him.  He worked on the car past midnight, got hot under the collar, hyped up and couldn’t sleep.  Not good before a long day.

Very cool though was Martin Place.  Freezing in fact!  But I’ll get back to that.  And then there were the Strom Troopers . . . . . .

Belinda from Fluid PR who has put together all of our media coverage phoned me as we were crossing the bridge.  “Nicki” she said, “Sydney City Council contacted me last night to say that you have to push the Bentley onto Martin Place.”  Believe me, that is what Sydney City Council wanted!  Me!  Samuel’s 60 year old Ganny!  “Too noisy” said the council, lawyers complain.  Lawyers?  Which lawyers are there at 7:00AM on a freezing winter morning anyway?  “Please don’t make a fuss” said Belinda, “it’ll spoil it for others down the track.” 

Push a 2 ton Bentley?  “Not going to happen!” said this little granny but I promised Belinda I would check with Sunrise before we did anything.  Will drive very quietly said Syd.  We all know how much you can believe THAT statement. 

“Phwa!”  said Lauren from Sunrise, when we got there, “they don’t even check when we have a rock concert.”  “You do have a permit don’t you?” said Kate as she went through the door that said ‘ON Air’.  In red you see.   

Syd drove up onto the Plaza like a mouse.  Yeah, right.  And we waited.  And FROZE in the canyon that is Martin Place before the sun reaches down between the buildings.  All of a sudden there was a happy smile; it was Syd’s mate Geoff Northcott, in shirtsleeves!  He was soon joined by our nephew Mark, also dressed in summer lite.  It was so encouraging for us to have this company, and before long nephew Greg was there too, dressed for the office in cycling gear?  Nicki’s brother Charl and sister-in-law Jane.  Seth.  Syd’s brother Jeff, also in early morning cycling garb, Lindsay – we had a family reunion.  Kim and Ross Warner joined us with our Blog Manager Renai, Kim and Ross ready to roll North with us after the show.  So energising for Syd and I, we have been on the go alone since Melbourne and are delighted to have company for the last leg going North.

We were caught off guard by the Sunrise programme, Syd was talking to his mate Brian George about arrangements for Newcastle on the mobile when Brian told him “Mate, I’m talking to you on the phone and watching you on TV!”  Sunrise, to their credit, had the big news of the Lehman implosion on wall street, Malcolm Turnbull finally rolling whatsis name, but still gave us flashes of promo and then wound up the show with a quick flash to us their team, a quick blurb about what we are up to, and a hoot of the Bentley’s “AAAOOOGAAA” country horn.

Pulling into the McGrath Foundation’s office in Northbridge to hand over a very heavy bucket of coins, notes and cash we were delighted to meet Glenn, a highlight of our day.

Then on to Newcastle on the freeway, so good to have company en route.  The burbling VEE 12 of Ross’s E-Type managing to keep up with the Bentley without too much trouble.   Ross says he enjoys the sight of our vintage wondercar giving tardy motorists a ‘hurry up’.

On the outskirts of Newcastle we were met by the lovely MG of Brian George, flying two nipple pink balloons – couldn’t miss it.  The beautiful and very historic racing MG of Jeff Redman kept him company, and they led us into the city, with Win TV filming us on our way and then showcasing a good interview on their news program.  The Hunter MG car club turned out in force, with a great display of very shiny MG’s decked out in pink balloons on the site of the old Railway workshops, soon to be the new home of the Museum.  Terry Hurst of Brisbane joined us in his Bentley Continental.  He’d been on the Canberra rally and will spend the next day on road with us.  Terry turned out to be a master with the collection can, going in to the surrounding businesses and collecting with gusto. 

We enjoyed an excellent lunch as the guests of the Hunter MG club, who made a club donation as well as individual contributions and then Jeff led us out of the city on the l-o-n-g leg to Port Macquarie.   After a good tea stop in Bulahdelah –we met Helen Bentley there who was so excited to meet a real Bentley, her words.  Terry once again canvassed the main street, even braved the pub, we had a ‘moment’ when, after filling up our cars – the Jag VEE 12 having drunk nearly as much as the Bentley – the Jag, normally the centre of attention but now having to keep company with 2 equally eyecatching Bentleys, chucked a hissy fit and ‘failed to proceed’.  Ross promptly pulled out his tester, analysed the fault, found a loose connection and we were on our way once more. 

The last 110-odd k’s were in the dark.  And the cold.  but FUN!  Got to Port Macqarie led by Ross to the exact spot we needed to be at, staggered to the “Stunned Mullett” for dinner and all did our best to keep Syd from falling asleep into his dinner plate!

Breast Cancer fact:          Many women presume they are too young to get breast cancer and tend to assume a lump is a harmless cyst or other growth.  Some healthcare providers may also dismiss breast lumps in young women as cysts and adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach.  With 700 young women a year proving positive with breast cancer, this may not be the best thing to do.

Remember the song ‘Blowing in the Wind’, think it was either a Cat Stevens or Bob Dylan song.  Well!  Today had nothing on that!  The weather report for the whole of the east coast was full of little wind socks standing to attention.  As we staggered up the highway like a rugby league player leaving a nightclub we found friends in their Bentleys, taking a break from the howling gales, at a farm gate.  Brett’s laconic comment was, “pig of a day?!”  Well, he is a farmer after all.  If the Bentley didn’t weigh over 2 ½ tonnes it would have been picked up and blown directly to Murwillumbah.  And we would have missed out on over half the fun.

Our day began with a great interview with Geraldine from Channel 9’s regional station, Win Canberra.  The forecourt of the Brassey Hotel in Canberra was buzzing with Bentley’s.  Everyone was loading up for their trip home so the atmosphere was a feast for the eye, the nose and of course the ear; nothing quite like the sound of a Bentley exhaust.

We blew up the highway to our first stop in Goulburn where Toni was waiting for us at the Goulburn Soldiers Club.  She was terrific, had contacted the local media and did her best to raise a crowd.  Not so much, but it was a Monday morning.  And the whole front of the Club was being removed by a construction team.  Who were terrific, pushing a folded one into the tin.

Had to hold tight to any notes we were given before the wind picked them up and tossed them away.

We were heading up to the main street when we found Coralie Ogle, always full of energy and positivity; had a great coffee – and coffee has been sadly lacking this trip.  The owner of the cafe knew Roger Ealand and donated $100.00 to the Foundation.  Then Syd got a call from a journalist from the local newspaper who blew across the rose gardens to say hi. 

We were met outside Mittagong by a friend in a Vauxhall who had one of the lovely moments of our trip.  A truckie stopped his truck, went across to Vic to ask if he was the Jane McGrath fund raiser; when he was told the Vic was waiting to meet us he emptied his pockets for Vic to give us.  He had heard our friend Brian Hawke doing an interview with ABC National during the morning and decided to watch out for us.  Jane McGrath touched the hearts of so many people during her fight against breast cancer and everyone needs to pay tribute to her.

Mittagong was a blast; the club is terrific, the staff wonderful, our tin was heavy and thank you Brian and Dorothy, event organisers supreme.  Thank you Sheila for a great lunch.

We were so looking forward to a night in our own bed.  Didn’t happen.

Heading into Sydney the car developed indigestion.  Began producing gas of a most unpleasant kind.  Added to that it was a very hot day, about 27C, heavy traffic, dithery people so the temperature rocket up to 100C.  Boiling!  Not good!  Syd went straight into the garage and didn’t emerge until nearly midnight. 

I spent the evening catching up on the paperwork for the trip.  Everyone has been so generous.  I sat on the floor for nearly four hours writing up cheques, sending receipts and I counted out the two tins that were too full to take even one more 5c piece; together they added up to $2022.90 which is just awesome.

So instead of cuddling into our wonderful brass bed for a long sleep, we finally got into bed at about 1:00am, couldn’t sleep because we were so wound up by then and had to wake up at 5:30 to get to Martin Place to go on Sunrise.  How cool is that?  We didn’t realise just how cool it would be.