Current SA Variety Bash chair Darren Greatrex and veteran Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM reveal what really happens during eight days of driving 25-plus-year-old cars through remote South Australia, while Steve samples Little Blessings Brewing’s Tropical Trinity Gin and shares his original song “A Lot of Nothing” inspired by the vast outback landscape.
Steve Davis survived his first SA Variety Bash and lived to tell the tale. More importantly, he brings two bash stalwarts into the studio to share what really drives people to spend weekends fundraising all year, then eight days together in old cars traversing some of South Australia’s most remote terrain. Current chair Darren Greatrex recently delivered a record-breaking $2.7 million fundraising result, while veteran Sir Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM brings 35 years of bash wisdom to the conversation.
The SA Drink of the Week features Little Blessings Brewing’s Tropical Trinity Gin, a deep orange concoction that Steve discovered during a spontaneous tasting in the middle of nowhere between William Creek and Coober Pedy. The gin’s tropical fusion of pineapple, passion fruit and orange creates what Steve describes as walking backwards into a tropical plantation with a toucan tapping on your shoulder.
The Musical Pilgrimage presents “A Lot of Nothing,” an original composition by Steve Davis and the Virtualosos, written in the backseat during the bash as the vast South Australian landscape inspired reflections on finding yourself in the emptiness of the outback.
You can navigate episodes using chapter markers in your podcast app. Not a fan of one segment? You can click next to jump to the next chapter in the show. We’re here to serve!
The Adelaide Show Podcast: Awarded Silver for Best Interview Podcast in Australia at the 2021 Australian Podcast Awards and named as Finalist for Best News and Current Affairs Podcast in the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards.
And please consider becoming part of our podcast by joining our Inner Circle. It’s an email list. Join it and you might get an email on a Sunday or Monday seeking question ideas, guest ideas and requests for other bits of feedback about YOUR podcast, The Adelaide Show. Email us directly and we’ll add you to the list: [email protected]
If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review in iTunes or other podcast sites, or buy some great merch from our Red Bubble store – The Adelaide Show Shop. We’d greatly appreciate it.
And please talk about us and share our episodes on social media, it really helps build our community. Oh, and here’s our index of all episode in one concise
page.
Running Sheet: A Deep Dive Into The SA Variety Bash
00:00:00 Intro
Introduction
00:02:45 SA Drink Of The Week
Th SA Drink Of The Week is the Tropical Trinity Gin by Little Blessings Brewing, based in Laura.
Between William Creek and Coober Pedy, Steve encountered Little Blessings Brewing’s Tropical Trinity Gin during an impromptu roadside tasting that perfectly captured the bash’s serendipitous spirit. The Laura-based distillery operates from an old chapel, creating this distinctive deep orange gin that shakes cloudy with fruit sediment.
Steve’s initial reaction, captured on camera in the desert, speaks for itself: “It’s like I have walked backwards into a tropical plantation of citrus and there’s a toucan tapping on my shoulder.” The gin combines sweet pineapple, tangy passion fruit and zesty orange while maintaining gin’s traditional robust structure. Steve likens it to a film set for Gilligan’s Island, where tropical botanicals create convincing scenery over gin’s reliable framework.
The colour resembles his parents’ 1970s kitchen cupboards painted “burnt orange” – a deep hue that wants to be red but stops several steps short. Steve recommends trying this gin neat, particularly for those who typically avoid straight gin, describing it as a feast for both palate and eyes with its beautiful label work and sunset-reminiscent colour.
The timing proves providential, as Curly’s pet parrot chirps throughout the interview, creating an unintentional tropical soundtrack that complements the gin’s character perfectly.
00:08:00 Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM and Darren Greatrex
Here we have two blokes who’ve discovered something most of us spend our lives searching for: a perfect fusion of adventure, community, and purpose. Darren Greatrex, the current Bash Chair, and Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM, the larrikin legend who helped shape what the SA Vareity Bash has become. Between them, they’ve got over 35+ years of Bash stories, from Curly’s first adventure in 1988 to Darren’s record-breaking $2.7 million result in 2025. But this isn’t about the money, the miles, or even the mechanics. This is about what drives people to spend a week wrestling with 25-year-old cars in the middle of nowhere, all in the name of helping kids they’ve never met.
We previously covered the Variety Bash in 2024, when Steve sat in with The Bakers car before they left Adelaide in episode 398.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM opens with a story that would terrify most first-timers: his inaugural 1988 bash experience leaving Burke at 8:30am and arriving in Tibooburra at 4:00am the following morning after getting bogged, lost, and possibly detained in a pub or two. “We slept on the ground outside the pub,” Curly recalls matter-of-factly. “We were up at seven o’clock not to be left behind.”
The conversation reveals how fundraising has evolved from basic entry fees to sophisticated year-round campaigns. Darren Greatrex explains the diversity of approaches: “You see anything from a sausage sizzle at Bunnings, you see people selling donuts, you see people putting on concerts.” The legendary Hogs, visiting Victorian fundraisers who shake collection tins outside supermarkets, can raise $3,000 to $10,000 per weekend through sheer persistence and community generosity.
A particularly moving moment comes when Darren describes arriving at Bendleby Ranges to publicly donate towards the local, Orroroo Community Playground project and then surprising the locals with the additional $50,000 they needed to complete it. “What variety did is they quickly got together and had a meeting only about three days prior to us arriving,” he explains. The decision to fund the shortfall spontaneously demonstrates how the bash operates beyond its structured grant process.
The human dynamics emerge through discussions of team formation and survival strategies. Curly observes that “very few people that raise the minimum, which is $10,000 per vehicle” and credits a culture where people “have that feeling of need” to give more.
In discussion about coping with camping in remote areas and going without showers, Darren notes the transformation from 95% male participation in early years to today’s 45% female participation, has revealed that women adapt “much, much better than the men.”
Steve’s rookie perspective provides fresh insights into the bash’s social dynamics. His observation about the ease of talking to anyone on the bash, boils down to the principles at work during costume parties where playing a character removes the “peril of being, making a fool of yourself” and that resonated with both veterans. “You are a persona,” Steve notes. “Remove that and the bash would be harder for new people to be included so quickly.” Curly confirms: “The bash would not be the bash without the themes and the cars and the costumes.”
The logistics discussion reveals staggering complexity behind the apparent chaos. Planning for 2026 began four months before the 2025 event, with infrastructure, catering, and fuel coordination for 400 people entering small communities. Mobile workshops carry spare parts and fuel, while three medical teams including Royal Flying Doctor Service personnel ensure safety across thousands of kilometres.
Personal stories punctuate the technical details. Darren’s memory of flying a blind child to Kangaroo Island with a braille computer demonstrates variety’s direct impact: “Just watching that impact on that kid was a turning point for me.” Meanwhile, Curly’s Tarcoola food horror story (“which one’s which?”) provides historical perspective on how much the event has improved.
The interview concludes with Steve’s proposal for mandated silence during one stop to appreciate the vast landscape. Both veterans embrace the concept, with Darren recalling standing at Sunset Ridge in misty fog: “We just looked at each other and just went, my God, look, this is just something you’d never, ever see.”
01:03:45 Musical Pilgrimage
In the Musical Pilgrimate, we play a track by Steve Davis & The Virtualosos, A Lot Of Nothing, to round off our deep drive into the SA Variety Bash.
“A Lot of Nothing” emerged from Steve’s backseat contemplation during the vast drives between destinations. The landscape between William Creek and Coober Pedy, where roads barely exist on station country, inspired lyrics about finding yourself in emptiness and the redemptive power of isolation.
Steve Davis and the Virtualosos crafted a composition that captures both the physical reality of endless horizons and the psychological journey of people who “choose” to live in remote areas of South Australia. The song’s central image – “There’s a lot of nothing as far as you can see, the shimmer in the distance is a sweet infinity” – reflects Steve’s realisation that true understanding comes from turning off music and phones to “face the real you who’s been buried in the silence of this place.”
The piece connects to Steve’s proposed moment of mandated silence during future bashes, recognising that the vast South Australian landscape offers transformative experiences for those willing to embrace the apparent emptiness. As the lyrics suggest, sometimes you must navigate the weather until you find yourself.
Here’s this week’s preview video
There is no featured video this week.
SFX: Throughout the podcast we use free SFX from freesfx.co.uk for the harp, the visa stamp, the silent movie music, the stylus, the radio signal SFX, the wine pouring and cork pulling SFX, and the swooshes around Siri.
An AI generated transcript – there will be errors. Check quotes against the actual audio (if you would like to volunteer as an editor, let Steve know)
Steve Davis: [00:00:00] Hello, Steve Davis here. Welcome to episode 419 of the Adelaide Show Podcast. We’re taking you off the beaten track in this particular episode. You might remember we talked about the essay Variety Bash about a year ago when I sat in the car with Car 13 the Bakers, and captured a spirit of what it’s like driving with three people who didn’t really know.
No, they, they did know what they were doing, but they, they gave us a bit of a warts and all look behind the, the, uh, behind the veil. What happened since then is that Darren Sutton from Kit’s Bakery, one of the three in that car, went to do proper duties within the SA variety bash in inverted comm, and I was volunteered to fill in and Car 13 became the monkeys and or monkey business.
And I’ve just been through that gauntlet. We are sitting down with a couple of stalwarts of the SA variety bash in just a moment, uh, to, to really give you what it’s really like behind the scenes and I can keep them honest ’cause I’ve got a sense [00:01:00] now. There’s no pulling the wool over my eyes. In the SA drink of the week, we are going to be tasting a gin from Little Blessings Brewing, which happened to be a gin that I got to taste, uh, somewhere between William Creek and Cooper pd and it blew my mind.
So we’re gonna have a listen to that and a bit of a taste. And we’re gonna finish in the musical pilgrimage with a song inspired with my sitting in the backseat of car in the middle of nowhere. It’s a song called A lot of Nothing. And that’s how we’ll take out the show. Enjoy. Oh, and put your seatbelt on.
Refugees and lady,[00:02:00]
The Adelaide Show: lady
Caitlin Davis: in the spirit of reconciliation. The Adelaide Show Podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout South Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
That
The Adelaide Show: lady lady,
lady lady
Steve Davis: in the South Australian drink of the week. This week. It is also linked to the Variety Bash because it was on the bash at one of our stops where the [00:03:00] chauffeurs, uh, one of the, the bash cars had stopped and they pulled out a gin tasting in the middle of nowhere. Uh, it was fantastic. Well, when I say nowhere, I think from memory it was between, uh, William Creek and Coopered.
There was one of those stops along the way. And I thought, oh, well, I’ll give it a try. And they said, look, do you mind, they actually thrust a camera out, uh, to film the tasting. I obliged, I said, fantastic. The, the, the gin we’re talking about is by Little Blessings brewing. They’re based in Laura in an old chapel, and this is called the Tropical Trinity Gin.
I, I should explain, when you look at the bottle and you hold it up, the gin itself is, it’s a deep orange color. Give a little bit of a shake, and it’s a little bit cloudy because you’ve got some of the fruit sediment that they’ve, uh, [00:04:00] well really had in the basket, I imagine as they’ve been making this gin.
It’s a fusion of. Well, here’s, here’s what I experienced on my palette. Let’s have a listen to this. First. This is the audio that they captured in the desert.
So this is the Tropical Trinity Gin. I’m told it’s good. That’s have taste.
Oh, oh. It’s like I have walked backwards into a tropical plantation of citrus and there’s a two can tapping on my shoulder.
Oh, woo. The magnificent,
as you can guess, it di it surprised me. It delighted me hearing that. And if I think back through I, I said tropical sort of citrus plantation, there was more than that.
That’s where the Toucan idea came from. ’cause of those deep reds and oranges that you get on a Toucan. And what it turns out, of course, is uh, [00:05:00] they use. Pineapple, uh, a sweet pineapple, a bit of tangy passion fruit and zesty orange. And that’s what I would’ve been picking up on that, just that small sip. And I think if I drank a bit more, there’d be more that I’d be able to get into work through the plant, the tropical plantation bit by bit.
It is beautifully refreshing. It’s also funny that I mentioned the two can, because as you’re about to hear in this interview with the former chair, uh, curly. And the current chair, Darren, uh, curly, has a pet bird of some sort. I think it was a parrot and it chirps throughout, and I wasn’t that aware of it until we were about five or 10 minutes in.
It was too late to start to stop and banish the bird to another room. So if you like, and especially if you’re sipping a little bit of Tropical Trinity gin as you listen to this, I just imagine it’s a two can that’s just chipping in with memories of this beautiful gin as we go through the [00:06:00] conversation.
It’s, it’s got the structure that you expect from a gin. So it’s got that ro that the robust fla, um, body on the palette that we, we look for. But the way gin has this magic of taking the botanicals or, or receiving the botanicals and having new life, it’s almost like I imagine a film set where, you know, there’s a structure that’s been made to make the set look like, like Gilligan’s Island, where you’ve got all these tropical plants.
Now, you know, there’s probably, uh, wood. And a bit of metal behind there and their fake plants, et cetera. Uh, this is what we’ve got. We’ve got the gin structure and then you’ve got this magnificent array that you see that is very tropical. I love my gin neat. I always have, and this is one gin where at least if you have never tried your gin neat, this is really worth it.
Honestly, as Molly Meldrum once said, do yourself a favor depending on the light you’re in. By the way, there’s almost a really dark [00:07:00] orange hue Growing up in the seventies, for some reason, my parents and I loved it actually, they painted the cupboards in our kitchen a color called burned orange. So it’s really dark, deep orange.
It sort of wants to be red, but it’s not. It’s a few steps away from that, but it’s on that way. That’s the color in this bottle. It is a feast for the eyes. Beautiful label work. And so look, if you really want to give some local distillers a great zesty step in their pathway of eking out a magnificent living, doing some very creative work, all that’s left for me to say is give this a go.
Little blessings brewing. Tropical Trinity Gin all the way from Laura is the South Australian drink. Of the week.
John Schumann: Uh, I’m John Schumann, uh, a singer songwriter. Um, and I live in Adelaide for reasons which escape me. [00:08:00] Um, you are listening to the Adelaide Show, and my advice is to get a life.
Steve Davis: Well, we’ve got two blokes sitting with me now who’ve discovered something that most of us spend our lives searching for. It’s a perfect fusion of adventure, of community and of purpose.
And these two people are, sir Peter Curly Curtis, welcome Peter, or Curly, what would you prefer? Uh, curly is fine. Curly is fine. And good morning to you. Good morning. And just plain old ordinary Darren. Great tricks. Who is the current bash chair? Darren. Good morning Steve. Thanks for having us. Do you have a nickname?
Darren Greatrex: Mm. Yeah, lots. None I can mention here though.
Steve Davis: Okay. Well look, um, between you guys, I, I’ve lost count 35 plus years experience of bashing. Uh, it’s quite amazing. I’m sure my math isn’t even correct there. If I remember rightly, curly 1988 was your first [00:09:00] taste. That’s correct, yes. We’re going into that in a moment.
And Darren just recently a record breaking $2.7 million plus extra, uh, net fundraising. It’s a record result, not just for SA Bash, but also back nationwide.
Darren Greatrex: It is a record. I don’t wanna brag too much, but it’s, uh, yeah, something I’m pretty proud of. So it was something, an objective I set in the early stages and, uh, whamo, we did it.
Steve Davis: So pretty, pretty exciting. But of course, it isn’t just about the money, the miles, even the mechanics. Uh, this is about, this chat is about what drives people to spend many weekends and weeks throughout the year, and then eight days together in 30 plus year old cars in the middle of nowhere, all in the name of helping kids and families and communities who are experiencing some type of disadvantage within sa.
So let’s hop into it now. Enough of my prattling on, so like warming up a diesel engine. I actually just survived my first [00:10:00] bash, and I know that because I’m still eating little sachets of mixed nuts that I packed just in case there was no food. And even little banana flavored surprises all through my bag.
Um, but somewhere between queuing for everything, especially four hours for a pie floater, uh, watching Uncle Festa dig out a bogged big black limo. I realize there’s something more than just petrol and stubbornness that runs this bash curly. I wanna start with you, as we’ve just established, you’ve been doing this since 88.
What is it? That first hooked you, uh, and what keeps bringing you back?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Not so sure that, uh, my first days on the bash would be what would normally hook people.
Steve Davis: Okay.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Back in 1988, things weren’t quite the way they were, they are today. Um, my first day outta Burke, we left Burke at eight 30 and we arrived in Tipper Borough, [00:11:00] uh, after a lot of diversion due to wet weather at four o’clock the next morning.
Oh,
Steve Davis: hang on, hang on. We just missed a whole lot there. Take us through that.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Well, it had been very wet out in the outbreak and, uh, as I said, a lot of diversions that day. We were bogged, we were lost. We might’ve got stuck in a pub or two, and we arrived in Tipper Borough at 4:00 AM in the morning, so not to be discouraged, and we were a bit green.
We went into the pub and we asked the public and if he had any spare rooms. Okay. Which after he stopped laughing, he, uh, said, no. We slept on the ground outside the pub. We were up at seven o’clock not to be left behind. We left at eight o’clock. Much better day, some more diversions. At one stage, we were being dragged through some wet areas.
Four hooked together behind a grater, but a much better day. We arrived in Maori [00:12:00] at 1:00 AM in the morning, so obviously the week did improve. Um, we finally did get fed along the bash and uh, we had a fantastic time and we were back to start in 1989 on this first South Australian bash.
Steve Davis: Tell me, sitting there, the first bog nurse on that first day, what was it like in the car?
Does everything just come to a screaming halt and everyone looks at each other and thinks who’s gonna do.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Well, I guess as, uh, you were doing here today, uh, and we are going to be describing to people what takes place on a bash and the advantages they have with the mobile workshops and official vehicles, which weren’t there in those early days.
The, the week was planned and then it just happened or it didn’t happen. But to answer your question, yes, very scary. You tend to get lost in groups, [00:13:00] so you do have some help among yourselves, but, uh, there wasn’t a lot.
Steve Davis: Alright, we’re coming back onto that track with a lot more of those stories, but it wouldn’t be right to talk about the variety bash without at least exploring the fundraising that goes on behind the, the, uh, behind, behind everything, because this is not.
The fundraising part per se, although some happens along the way. This is like a reward, a celebration of a year of hard work raising funds by all of these different teams. Darren, I’ll turn to you because you would be aware, and of course you are a former chair as well, curly, um, you’d be aware of all the different ways different teams raise money through the year.
We’ve gotta talk about the hogs. They, they seem to be completely amazing. What do you see out there? What do people get up to these voluntary groups? To raise funds for variety of saying
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. Well it’s quite diverse actually, ’cause we have such a diverse range of [00:14:00] people on the Bash. Um, and they all come from different backgrounds.
Um, you know, some are captains of industries, others, uh, you know, people just, ordinary people like me, um, who just want to make a bit of a difference, uh, in people’s lives. So. Um, you, you see anything from a sausage sizzle at Bunnings, you see people selling donuts, um, you see people putting on concerts. Um, you have corporate sponsorships and you mentioned the hogs, which are pretty, uh, famous in South Australia.
And, um, fundraising history, a variety. And, um, these guys literally call in the pubs every weekend. They’re out the front of Coles and Woolworths and they literally shake cans and week after week they’re, you know, collecting anywhere from three to $10,000 a week. Just through the generosity of, you know, everyday Australians.
So, um, what a lot of people don’t know is, uh, the hogs are not from South Australia. Um, they, they’re actually Victorian and they, um, much prefer out bash and I understand that. So we, we let ’em across the border each year and [00:15:00] we like taking their money and, um, but they, they do an amazing job, sir. But as you mentioned, it is a reward for all the hard work that the Bashers do throughout the year.
And, and when they see where that money goes and they’re just so invested in raising the money, it’s um, you know, truly rewarding to, you know, see the hard work that they put in.
Steve Davis: Oh, there were a couple of stops that along the way where we had people from the community who you were awarding money to on all our halves, and it was spine, chilling is not the right word.
The hairs on your back of your neck went uptake. Bend will be in particular, but there’d be others that you remember. Just give us a, give us a flavor of what goes on.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. So what happens with the fundraising each year? Uh, the money, uh, that we raise in, uh, any particular, particular year gets spent, uh, the next year.
Um, and that’s done via grant. So people put grants into variety. We have a grants committee and they will, um, award those grants. And, uh, anything that we think’s [00:16:00] worthy, uh, that, you know, uh, will, you know, enhance a child’s life, certainly they look at in a positive way. So, as you mentioned, RRU, um, we had given them a grant for almost $70,000 to help build a, um, community.
Um, playground, uh, for the kids there. And on that night, we, um, come to the realization that they couldn’t finish that project and they were about $50,000 short. And they let us know because we were trying to get a progress report. So what variety did is they quickly got together and had a meeting only about three days prior to us arriving in, uh, the Bend will be Rangers.
And they decided that, um, uh, that we, along with the Bashers would find that 50,000, extra $50,000. And that night we gave it to the kids, um, which they couldn’t believe. And as you said, it was really emotional for them because, um, they’ve gone through a really tough time there. Um, you know, the farming community in the mid north, especially with the drought that seems to never be ending, um, has, you know, taken its toll on them.
So for us to [00:17:00] be able to give back to, you know, that community was, you know, true, truly touching and to be involved in it was something, you know, that I’ll remember and I’m sure the bashes will for a long time.
Steve Davis: And that’s a bit that got me. I, I had in my back of my mind. Bash only gives money out to, uh, for, for medical reasons and things of that ilk.
And at a personal level, this was community level. Is that half of the course? What’s, what’s the spread, what’s the balance, the mix there?
Darren Greatrex: Uh, well, it varies. I mean, there is no really any set criteria for it. I mean, it’s where we can, you know, really enhance it, you know, a child’s life or children’s lives.
So, I mean, that could be through the program that we, um, have with the buses, and Curley can probably talk more about that. Um, so the Sunshine coaches that we, um, that we provide, um, it could be a, a, a child that’s got a, you know, serious medical issue that needs some help. Um, it could be, you know, uh, a school, um, you know, where the kids have special needs and they might need, you know, um, computers or programs.
I mean, we’ve, we’ve helped, you know, kids, [00:18:00] um, in the Paralympics, we’ve helped, you know, all sorts of stuff. There’s no real set criteria for it.
Steve Davis: Just before I cut your opinion, curly, one of the things in the, the Bashers group. There was a comment this morning from a Phil Bock who said, the real reason we all love the Bash and the variety is it’s the fun and friendship, but most importantly, the fact that all the money we raise go straight through the shoot to help kids in sa What’s your, how do you describe it to people?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Uh, I guess the best way to describe it is to talk about some examples of that I’ve seen over the years. Um, one of those examples was cow. Uh, we were there on a survey, uh, talking to a local chap, Phil Cook, and he introduced us to a committee that were raising money for a skateboard park. And these ladies were very passionate.
They, they were holding this sausage sizzles and the such, they were also holding an annual theme [00:19:00] ball that would raise money, but they had been raising money for so many years that their children were now too old to road ride skateboards, but they were still at it, and they were still determined that it would happen.
So variety got involved. And to begin with, they said, well, how much should we ask? You know, should we ask for 5,000? And I said, well, how much you going to need? Well, when we started this project, we were going to need something like 2025. Now it’s 125. It had been some 10 to 15 years they’d been trying to raise this money.
So I said to them, put in for the 125, uh, I don’t remember the exact figure that it came outta, but when it was costed, but it was somewhere in that region. And Variety funded the whole project, including their funds that have been sitting there in a bank for many years. And there’s now a skateboard park, uh, right on the sea [00:20:00] front there at cow.
Uh, both for the local children and for tourists boat. Yeah.
Steve Davis: And of course that would morph over the time you could ride your BMX. There’s all sorts of things you could do on there. It’s fantastic. How conscious is that in the back of your mind? Because I, I will just say for me, there were moments through the bash where you’re exhausted, but it’s good you’re with people.
But I couldn’t put my finger in it. I on it. I think it’s this sense that we’re all on a mission together. Was that?
Darren Greatrex: Yeah, I mean, it is like that. And I think, uh, when I first got involved in Variety, I didn’t really know much about it. I kind of just fell into it, um, through a, you know, a good friend of mine, Ron Barton and, um, who I’d only just recently met, and he told me about Variety.
And I, I got involved in, um, a few events, but then I personally saw the impact of where that money, uh, went and, you know, how it could, you know, potentially change a child’s life. And I remember, um, going way back in 2008, we, uh, gave a, um, a young kid who was [00:21:00] blind, a computer and, uh, had braille on it. And it was, uh, really, you know, something that this kid needed in the family couldn’t afford.
Um, and we, we flew him over to Kangaroo Island. I was fortunate to be on that flight with him, but he’d never been on an airplane before. And his, um, parents were telling him as we were taking off what was happening and what was going on out there. And, and just watching that impact and on, on that kid was, um.
You know, in my mind a, a turning point for me and just realize how important it was and where the money was going. And, and you know, here I am, you know, some, almost 20 years later. And, uh, I, I say, and I, I’m entrapped, but I like being entrapped in this group of people. So.
Steve Davis: Well, let’s talk about the group of people now, because you band together in teams now, we were monkey business, we were dressed as monkeys for the whole week, uh, in various states of, not dress, but of costume.
How do groups get together? Is there a common thread? Is there a pattern? What happens? Do strangers get thrown together? Take a what do you [00:22:00] know? What do you understand? What have been your experiences?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Uh, I guess they, over the years, uh, somebody is invited into a group like you were this year, Steve. Mm-hmm.
And then you get bitten by the boat, uh, and you. You might like those guys, you might like to, you may be invited back. I dunno. Don’t hold your hopes. So then if you’re not invited back then we do see a lot of people split off and they go and get their own cars and their own groups. Uh, and this is how the bash seems to build.
But just going back to your fundraising in our bash, um, south Australia’s bash, we find that we have a, a real culture. I think if you look at the figures, and Darren might know that there are very few people that raise the minimum, which is $10,000 per vehicle. Uh, and there’s very few of those vehicles that only raise the minimum.
It’s a real, it’s [00:23:00] culture that’s grown up over the 35, 37 years. And, um, that’s why we’re so successful that people just have that feeling of need. Um, they want to give. So they raise far more than the.
Steve Davis: Do you see any sense of chemistry in teams, especially those that you know, do bring home as many bickies as possible?
Is there any DNA, what, what’s there there odd sides of people you would not expect to be together? Uh, as well as those who are, you gotta smile on your face, Darren, who are you thinking about now? I mean, it could be people who are once married and now they’re not in this door together. Who knows?
Darren Greatrex: Well, we do actually have one of them in good old Cafe 96 with, uh, lady Diane Carmen.
So, but, um, who are about to do their 35th, uh, uh, bash. So, which is, you know, quite extraordinary next year. So, um, and we, we have, uh, you know, like this re I’ll say revolving door of people come through them. I mean, each year we normally have somewhere between 50 [00:24:00] and 80 new, um, bashers, which we now call rookies.
Um, but equally we also have some very long-term bashers and. What you find is when the new ones come through and they meet some of the older bashes and they see the culture and they learn about it, as you would’ve seen this year, um, I mean, they, they’re really inspired by it. Um, this year especially, we had a lot of young kids on the Bash, which was, uh, really good to see.
And I mean, when I say young kids, I’m talking under 25 years. I’m glad you looked at me
Steve Davis: as you said that, so thank you. Yeah, maybe
Darren Greatrex: not. Um, but, um, they, they, they were, uh, they, they, they were again kids that I thought, you know, that, you know, they were there maybe with parents or whatever and, um, and didn’t really have an understanding.
And the amount of them that I spoke to this year, um, who said, I’m definitely coming back next year and not only am I coming back, I’m bringing mates and they just really, uh, em embrace it. They, they loved the, you know, the. Fun. The, you know, the dressing up, the theme nights, all the things that we have going on The Bash.
But I think the thing that, uh, really got me was they sort of sense of where that money went and [00:25:00] they, um, were inspired by that and inspired to, you know, come and say to me, we’re gonna raise a lot more money next year and, you know, we’re gonna, we want to get to gold. And some of them are saying, we want to knock the hogs off.
And I’m be like, good. I bring it on. That’s what
Steve Davis: we want to see. Actually. You mentioned dressing up. Where’s the imp Like, I was in the car with, uh, Julian Stone and Chris Madeley, and we were monkeys and there was a flurry of making costumes and we kind, I I I was the worst of the three of them in staying in costume the whole time.
There was Batman Robin, they were in costume. UNC Uncle Fester, uh, with thing on his head for most of the time. The brides in different bridled outfits. W does that, how important is the costume, the theme part of the Bash magic?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Uh, magic is a very good word, and, um, it, it is a huge part. The themes, if it wasn’t for the themes and the funny cars, the, the exciting cars, [00:26:00] uh, the kids’ themes probably in particular, but not alone.
You mentioned the brides. Now, the work that they go to, they carry eight dresses for the week each. Um, the Joker, you mentioned Batman, and he’s easy. He puts on a suit bat, uh, joker, he puts his makeup on every morning, and you never see him without it. He’s not a good looking chap, but it is, it, it’s magic.
It, it just makes the whole week. Um, I mean, in the past we’ve had, uh, there was a paddle van. For the, the Barbie mobile and, and the girls in it had a different outfit every day. I mean, they’re just some of the examples of what. What goes on in the lengths that people go to and you put it all together and there’s this one week outta 52 weeks of the year [00:27:00] that, uh, these people get to enjoy for their 51 weeks of fundraising.
Darren Greatrex: I think, I think the other thing too is that, um, uh, when you roll into these small little communities, these little towns, and you gotta go and fill up with fuel and you, you go into a local shop and you know, you’ve got people from MASH and you, you said you’ve got Uncle Festa and you’ve got, you know, three blind mice and all these crazy characters and, and the looks on people’s faces.
It’s just priceless. And the kids just love it. So as Peter said, you, you just, uh, it wouldn’t be the bash unless you’re all dressed up and looking a bit crazy.
Steve Davis: Actually, where did we have lunch on the first day? Was that uh, Burra? That was borough, yeah. We went into the local IGA there or serve well, whatever it is, and standing at the counter dressed up as a monkey with a big.
Tile behind me. I one of the blokes there, a local said, oh, you’re in the Bash. I’m not in it this year. My car’s up on blocks and it was just this secret, almost a secret community. But I actually feel, I think I’ve [00:28:00] cracked why it all works and I think the costumes are crucial. I’ve long said and in observing how humans are especially Aussies about interpersonal relationships and breaking into new groups because I will swear to anyone ’cause people say, oh, come to our networking event.
You can talk to anyone most of the time that’s BS on the Bash. Wherever you were, you could genuinely walk up to anyone and I’m a rookie and they will just make conversation with you. Yeah, and I think it’s beyond the fundraising. It is the costume party thing. If you have ever go to Fancy Dress, they have the best.
Conversations ever, because it’s not you. It takes the peril of being, making a fool of yourself off the table. You are a persona. I think remove that and the bash becomes a hardest log. What do you think you guys, I’m a, I’m a rookie. This is my [00:29:00] first observation.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: No, very good observation, Steve. Um, no, the Bash would not be the bash without the themes and the cars and the costumes.
And as Darren alluded to, uh, when you see the kids come out, that that’s what they want to see. They don’t want to see just fast cars, old cars. They wanna see, uh, the magic of the bash.
Darren Greatrex: Yep. And, um, you know, just touching on the, uh, variety thing, I mean, I’m really fortunate that I get to travel around. Um, yeah.
Great state and every place I’ve been to in the last couple of years. Uh, and I walk in and I say I’m from variety. I instantly, um, have the doors opened. Um, generally, you know, we have dinner and they just refuse to take money from you to let you pay for dinner because they know that we do such a great job and, uh, they, they want us in their communities.
Um, you know, it’s a, a, it’s a, a thing that varieties built up over many, many years, uh, this, this culture. [00:30:00] Um, and it, it, it’s a good one. And it, it’s just really inspiring to turn up at these little, you know, towns. Some of them, you know, population, 8, 10, 12 people and what have you, but they hear about us and they want us there.
And, um, and, and the bashers, you know, we spend a lot of money in those places and it’s, yeah, something that’s just, you know, morphed into a, a pretty big thing. Now
Steve Davis: why must cars be 30 years or older? 25 years. Oh, 25. Okay.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Um, well, in the very beginning, right? Biblical times? Yes. Yes. Almost. Um, well. And if you, if you want me to take a minute and just gimme a little bit of the history of how the Bash began,
Steve Davis: is this pre dick, this is after Dick, Dick Smith.
No,
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: before. Before Dick. Dick Smith actually stole the idea for some school teachers from Murray Bridge.
Steve Davis: Which is where I spent seven years of my life working at Five Mu There you go. Connections everywhere. [00:31:00] Well, I’m sure that was fair punishment for
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: some, some crime.
Steve Davis: Yes. For the people of Murray Bridge.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Um, there was a group of school teachers who were very interested in car rallying, but being school teachers, they probably didn’t have the money to spend, I almost said didn’t want to spend, but perhaps a bit of that as well on, on a rally car.
So they couldn’t com, they weren’t competitive, so they decided to form their own small rally and they set some ground rules of how much money you could spend on a car, how old the car had to be to meet that criteria. Um, you weren’t allowed to spend a lot of money on, on. Uh, beefing that car up, shall we say.
Yeah. Safety items. You were, so that, that formed the ground rules of, of the original Bash. Now those people, they ran their first rally from, uh, Murray Bridge to Burketown. Okay. [00:32:00] And how far is that
Steve Davis: in kilometers roughly? That’s
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: from one side of a Australia to the other. Okay. So thousands kilometers. Um, I would say it’s probably four to 5,000.
Okay. And they didn’t have the rules like we have on the bash and daily things. It was once you left, you just went. And they met in Burketown. Whenever you got there. You got there. Wow. But when they did get there, there was something else on which I can’t quite recall there, there is a book that was written by the school teachers, one of the school teachers, and it mentions, uh, why Dick Smith happened to be there and saw their cars, and he spoke to them about it.
And then subsequently he rang them, uh, or wrote to them. And, uh, they sent him the details of how they had run their event. And on that, he based the very first, uh, bash, which proceeds went to Variety. [00:33:00] And Dick Smith, he only ran one. Yep. Uh, he believed that it may work two or three times, but that
Steve Davis: Yes, it’s 40.
What
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: he, how he felt so variety in Sydney. Uh, they approached him to take on the running of the event, which he gave to them. So started the first Variety Bash
Steve Davis: and that was 85, wasn’t it? Yep. 1985. 40 years ago. Yep.
Darren Greatrex: 40. It was 40 years this
Steve Davis: year.
Darren Greatrex: So,
Steve Davis: and then South Australia’s first one was, was that 88? 89. 89.
Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Well that explains it. Um, thank goodness we had air conditioning that wasn’t banned. You could actually have the air conditioner in the car working. Uh, but what do you think the, the chicken, the egg question. What comes first? Someone has the idea for a great car idea, then finds mates or the other way around?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: What generally I would say that, uh, generally one person gets the idea [00:34:00] Okay. And then sells it to his mates. Um, I mean, when we started, uh, we really wanted to go for a fast drive in the bush, in an old car. Mm-hmm. So it was like the teachers at Murray Bridge, we, we felt we were going on a car rally and it was a cheap way of being able to do it.
Okay. But then as we know in variety, the, the, it doesn’t take long to get sold the story and of the kids, and I guess within two or three years we were, we were sold.
Steve Davis: It was important to stop along the way and just interact with people. Yes.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: And to start raising more money, not just the basic entry for entry fee.
Steve Davis: And there were people who deliberately gathered in different towns and even on stations, you’d see there were farming families who’d driven up to where the track was, had their kids with them. And most people stopped unless you were coming up to a gate, in which case you try and make sure you’re not the first one.
Uh, so you don’t have to open it. And oh, you learn [00:35:00] that. Did you receive? Yes. Uh, so we’ve got that. We’ve got the car. I wanna look at how you survive with one group of people in a car, especially if it’s first time round. What’s the secret to staying sane with a group? When you’re, you know, in a powder keg situation for eight days?
Darren Greatrex: Well, that’s a really good question because, uh, having been through this, um, after everyone telling you how you should be driving and you don’t drive, you know, well, you’re too slow or you’re too fast, or watch out for this, or watch out for that. And once you try to get past that and just block out all that white noise, um, I think it’s really important that you get the right dynamic in the car.
So, um, try to get some like-minded people. That, that really does help, um, a lot of, uh, probably alcohol helps as well. Yes. So when you’re having a lay day and sitting in the back of the car and just, uh, just cruising, just and just try to take it in. I, I say to people after the, the first one, and once you get a sense of it and you [00:36:00] understand it, just, just go for the ride.
Just enjoy it. Sit back, take it for what it is, and, and just really try to enjoy it.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: So,
Darren Greatrex: yeah,
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: curling. First thing I would’ve done would be get rid of that bloke that’s telling you you’re going too slow or too fast.
Steve Davis: Well, one thing I noticed is both Chris and Julian gave me directions on how I was driving and rules, and then they broke those rules themselves.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. That normally happens.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Yeah, but that’s a syndrome called that. I’m rather good at it. But you are not. Well, we actually
Steve Davis: had a, a rotation every day. There were two legs, the morning leg and up until lunch and the afternoon leg. And so we would rotate. I don’t know if every car’s like this, but I, I started in the backseat.
Think it was Julian was navigating, Chris was driving. I think that’s what it was. And then after lunch I became navigator. Julian drove Chris in the backseat. Is that how most teams do it? Yeah, most
Darren Greatrex: teams do that. So what um, people who haven’t been on it bash may not realize is that each day, uh, in the morning and afternoon [00:37:00] runs, we give them route notes.
Mm-hmm. And you need to follow those root notes. ’cause if you don’t, you, you are gonna get lost. Uh, we’re out on station tracks in the middle of nowhere generally. And, um, you know, when you, uh, see a. Rf, which stands for a right for an lf. And if you don’t know, you’re not following your, you know, LF and RFS and what have you, you can end up miles and miles away.
I mean, this year we had a team, uh, who was about 140 kilometers off track until they realized that they couldn’t see any. Dustin saw the Cober PD sign and thought, Hmm, maybe we have gone the wrong way.
Steve Davis: Yeah. Look tho actually, those notes baffling when you first look at them. But if you slow down and look at them line by line, and it will say, and we, I think every car has a special GPS counter, but you, you zero it at the beginning of the day and the macro is counting how far you’ve gone.
And then you tap it to refresh and you’ve got how many, how much distance since the last time.
Yeah.
So it might be 0.3 of a kilometer, then you’ll be doing this, then 17 you’ll be doing that. And most of the time. The root notes are accurate? Not [00:38:00] always.
Darren Greatrex: Uh, I can absolutely assure you that the root notes are accurate.
No, I can tell you we spent a lot of time, it’s, uh, as a navigator. As a navigator, maybe they’re not so accurate. The navigator, he’s being defensive because he made the
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: root notes.
Steve Davis: Yeah. There was somewhere, I think the way they described what you’re going past was left, you know, better left to your imagination.
No, no offense, Darren, but once you got into that, it was great. Except our little GPS unit over the bumpy roads would suddenly just bang or go to zero. Then what do you do? Then you have to, you can’t even navigate by the stars because the sun’s out.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Well then you can follow the car in front, which can be a total disaster because the car in front might not know where they are, but they’re looking in the rear visions mirror saying, well, we must be going the right way because everybody’s following us.
Exactly. There is a great
Steve Davis: sense of that. Alright. Now, so far it’s been quite a, a fun chat, but I want to get really. Embarrassingly, um, honest about my experience. ’cause even though Darren refers to me now as bear [00:39:00] grills, and I don’t want the dear listener to get the wrong impression, it may be, at first glance, I look like a rough, tough, outback type.
You’d agree? Uh, I’m not, in fact, I’d been camping once in my life, and that was 30 years ago with a mate in the Grampians. Couple of nights easy. I was actually going outta my head. I I didn’t think I was up for it. It was, it was me stepping off the edge of the cliff. Because as you get older and you get your routines, there are things you take for granted.
Your charging station, your, your bottle of water, all that, all that stuff. And, but also to get it really personal. Am I gonna have water all the time? Am I gonna find somewhere to do number twos on a daily basis? These, this is the stuff that is, sounds really petty and pathetic, but I’m being honest here.
This is the stuff, obviously we’d have enough food that was all catered for, but it was all the [00:40:00] unknown. And am I gonna cope? You know what’s going on? I, uh. Does the Bash self behind an odd one? ’cause I was sort of thrown into this. I’m Darren Sutton’s, a great bloke. I wanted to honor the spirit. I’d funded their call, did a nice donation to their car the year before.
I, I felt I was part of it and I wanted to push myself. I feel like I’m an odd bod. It’s just about everyone who goes on the bash actually a seasoned camper, an outdoors type. And I’m just this weirdo that everyone should say, harden the stuff up to.
Darren Greatrex: And I, I, I can absolutely assure you, Steve, that everyone goes through this anxiety that’s never been on the Bash before.
Oh, really? I’ve been there. Um, most people have been there. Um. They have no idea what the infor, um, as you said, you know, do I have to pack food? Do I have to take my own water? How, you know, where am I gonna sleep? And as you said, where am I gonna do number twos And Yeah. Um, and they have no idea. And, um, and shower.
And shower, which I soon got over, by the way. Yeah. Most people don’t worry about that these days. So, but you get to [00:41:00] line up for all of those
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: things.
Darren Greatrex: What I can assure anyone who’s listening to this is that we put an awful lot of work in the back end of this to make sure that we, uh, uh, the bashes have a great week away and that there are, um, facilities and there are, you know, some great campgrounds that we go to.
And, but the fun of the bash and, and it is, um, you know, getting away and going out into rural, you know, uh, communities and setting up a swag and sleeping under the stars. And once you’ve done it, you, you go, actually this is pretty cool. And, uh, I, I quite enjoyed and we turn these, you know, ordinary folk like you city slickers into these big tough blokes and spare grills that don’t feel too bad.
Steve,
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: 35 years I’ve been doing this, I still don’t think it’s cool to get into a swag under the stars.
Steve Davis: Well, actually I bought a new swag under Julian’s instructions, one of those ones that has a little roof over the top of it. Mm-hmm. I tried it and I was claustrophobic. I had to go. I lasted five minutes and test at home and I, I can’t do this.
I actually [00:42:00] physically. Was repulsed. I could not cope. And I said, boys, I think it’s time you find someone else. I know it’s only a week away, but there is no way on God’s earth I can cope. Well, luckily they’re both scout masters and I dunno if I can say this publicly, but they borrowed from the quartermaster a three man tent.
So they had their swags and I had a three man tent and it was device. Still had my stretcher in it, still had my sleeping bag on top of that. It was magnificent. I don’t think I could ever do it. I, the swag does not work for me with that roof. Maybe without the roof it would, but uh uh, that was us coming up with a solution and I really thank the boys ’cause I’m glad I went.
It’s life changing seriously profoundly. I can’t say it any more deeply than that. It is, it will, it’s a, a line in my life. That I will never be the same for the better. But the other thing, just at a low level cunning that you learn [00:43:00] Glen Ambo second to last day, um, in their little caravan park site, the plumbing in their toilet was overwhelmed by the people.
And I went in on the first night thinking, I will do those number twos now and could hear people, oh, can’t flush. It’s all coming, backing up and everything. Okay, hold on, Steve. Hold on. The next morning I thought, what the hell am I gonna do? Just hold on until we get to Tanunda. And then it occurred to me the pub where we’re having breakfast, I snuck in early, went into their bathroom before anyone else has clued up to that idea that.
Is sort of the bush survival techniques that I’m sure the great pioneers would’ve had.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Do you agree Curly? Uh, yes. Steve? I was going to say to relieve your anxiety about sleeping in a, in a swag or a tent. Yes. That after 35 years, you, you will learn the guy of how to find accommodation, how to find your own [00:44:00] toilet.
You, you will find all those things. It may take you 35 years, but you will
Darren Greatrex: And can I, I, I just wanna say this, Steve. Yeah. Is, um, the bash from 35 years ago has changed dramatically and what’s changed is, um, it was probably 95% blokes. Yes. And very few women. Today it’s about 45% women, uh, which has been, uh, extraordinary.
And what I find even more extraordinary is that the women adapt much, much better than the men. And they just seem to take it in their stride and isn’t that amazing thing?
Steve Davis: Well, I remember one leg where it had been raining overnight and everyone starting with the Adams family were getting bogged and we were queued up.
Uh, they self sorted to do number ones and someone said to me, yeah, yeah, it’s bulls this side, cows that side. The women chose one side of the road, the men had the other just making hay. It’s just
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: called bash
Steve Davis: etiquette.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: You’ll learn it. It was [00:45:00] amazing. Now you’re starting to understand why the brides wear the long dresses.
Steve Davis: I don’t want to know what to say. Uh, actually, on the practical side of things, Darren, you gave me some advice. One of the things I recommend, if you do start, you are enrolled to do a bash. Go to some of the pre Bash events. Get to meet people. ’cause I asked everyone, what are you packing? What do I pack? I dunno if you remember me asking you that.
Yeah. And you said exactly the same as everyone else. Pack what you think you’re gonna have and then have it correct. I disagreed with you. And now I agreed with you.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: So Steve, did you attend
Steve Davis: the rookie night? Yes. Oh, you did? Yeah, I did. Yes. So, but I didn’t listen to all of it. ’cause the rookie night, you’re a bit.
Blinded by everything. There’s a lot to take in. It was the night before the bash, the, the last week before the Bash. And I thought, yeah, I know you guys are saying that, you’re probably saying that as a joke, but it’s real. Huh?
Darren Greatrex: You, you, you’re in your costume virtually the whole week, and so is everyone.
Everyone’s, you know, pretty much smelly the same by the end of the week, so no one really [00:46:00] cares. And um, uh, as long as you’ve got some jocks and socks, I reckon, and a toothbrush, I don’t think you need much
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: more than that. And something to keep in mind is that, uh, you’ll know the route before you, well before you leave, if you study the route and the towns that you’ll be going through or close to.
I mean, most things you’ve forgotten or you left home deliberately, you will be able to buy along the way.
Steve Davis: Yeah. And thank goodness for IGAs.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Yes. You’re not gonna go without.
Steve Davis: Uh, now last couple of things. 400 ish people. Trekking through some really remote parts of, well, in this case, our state, but sometimes you’ve gone over the border, the logistics and the invert commas these days, duty of care, you have to keep them safe.
Must be tar. I don’t, I don’t even want to go into the, how much you must have to take into account, but we’ve got, at the base level, lets just talk about these three things. Mechanical to look after the [00:47:00] cars, health for immediate things, plus food and logistics for your accommodation. To give us a sense of what goes into this.
We’re now, um, what’ll we just on the cusp of September, 2025 in a year’s time, just under that, the next one will happen. What happens from now until then to make sure those things are taken into consideration?
Darren Greatrex: Well, I can tell you right now that, uh, the planning for 2026 started about four months ago. So it wasn’t a case of, um, you know, we, we are looking at it now and where are we going?
I mean, four or five months ago we, we knew where we were going and, uh, we’d already started making plans because as you mentioned, 400 people coming into these very small towns logistically is a massive thing to do. So, um, you know, we need to bring in infrastructure, we need to bring in marquees facilities.
We obviously got to look at the catering side of things. Um, one of the things a lot of people forget is these cars are more than 25 years old. Some are 40, 50, 60 years old, and they just don’t have the range of modern [00:48:00] cars now. So. We need to work in increments of about 500 kilometer days because we gotta make sure we can get fuel and we gotta fuel up at times, you know, 120 plus cars
Steve Davis: and one town, we drank their petrol station dry.
Yeah. And only half of us got petrol.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. And whilst that shouldn’t happen because they do, uh, we do advise ’em that we’re coming through, but sometimes they don’t listen. But, um, but you know, in that case that we, we, uh, take that into consideration and we, our mws, which are mobile workshops, um, they carry extra fuel.
Oh no. You tell me. Yeah, no, we, we, we, we don’t leave it. We’ve never lost anyone yet, and we don’t plan on losing anyone. But, um, so the logistics behind it, just very quickly is that, um, we have ovs, they’re, they’re officials and they work on our committee throughout the year. Generally we have 12 cars with two in each car, and we set them about, uh, every 10 cars throughout the pack.
And, um, they’re all trained to deal with various situations. We run off a separate radio system that, uh, none of the bashers can hear in the background. Um, [00:49:00] and we communicate, uh, all sorts of stuff going on. You can tell he is a rookie. Can’t go. Darren, I’m surprised we can hear everything. Uh, and with now, with now the modern world, and thanks to.
Mr. Elon Musk, um, uh, using starlink, uh, we’re able to sort of pinpoint where everyone is on the track, so we know. I hope
Steve Davis: you heard some of my golden one-liners on the two way.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah, of course. So we, we, we also listen to the UHF radio, so you can’t get away with anything without us knowing. Um, sorry, you’re going on.
Yeah, we have, um, then we have, uh, what we call, uh, MWS. So they’re mobile workshops, and they’re the critical guys because, uh, they’re the ones who keep the cars on the tracks. Um, so they, they do some of the most amazing work. Uh, they, they are all volunteers. They supply their own cars, their own tools. They take time off their jobs to, um, provide this service.
Steve Davis: Um, and they, can I give you an example? In William Creek where we were there for two days on the big, the second day we were there, we [00:50:00] identified there was a problem with one of our front suspension thingies. I’m not a mechanic. Uh, and so what Chris did, he talked to the mw, they said, yeah, he just left the spare.
Suspension thingy on the roof, and we came back from frolicking with the the make fun horse race, which wasn’t a horse race. And magically the old one was now on the roof. They had just replaced our suspension thingy. Yes.
Darren Greatrex: So these, these guys are just unbelievable. They, they love working on the old cars.
Um, be because they don’t have things because you can get to things up. They can do stuff. Exactly. And, um, uh, and the, like, they just, the vital clock of the, of, of, you know, making the bash work. Um, and then you’d throw in the medical. Yeah. I mean, 400 people things go wrong. Um, you know, things happen. And, um, so we take three medic teams with us on the Bash.
Um, so is one of them a gp? Uh, we got a couple of gps. We had an emergency doctor from the Royal flying doctors with us. Um, so they’re all, all very highly trained people because I need to
Steve Davis: confess, we came up to a gate and the car in [00:51:00] front of us was shutting it. And normally you let everyone through, but at some point you gotta cut it off.
And I was driving and I foolishly thought, come on, they could have let one more. And I tutored them and the person turned around, opened the gate and let us through, only to me to discover. Yeah, that was our special doctor. I just did that too. Yeah. Yeah. That would’ve been noted. Yes. Just point to your rookie badge,
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Steve.
Steve Davis: Yeah. Wow. So they do amazing stuff. And food, I’ve gotta say, we had all types of different food through the week. My favorite was when the food was put on by a station. They know how to cater and not just cater in volume, but maintain quality and substance. Yeah. At that. At that quantity. Yeah. Amazing stuff.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. So, um, you, you talk about William Creek, uh, you talk about, uh, the twins, uh, with, uh, Ryan and pd PD rank in there, um, a little station who’s then got a [00:52:00] cater for 400 people. And a lot of them, uh, are part of a group called ICPA, which is the Isolated Children’s Parents Association. Oh, right. Um, and they, they can drive for, you know, hundreds and hundreds of, you know, kilometers just to come and meet up and then come and provide that, um, service for us, which is, you know, really amazing.
So, but as you said, the food is just next level. We put so much time and effort into making it, you know.
Steve Davis: Amazing. I love to, at William Creek, the sta one of the stations catered, I believe the first night.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. The Williams family. Yeah.
Steve Davis: Three different types of, of roast, yeah. Beef, pork, lamb. And the ladle in the gravy.
I said, oh, I love a bit of gravy. The guy said, mate, I wish I had a bigger ladle. They understood that stuff. I would’ve say William Creek. Uh, I was driving, we were coming in talking about range. Our car putted out of petrol on the outskirts of town and it was getting towards dusk and silence, and we looked at each other and I looked around and I thought, this looks a bit odd.
And sure enough, [00:53:00] the runway for the royal flying doctor goes across the road and we had ran out of petrol. In the middle of that runway. Anyway, I want to bring us home now with the last couple of stories. I just want, if you could both share a couple of memories you’ve got of a real highlight and a low light.
Perhaps do the low light first where you’ve been challenged, scared, lost, whatever, and a real highlight to finish off our meandering through the human aspect of being on a variety Bash, who wants to go first?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Well, would you like continuing on from the food? Would you like me to relate a story that was indeed frightening?
Yes. In the very early days of the Bash, we were at over on the far west coast at Tula. And we were lined up as you do as you know now, Steve. Yes, you do. Line up occasionally on the bash.
Steve Davis: It felt like Soviet Union. Yeah,
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: right. Queuing up for a shoe. Yes. [00:54:00] Go on. Tar cooler. Um, it’s well remembered by the bashes that were on those very early bashes.
Um, we lined up and people who had been fed were walking back the other way and they said, don’t miss out on the soup. And we assumed the soup was excellent. Didn’t turn out. When we got to the head of the line, they said, would you like, uh, tuna monet, or spaghetti bologna? And. Porky, uh, man in front said, could I have some of each?
And they said, certainly. And they went whack, slop. And he said, which one’s which gee and t cooler is, uh, it’s almost a ghost town now. And that’s understandably it could be. Why?
Steve Davis: Goodness. Because you’ve got also got health hygiene as well. You, you don’t, you don’t want, um, dysentery running through the camp, do you?
Darren Greatrex: No, no, we do take that very [00:55:00] seriously. So, um, yep. Everyone sanitizers,
Steve Davis: because then that’s number threes and we don’t want them. Yeah, no,
Darren Greatrex: we, we, we, we make sure that never happens. What
Steve Davis: about your challenging memory? Darren? You must have been put to the test at some point.
Darren Greatrex: No, not really. Funnily, come on, put the
Steve Davis: chair hat aside.
We want the Darren Grr.
Darren Greatrex: Yeah. So when I, when I first started, I, I, I was like you and like everyone else. I had no idea I was going into the unknown. And, um. I was really fortunate when we, uh, first came in. Um, we, the, the chairman at the time was a guy called Brenton Ramsey, and you’ve probably heard me refer to Rambo in the past and, um, who’s really become a mentor to me now.
And, um, he was the first person I’d met in variety in, in the batch sense. And, um, and he, he just led by example and, um, it’s something that I’ve tried to, you know, follow in his footsteps, um, if I’m honest. And, um, uh, low lights, none really. Um, you know, I mean, you, you have your, your things in the cars at time where it gets a little bit testy after a few days and people are a bit tired and you [00:56:00] might have got lost and, you know, everyone’s arguing, but, you know, you tend to get over and have a few beers and just move on.
So, um. Um, and I guess the, the upside to me is just the comradery of the group. You know, like, um, I never, ever in my wildest dreams would’ve thought here I am, you know, 10 years on from when I first started in the Bash to a, being the chairman, um, uh, b having so many lifelong friends, um, people that I never knew, you know, 10 plus years ago, that, um, I call, you know, great mates and that’s both men and women.
Um, we’re a bunch of like-minded people. We come from all different backgrounds. Um, but you know, it is just this sense of, you know, we want to do good things in the community. And, um, you, you, you know, it’s truly inspiring seeing how they all do that. And, um, I, you know, for one, can’t see myself ever, ever leaving it
Steve Davis: before I come back to Curly.
Is there anything from your bash history that. Makes you laugh all the time.
Darren Greatrex: Um, yes. Come on. So I, I [00:57:00] started off when I first bought a car, we bought, uh, myself and a mate, Greg Lambert bought the, uh, blues Brothers car. And that was, that was fun. And, you know, we had a lot of music blaring and so on, and driving through the middle of the Outback with Blues Brothers songs going.
And a few years later, um, I saw this car, the Mash Car, uh, which was an old ambulance, um, that I bought off, uh, uh, a guy called Bruce Clark. And in my opinion, probably the nicest car on the Bash. Anyway, so we really adopted the mash theme and I, I got another mate in, uh, David Snowed and, um, we decided he was gonna be Clinger.
And, uh, and, and if people who know snowy, he, he doesn’t do things by halves. And you talk about the brides having dresses. Well, I reckon snowy must have had 50 dresses and he was putting them on weeks beforehand and sending me photos. And, um, and he, I’ve never seen anyone play a character so well in my life.
So.
Steve Davis: Okay, curly. How do you wanna finish on a high note? What are some of the things you remember? Either places or people or just moments?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Just, [00:58:00] just firstly, I’d just like to mention Darren mentioned earlier how proud he was that the Bash raised 2.7, which is a record well as chairman 25 years ago, Darren, uh, I also raised a record or the event, raised a record while I was in the chair of one and a quarter million dollars, which I was very proud of.
And that record was broken the next year and, and the year after and the year after that. So it’s not longevity there, well, not 12 months of give that
Steve Davis: to me. Isn’t that like the president of the Olympic Games saying these are the best games? The best? Yes.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Yes. Um. A bit like Darren. I think some of the best memories of the bashes, um, are the themes, the particular ones that, uh, and, uh, you mentioned Rambo.
Rambo was part of a, uh, a theme of they, uh, and you also mentioned earlier they were two blind twice, um, because there was four of them, not three blind [00:59:00] mice. Um, and it, it was very simple. They wore gray overalls and they had four blind dogs mounted on top of their car. They were just flat wooden cutouts.
But they were dalmatians. Just a, a quirk. Yeah, just they would take them off during the day and their white sticks would fit into a slot, and they’d push them along on wheels in front of them. Right. Anyway, one night the firemen on the event, they stole one of the dogs, and the following day they sent a ransom note.
Via one of the officials, uh, to, for the blind men to get their, their dog back. And anyway, they refused to pay. So they were sitting there at lunch one day, the blind men, and of course they couldn’t see what was in front of them. So the firemen brought out their dog and they saw it in half and they couldn’t get upset because they couldn’t see it.
Steve Davis: They were [01:00:00] in character.
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: They were,
Steve Davis: that’s all my, my bunky tail got stolen and I had to, I was blackmailed to buy my monkey tail back. Well, that
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: might have got cut in half as well if you hadn’t paid. But,
Steve Davis: uh, and actually, I promise this is the end of the road. I mentioned right at the beginning the fundraising for the Bash, which happens in that year and lead up to it.
But on the Bash things still happen. And Curly, you have quite a background in auctioneering and you get brought up to, or you’re either there or you made a flying visit. And one of the things that struck me, and if I’ve got the audio, I’ll play it now. It depends if it survived the trip, but as we were the monkeys, we got a banana, we masking, taped that to a white background in a nice frame, and we had this on auction ’cause one had just been sold around the world for about 5 million bucks.
You got $1,700 out of people on the night for that 500.
For the [01:01:00] $500, $5.
Me.
$1,000. $1,000. 1000 1,250. $1,250. $1,250. $1,250. That $1,250 made. 12 $50. Same. Three. 1500, 1500, 1500, 1500, 1500 yet that’s not $1,500. $1,500 a dollar and 15. 807 8 7 800 $50. Seven eight $50. Once even the money out, 7 58 Twice.[01:02:00]
Dollars,
what goes on? What is it that ma And that wasn’t it. I mean, people were bidding on nothing. You got $10,000 for it. Said, what makes the purse strings so loose when these people have already worked their butts off all year raising money that they shove more What’s going on? Is it the isolation?
Are they stir crazy? Have you got the gift of the gap?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: I think you could put all of those things together, but I, I think it’s, it’s, it’s a bit of everything that we’ve been talking about this morning that there on one particular night, the emotion comes out in these people. Uh, you might have also seen a bottle of, uh, a swing bottle of four liter bottle of Johnny Walker.
Yes. Which we strongly. I suspect may be cold tea by now because it’s been, been [01:03:00] sold over 30 odd years, the same bottle, and that sells for three or 4,000. It, it has sold for 7,000. Um, and people keep donating it back. So I guess one, if you wanna put it in one word, it’s generosity. Wow.
Steve Davis: Well, thank you both on behalf of everyone for your generosity in the way you’ve been involved.
But I know it’s part of it and it feeds you more than just that. There’s something beyond feeling that you’ve, uh, had a chance to do something good for the community. There is a spirit and a bond that’s there. And, uh. Darren, great tricks. Thank you. Thank you. And Sir Peter Curly Curtis. Thank you
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: Steve.
Thank you for having me.
Steve Davis: And now it’s time for the musical pilgrimage. In the musical pilgrimage. We continue, uh, our bash [01:04:00] influence because the song we’re gonna listen to is one that I wrote in the backseat of a car as we drove around the place. It’s called A lot of Nothing. And I got my virtual session band, uh, Steve Davis and the Virtualosos, uh, to make it real.
And I wanted to ask you boys this question while you’re here, and it could just be me being weird. I loved being out in that big, vast country, and you don’t get a chance to really understand that until you’re there. And the horizon is such a long way away and it keeps going. Then we got to Coer pd, heard stories, and I’ve worked with Opal miners who, you know, it’s a tough physical life and psychological life, and it was all coming together along with some of the roads in the lead up, uh, from William Creek down to Coer PD on station country where they were hardly marked at all.
It was like you were just driving through nothingness. All of that worked together to come out in the song we’re about to hear. But here’s one [01:05:00] question if you asked me, Steve, if you were ever chair, which will never happen, but if you were ever chair, what would you do to make a mark on the event? I would either with or without people’s permission, earmark one of our stops where in the middle of nowhere, where no one turns on music.
Either complete silence or just being able to talk so you can hear. Nothingness and the wind. Do you think that would work or not? ’cause most of these cars have plenty of music playing and it’s great spirit. But if it was me, I’d wanna make mandate that for at least one of our morning, afternoon stops.
What do you think Darren?
Darren Greatrex: Uh, love the idea, love the concept. Um, uh, probably a highlight for me was going up at Sunset Ridge, uh, beby Rangers and seeing that, uh, Misty Fog, uh, down below. And I mean, just to, you know, stand there and take that in. Um, and we, we, and we did do that. We had the opportunity of just standing there and taking it in [01:06:00] and.
Um, I looked at Tony, um, telegram who was in the car with me, and we just looked at each other and just went, my God, look, this is just, you know, something you’d never, ever see. Uh, and just to, yeah, to sense that, take it in. So, yeah, it was a bit of nothing and just, it was really nice.
Steve Davis: Before I get curly, before I get your idea, you just remind me Bendle Bee, that first leg of that, that second morning was.
Reputedly going to be the most challenging four wheel drive part where the road was all over that there were humps. That happened to be my first driving roster, and Julian recorded some of the sound. Let’s have a listen to this if I can find it.
Alright,
here we guy.
The Adelaide Show: Hey.[01:07:00]
Steve Davis: Oh
shit, the most,
what’s that?
What the hell is that noise? Lovely exhaust.
The sounds are not helping.
You reckon that’s the worst of it?[01:08:00]
This bit’s quite nice.
I have bleeded out a couple of the, uh, expletives that happened, but I was white knuckled, never been four wheel driving, and I had the lives of two blokes that I was responsible for, and that kicked like a mule. The car on that road, a VN Commodore.
Darren Greatrex: We, uh, I, I was told, uh, in no uncertain terms, Darren, you cannot take the cars up there.
So Rambo said, it’s not gonna happen, mate. And I said, uh, we’ll, we’ll make it happen. We’ll, we’ll get ’em up there. And Charlie, uh, who’s in Carmo, who’s owns the Bend Rangers said, don’t worry mate. We’ll sort it. They’ll be right. And, um, you know, good typical farming blokes. And, uh, anyway, we, we pulled it off and it was probably the highlight of the, of the event,
Steve Davis: exhilarating.
But kirti back to my idea of having a moment where there’s. Just silence or just voice. What do you think got legs? Or am I just still living in Mr. City rookie land?
Peter “Curly” Curtis OAM: No, no. I think you’re definitely chairman material coming up with an idea like that [01:09:00] had, and a bit along the lines of, Darren mentioned one of a moment I still remember, or a place is the hills outside of borough.
Um, there’s a road that comes up to a quite a high peak. And you look out over a vista and quite often when we’ve been there, uh, it’s misty and foggy and you’re driving through that fog. And the silence is, is a big part of what you’re looking at.
Steve Davis: Well, here’s a lot of nothing. Steve Davis and the virtualosos
The Adelaide Show: there nothing much past Cooper pd.
Just miles of Red Rocks all bush and regret. You need to know yourself. You can be needy while praying that the path your on ain’t where Out here, the roads are not clear like you are used to. [01:10:00] You got to find your way among the dust. Here is something that you choose to. Until even here is something that you must, there’s a lot of nothing as far as you can see.
A shimmer in the vista is a sweet afin. The blue spreads all forever till the clouds come rolling him. Then we navigate the find,
and so you are out here digging for redemption. It is one way of burying [01:11:00] your grief. The pain’s too deep For any intervention. You push hard than the be, bring some relief. You are just another struggling for survival in Mother Nature doesn’t give a damn her Doesn give you one shot at revival when you can say, I breathe, therefore I am.
There’s a lot of nothing as far as you can see, the shimmer in the distance. Here’s a sweet afinity. The blue spreads on forever till the clouds come rolling in. Then we navigate the till. We find[01:12:00]
when you come this far, when you’re on. Turn off that music, turn off that phone, lose that city habit. Prepare yourself to face the real you who’s been buried in the silence of this place.
There’s a lot of nothing as [01:13:00] far as you can see. Shimmer in the distance. Here’s a sweet infinity. The blue spreads on forever till the clouds come rolling in. Then we navigate the weather till we find
ourselves. There’s a lot, nothing as far as you can see. The shimmer in the, here’s a.
Forever the cloud come rolling. Then we
find
our,[01:14:00]
Steve Davis: that’s a lot of nothing. I hope you got a sense of what we all experienced on the Bash in that part of South Australia. Once again, thank you, Darren. Thank you Steve, and thank you Curly. Thank you, Steve. Until next time. It’s. Goodbye from me, Steve Davis and goodbye Don.
AJ Davis: The Adelaide Show Podcast is produced by my dad, Steve Davis.
If you want to start a podcast or get some help producing creative content. Talk to him. Visit steve davis.com au. Thanks, aj. I’m Caitlin Davis and I agree with everything my sister said, but there’s one more thing to say. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating or a review ’cause that will make my dad really happy.
Oh, and one more thing. If you really, really liked it, please help a friend put the Adelaide Show on their [01:15:00] phone. Thanks for listening.