Linda Ivey, from Termeil, and Marita Corra, off Wamboin, will embark on a 3800-kilometre drive through central Australia as part of the Shitbox Rally; a fundraiser for the Cancer Council. 

The team will leave Adelaide on May 27 and arrive in Cairns on June 2. They will take in some of Australia’s most outback towns and worst dirt roads.

“The most important thing in life is family and community and we are all affected in some way by a disease that has no boundaries,” Mrs Ivey said.

“Every little bit we can do, may just make a positive difference to another. 

“It’s a great way for us to catch up with each other, get in theme, have some fun, a few laughs, see a bit of our wide brown land, meet new and interesting like-minded people and support outback communities in the form of giving back by opening our wallets while we are in their towns. 

“All of this is minor compared to our real reason for participation in the rally, which is to raise funds for research to try to reduce the suffering caused by this terrible disease.”

Mrs Ivey encouraged others to participate and said age was “only a number and gender had nothing to do with it”. 

She said she was confident if their “trusty shitbox” died along the route, the triage team would get it back on the road.

Mrs Ivey said driving on dusty roads, breaking down, flat tyres, driving for long periods of time and getting sick of being in a vehicle meant nothing compared to the journey a person with cancer had to take. 

The duo’s car, ‘Babe’, a 1999 For Futura Station Wagon, has been dubbed the “mothership”.

“We’ve got the kid, the dog, the teapot and the granny rug,” she said. 

“Babe is frilly, feminine, and well groomed. She's a bit giggly and snorts aunty acid when she gets rolling along.

“She always wears lippy and has curlers in her hair.”

The car has been decked out with bedding, chairs, a table, sheets and blankets, pillows, doonas and covers, mattress protectors, airbeds, tent, teapot, cups and saucers, cutlery and cutting board, clothing, handbags, jewellery, stuffed toys, and lots of other assorted bits and pieces; all of which the team will donate to a Cairns mother in need.

Mrs Ivey said they would auction off their car in Cairns to raise more money for the Cancer Council. 

To donate to the team, click here.