“My last cold shower was at Darlington Point, every time we turned the tap on at Bourke, Cunnamulla, Quilpie, it came out hot. There’s no such thing as cold water out of a tap in that country.”
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That’s how Boorowa’s Bay Kelly described his recent trip with the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners, delivering much needed feed to Queensland farmers doing it tough due to drought.
Mr Kelly left Darlington Point along with 180 other trucks, 6500 bales of hay and a special donation of $10,000 worth of toys and cosmetics on January 24 headed to Quilpie in Queensland’s channel country.
With temperatures reaching 47 degrees and 67 degrees on the asphalt, Mr Kelly delivered 32 bales of hay, kindly donated donated by Scott Cleary from Leeton, to the Foxtrap Motel in Cooladdi.
He then continued on to Quilpie, where he reloaded and delivered hay to Yambutta Station, 50 miles to the west.
Mr Kelly said travelling with organiser Brendan Farrell and the strength of the Queensland farmers was an inspiration.
“They (the Queensland farmers) are a very resilient type of people,” he said.
“‘Thank you very much, it’s very much appreciated’ is what they kept telling us. It’s a great to help out other fellow farmers in need during the drought.
“They live in hope that some of the rain that has recently fallen will travel down through the Channel country,” he said.
Mr Kelly said the mateship formed between the drivers on the trek was on of the big takeaways from the journey.
“Some came from South Australia, a lot of them came from Victoria and were all owner/drivers,” he said.
“I’ve now made a lot of mates in the transport industry.”
Mr Kelly made 2000km round trip over five days in his 1964 model Diamond-T truck, the oldest truck on the trek.
When asked if he was keen to complete the run again in 2020 Mr Kelly said, “for sure, if we have a good season I’m hoping to take our own hay from Boorowa.”
He also thanked Big W, Caltex, National Transport Insurance, the Rotary clubs and communities of the towns they visited for their support during the trip.
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