LOCAL drivers have taken part in the annual Mystery Box Rally, including Airlie Beach Hotel publican Michael ‘Mick’ McFie.
On Saturday, August 17, 340 participants, in teams of two, started their car engines to tackle a mystery five-day driving route, with each night’s stopover only unveiled to them at the start of each day!
With the rally starting in Airlie Beach (in the Coconut Grove carpark), participants have now driven over thousands of kilometres, before finishing back in Airlie Beach, on Wednesday, August 21.
Airlie Beach Hotel publican Michael ‘Mick’ McFie and best mate Andrew ‘Belly’ Bell took part in the annual rally in their 1997 Ford Fairlane after losing their head chef Mark Alexander to pancreatic cancer, in 2020, at the age of 47.
With almost $60,000 raised, they are currently leading the way as top fundraisers and are on the way to take the ‘highest fundraisers’ gong in Mystery Box history, thanks to the support of the local Airlie Beach community.
The reward of making camp each night is an evening spent under the stars. While breakdowns are guaranteed, this challenges teams to work together to make the finish line after their adventure through the outback.
The rally after-party was held at the hotel with the 338 other participants, on Wednesday, August 21, after five days on the road.
What’s not a mystery are the incredible fundraising efforts.
This year’s goal is $1million with the tally already sitting at over $1.2 million, which has beaten the record set in 2022!
The rally is part of Box Rallies, which includes Shitbox Rally and Lunchbox Rally; devised in 2009 by James Freeman after both his parents died of cancer within 12 months of each other.
Box Rallies is now the leading individual fundraiser for Cancer Council nationally generating over $48.7 million to Cancer research plus media awareness for Cancer Council.
This helps the lives of millions of Australians who are facing their unknown journey. See more here: www.boxrallies.com
Founder James Freeman says: “Mystery Box Rally is not a race, but a reward for fundraising efforts.
“All our rallies are so much fun, but Mystery Box keeps delivering year after year, with more and more people returning to participate.
“The position of Airlie Beach gives us a great area to travel for the rally with plenty of amazing bush tracks to explore and country/outback hospitality.
“We know that a lot of participants will enjoy everything Airlie Beach has to offer, plus the days pre and post rally.”
For more information visit: mysteryboxrally.com.au. Cars must be older than 25 years, roadworthy with no 4WD or AWD, and teams need to raise a minimum of $4,000 to participate.
All images from past Rallies are here – flickr.com/photos/mysteryboxrally/albums
