Well its back to the real world now.

So sorry that it has taken so long to put up this blog, but there has been a bit of recovery time required to get back to Brisbane, unpack the car, wash off the 10 days worth of dirt and dust, get over the dreaded rally lurgy that we always seem to get, get back to work and generally resume normal life.

And believe me, this last task is the hardest - even now I'm thinking to myself "this time last week we were just getting through some really wet, boggy roads on our way to our second flat tyre which was thankfully plugged by a helpful "Arab" at Russell Crowe's pub". Unfortunately the running repairs meant that I missed out on lunch - but it was far better to have the car in full working order than to fill my belly with stew.

The last night at Bargara was a great night - The Ruby Legends won three awards this year. We received some great recognition in the Supreme Promoter Award, as well as winning 7th Highest Fundraiser and the Ladies Division for the second year running. To me, the most special one is the Supreme Promoter Award as it recognises the efforts that we have put into promoting the rally and the Endeavour Foundation throughout the last year. This is even more special as there are so many other teams and people out there working hard for this very same cause every day.

I have attached some photos from the awards night at Bargara. The gentleman with us is the Bundaberg Branch Manager for Westpac, and he and his lovely wife were our guests at the dinner.

We are now looking toward the finish line

So here we are facing the finish line in one more day. We can't believe that we are almost there. The past nine days have flown by.

The last time that we updated you was when we were stopped at Hat Head for the Mad Hatters Tea Party. Everyone looked great with their dressed up hats and we decided to go a little further and come as the Queen of Hearts.

Another very interesting and challenging day in the mountains with lunch at the "Pub with no Beer" we arrived in Wingham a small country town at the foot of the divide. A great meal and lots of "networking".

We were fortunate enough to have lunch at the Endeavour Enterprises facility at Toowoomba on Monday. It was a great honour to meet more clients and to really see where our fundraising efforts are being spent and who is gaining the benefit. We also got to meet two members of the local Westpac team - Kylee and Meryl from Toowoomba who came to catch up with us briefly in between interviews with two newspapers and the television.

It was another early start the next day up through the mountains again however, this time we were not coming back to the beach. We saw some beautiful sights along with the second tallest waterfall in the southern Hemisphere a treat for all before we made our way in to Wingham for the night. Another dress up party saw costumes from around the world, and once again The Ruby Ledgends did not disappoint. In our Geisha attire we rocked the dance floor before having to pack up for once again another early morning.

We were again off out in the bush for a fairly cruisy day out to Tenterfield (although long and tiring), another dress up night to celebrate Christmas in July and the cold temperatures (not as cold as expected due to cloud cover, however we were still shaking).

Night 7 had us all in the same accommodation (tent and swags) as Gallangowan is a small forestry town west of Gympie with a population of about 12. Again not as cold as expected however we were all prepared and were suprised that we didn't freeze. It rained a little however we managed to stay dry.

Yesterday was a lovely surprise with the temperature allowing us to venture out with just one coat for the night up at Rainbow Beach. The track out there was a little slippery at times but we made it eventually, with only one hiccup at the last wacko. The course was changed last minute and instead of following where we belived the car in front had gone, we made the decision to follow what we thought were the directions and took a "long cut". Lucky for GPS we plugged in Rainbow Beach and worked backwards to our checkpoint and checked in just in time.

Today was a bumpy ride in to Childers for lunch and even bumpier after with yet another flat tyre. All girls have now had one flat tyre on this trip so there is no pointing fingers. Tonight we have pulled in to Woodgate for our last dress up night (Caribbean Theme) with us once again taking a little twist. You will have to wait and see for the photos.

Below are just a few over the past couple of days.

Speak to you soon

Ruby Legends

Another day over - we are officially half way through...

It must be true what they say about time flying when you're having fun - cause its hard to believe its halfway through the rally already.

Tonight we are in Wingham, NSW. They had a bit of a problem last week when the Wingham Hotel burnt down - the problem for the rally drivers is that a lot of them were staying there and as its a small town, its not so easy to find alternative accommodation when over 200 strange people hit town.

As far as our results are concerned, after Day 4 our standing was officially 46 (out of 63) - but we're not losing hope cause there's still 5 days to go. Plus we have lost points because of flat tyres and getting caught up behind other drivers in boggy and dusty conditions. we know we're not going to win, but we still would like to do the very best we can.

We had another fancy dress last night - the Mad Hatters party - and we will post some images as soon as we get them off the cameras. And tonight we're heading to an international Birthday party as there are quite a few people that have birthdays during the rally. Any excuse for a drink I think it is!

We have been steadily heading south over the past few days, but from tomorrow we start to go back North. We're in for a few chilly nights though - Tenterfield in July - say no more. I hope to be able to add more and some photos tomorrow as well, but it will all depend on whether my fingers will work.

But the car's going really well and the team are too - and we're all safe and having a ball. Speak to you soon.

Day 3 Images - Red Rock to Valla Beach

Valla Beach was a lovely place - but a little chilly! And the locals were very friendly too. We had our first dress up night - the pyjama party. For some people this meant that they stayed in their jammies for over 24 hours cause it was too cold to get changed out of them!

Day 2 Images - Brooms Head to Red Rock

Another flat tyre today... and some extremely boggy conditions that slowed down a lot of others, but not us of course!

Day 1 Images - Burleigh Heads to Brooms Head

Attached are some photos from day one...including our first flat tyre

Thursday afternoon we came down out of the hills and arrived at Valla right on the water. Some headed to the water for some fishing but no luck. Dinner was held at the Valla Woolshed followed by a solo singer and some brave dancers. The theme for the night was "Pajama Party" and it was amazing to see the myriad of different "flannies" and slippers. No auctions tonight but a great night was had by all. Lizzie and Rachel discovered a possum on the verandah of the unit at the end of a night and after feeding it some muesli bars it was kinda happy - at least until it took a small bit out of Lizzie's thumb.

Today we woke to a beautiful cold clear day with sunny skies. After another great hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs (hopefully our arteries will forgive us at the end of the rally) we set off on another day of great scenery. We had no car troubles today at all - although there were a few issues with some - but not nearly as many as on the previous days. Today was a relatively smooth travelling day with no creek crossings and no bogs - yesterday we had a couple of tricky creek crossings that had left a few people high and dry, although the trusty Prado went through without a problem at all.

We also have full internet service today too, so we are going to upload our photos - and we'll write again tomorrow from Wingham.