Doubleday Australia Brings Books To The Bush

What does an Australian think when he sees a caravan of old and battered vehicles go crashing by? Sure, it must be time for “The Bash,” the eccentric charity tour put on all over Australia by the charity organization Variety in aid of sick, handicapped and socially disadvantaged children. In the midst of it all are teams from Doubleday Australia , the country’s biggest book and music club. This time, “The Bash” involves seven motorcades, which will spend nearly four weeks crossing the Australian hinterland. Parallel to the “Bash” donations marathon, the Doubleday teams will be delivering books worth several thousand Australian dollars to more than 80 schools in the Australian Outback.

“Last year, we received lots of happy letters from students and schools across Australia thanking us for the books they received and we’re thrilled to be able to provide books again this year.” said Colin Jones, Managing Director of Doubleday Australia , a Direct Group subsidiary. “I’d like to encourage our members to support Variety in anyway they can.” 

The great response from students gave Doubleday the idea of mounting a creative writing contest to accompany the Bash tour, to further encourage the young book lovers.

The “NSW Bash” teams, which will accompany the Doubleday team “Excalibur” with two vehicles, will cover by far the greatest distance in the Australian donations event. The team of Doubleday employees will cover more than 4,000 kilometers in an old fire engine and a 1970 Ford pick-up, adorned with the Doubleday logo and plenty of books in the back, as it zigzags across the Australian continent. Their tour starts on Jul 23 in Brookvale, a suburb of Sydney , and ends on Aug 2 in Bundaberg, a small city between Brisbane and Cairns . The organizers hope to raise some 30,000 dollars for charity on their trip.

“The Bash” first took place in 1985, and was the brainchild of the Australian entrepreneur, discoverer and philanthropist Dick Smith. At the time, it was a small event and went relatively unnoticed by the public: a group of enthusiastic and socially minded people drove from Sydney to Burketown in northern Queensland , raising money for charity in junk cars. After over 20 years, “The Bash” has become a national institution, and the event’s tradition demands that the teams’ vehicles be as ostentatious and rickety as possible – as long as they can cover the enormous vastnesses of the Australian hinterland and find their way to their destination.