Mr Farrar and his fellow Bathurst Surf Life Saving Club team members Graham and Peter Ward took the top title after 4000 kilometres as the rally ended in the Riverina last week.

And what made it more memorable was that it was the last rally for event directors Kim and Arthur Davis of Bathurst, who have spent 17 years coming up with rambling routes for the charity fundraising event.

“It was extra special for us to win it this year being their last year,” Mr Farrar said.

The Bathurst Surf Life Saving Club team members raised $43,000 for Kidney Health Australia this year as they travelled from Griffith through Cobar, White Cliffs, Tibooburra, Broken Hill and Renmark to Wagga.

Kim Davis said she and her husband have spent a minimum of 15 weeks a year on the road plotting each course during their past 17 years as event directors.

And what have they looked for?

“Dirt tracks,” she said. “It's an off-road event. We don't rally on tar, we rally on private property, roads and tracks, national parks.”

The role came along at the right time for the Davises. 

“We had sold a business and were looking for something to do,” Mrs Davis said.

They are stepping down after their long innings, she said, because “we’re not getting any younger”.

“And you can't just find somebody on the street to take over, so when someone shows an interest, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth,” she said.

Of rallies that stand out from the 17 years, Mrs Davis said some of the long distance routes – such as rallies that started from Darwin and Perth – were memorable, but “the outback is always a favourite for everybody”.

The rally participants love the red dirt, she said, but it stays with them: “It gets into every nook and cranny and you never get rid of it.”

Mrs Davis estimates the rally would have raised $12 million over the 17 years she and her husband have been involved.

”The money all goes to kids with kidney disease,” she said.

“It’s the highest fundraising event that Kidney Health Australia organises each year.”

Though the Davises are stepping down from their role, the Bathurst Surf Life Saving Club team will be hitting the road again next year.

“We’ve put our entry form in already,” Mr Farrar said.

BATHURST Surf Life Saving Club wants to thank its sponsors:

Bathurst RSL, Gorgeousness, 2BS and B-Rock, Professionals, Dawson’s Removals, Johnson Towing and Mechanical, Bent Threads, Gorgeousness Home, Electrical Wholesale Services, Panorama Hotel, Ardina Electrical, Enacon, Warpole, Brownings Smash Repairs, The Brew, The Kings Hotel, Central West Electrical, The Good Guys, Altech Air, Dave Dunbar Homes, Pigments and Palettes, Steele and Co, WJ Coote and Sons, Harvey Norman, Bathurst Regional Council, Carah’s Cakes and Pies, CKM Law, Bathurst East Rotary, Oberon Pies and Pastries, Central West Air Conditioning, Banjo’s Cafe, MPI, Inland Insurance Brokers, Bathurst Community Op Shop, Rosin Cable Logging, Aviman Services, JG Lines and Designs and the Cowan family.

Bathurst Surf Life Saving Club would also like to thank all those who provided personal and online donations and everyone who supports the annual June dinner-dance.