Miss Annabelle’s Kombi Tour crew visited Echuca on their trip from Mount Barker to Sydney, fundraising for the McGrath Foundation. Photos: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Pretty in pink, Miss Annabelle the 1974 Kombi van dropped into Echuca on Thursday, November 21.
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Shiralee Judge and her crew arrived at Echuca’s Apex Park around 4pm, with the trusty Miss Annabelle on day six of her journey from Mount Barker to Sydney to raise funds and awareness for the McGrath Foundation.
“We’re doing well,” she said.
“Everyone is having a wonderful time, we’re making a few memories at the same time as trying to support a worthwhile cause and raise some awareness.
“Not only about breast cancer but about health in general and to take time out of your day just to stop and think about what your body is telling you.”
Driving force behind the tour, Shiralee Judge with Miss Annabelle at Echuca Apex Park.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The Rotary Club of Echuca-Moama was on hand to provide snags, and helped co-ordinate the event, part of a wider support network of Rotary clubs on the tour.
Ms Judge credited the work of sponsors, friends and family to get Miss Annabelle on the road, including restoration master Jason Rose.
“We’ve formed the committee back in about May,” she said.
“Jason has done all of the restoration work over a six-month period ... we’ve done a bit of admin in the background and got the journey mapped out.”
Games of pink-stumps cricket were played, and a yoga class was run by local yoga teacher and physiotherapist Hendrika Kirchhofer.
Echuca-based physio and yoga teacher Hendrika Kirchhofer leads a yoga class for guests at the Echuca Apex Hall. Photo: Emily Donohoe.
Photo by
Emily Donohoe
Part of Miss Annabelle’s journey is also supporting Heart of the Nation, with an AED on board and plans for a bigger campaign as the first travelling AED.
For Ms Judge, the conversations that have come out of the trip are invaluable, and a spruced up Kombi is a great way to break the ice for more important discussions.
Having had symptoms that were not necessarily conventional, it has been a priority for Ms Judge to share her story.
“Numbness in my left forearm, then it went to pins and needles and a strong electric impulse,” she said.
“I went off to my GP, and we found cancer in the bones and the spine, so we thought it was bone cancer initially.
“We did 17 days (of testing) and finally found that the primary source was breast cancer, but undetectable because it sits in a duct on the chest wall.
“Unfortunately, it metastasised to other organs and the complete bone system.”
Miss Annabelle is a decked-out 1974 Volkswagen Kombi, beautifully restored by Jason Rose.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The purpose of Miss Annabelle is to encourage discussion about breast cancer in women and in men, with family and friends joining for the ride of a lifetime.
“We’re trying to turn a negative into a positive,” Ms Judge said.
“The main aim is to spread that message and allow family and friends to come along and be part of that legacy, and hopefully see parts of Australia they haven’t seen before.”
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