Matt Kennelly is our NSW Sales Manager, who you may recognise him from our various product and instructional videos, and he recently headed off to the Big Red Bash in a Cub Escape with his 13-year-old son, Max. For the uninitiated, the Big Red Bash is an annual music festival held on the Big Red Dune, around 35km from Birdsville in Outback Queensland and it attracts thousands of campers, backpackers, caravan and 4WD travellers from all over the country – making it a bucket list entry for many Aussie campers.
After 4000km and around 50 hours of driving, Matt has returned to Cub HQ to tell us about his amazing trip.
Why did you decide to head to the Big Red Bash?
I first went out that way around 30 years ago with my dad and my brother when we crossed the Simpson desert and ended up at Birdsville. I have very fond memories of that trip so I always wanted to take Max out there to experience the places I did with my dad.
What were the highlights of the trip for the two of you?
Definitely the Big Red Bash itself but a big part of the trip is the journey. There’s a total of about 50 hours of driving, there and back, so you are in the car for a long time and chatting to Max away from his normal home environment was great. He was asking questions about the country we were travelling through and he was reading a book about Burke and Wills while we travelled through the area in which they perished, which gave him a greater understanding of that expedition.
So what was your favourite act at the Big Red Bash?
Hoodoo Gurus without a doubt. Max preferred Adam Brandt.
The Big Red Bash is becoming more popular every year. Why do you think that might be?
It’s so unique. It’s one of the world’s most remote music festivals in such an iconic part of Australia. You have some of Australia’s most loved artists performing at the base of the biggest sand dune in the Simpson Desert. It’s such a great vibe. Despite the fact that there were over 9,000 people there, I didn’t see anything close to a fight or any drunken behaviour. It was a great family environment suitable for all age groups.
The novelty of the ease of setup never wore off. Max can now set the Cub camper up all by himself.
You took a Cub Escape with you. How did you find it?
You might think I’m biased – but it was fantastic. We drove through some pretty thick bull dust and we hardly got any dust in the camper at all. It performed exactly as I expected to. I loved testing it in such extreme outback conditions. And the novelty of the ease of setup never wore off. Max can now set the Cub camper up all by himself.
We often hear about how many Cub Campers our customers see on their travels. Did you see come across any other Cub owners along the way?
Yes, there were Cub owners everywhere. I met up with some at the bash itself as well as on the way back. I actually had a funny experience at a pub in Innaminka where a woman came up to me and recognised me from the Cub videos. They were considering buying a Cub and took the opportunity to ask me some questions.
Would you recommend this type of father and son holiday to other dads?
Definitely. It’s a great opportunity to spend quality time together, away from the normal day-to-day distractions. There is very limited phone reception too and we went entire days without a single bar of signal. It was a great chance to build up a meaningful bond.
