Day 1 of the Great Escape was a fantastic success and saw a continuation of the wacky antics that began at our Welcome Day in Penrith.

The Great Escape officially kicked off to great fanfare in the forecourt of Penrith City Council with dignitaries and curious spectators on hand to witness the event. Festivities included a raffle draw of Ricky Ponting signed cricket bat donated by Pura Milk and Jose Fernandez and Jason Bright signed Fujitsu racing shirt donated by the Good Guys Penrith. There were speeches, Mr Hooker Bear decorating the cars in balloons, hot breakfast by Penrith Rotary and the onsite presence of local radio station Kick FM! After brekkie and a morning fix of coffee the cars were officially flagged off by Mayor Davies with cars lined up in acknowledgement of their fundraising efforts.

After saying farewell to Penrith and a short drive west, lunch was served in the city of Bathurst, where Prime TV was onsite to film the Great Escape travelling through their region. Special thanks to Terry Stewart, Rob Muir, along with Tim and Lino of Car 18 from Orange, who took time to speak to the camera crew.

The afternoon saw the tour's first "wacko" drive. Wacko's are challenging off road sections of the rally that were today typically characterised by dusty or muddy roads with steep inclines littered with obstacles.

Car 554 "LJ Hooker Menai" with crew Greg Stott, Tony Pullen and Trent Warwick discovered firsthand the difficulty of wacko's when on a steep hill their car experienced clutch trouble and the vehicle was completely wedged between a wall and a giant pot hole. Call it stuck between and rock and a hard place! Good news though; the car was towed to Bathurst where it is currently being repaired and should be back on the road in time for tomorrow's afternoon Wacko course.

Day 1 and 2 have been filled with many memorable experiences and everybody here is having a wonderful time. We hope you are enjoying our updates!

Mayor Davies flags off the cars	The rally is officially flagged off with highest fundraiser Car 65 Jewel of the North in the lead.