When we picture the US Ambassador being conveyed beyond the security gates of the Yarralumla residence, it's assumed it would be aboard a large, black and possibly bulletproof limousine.
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Not a crappy old Ford Falcon station wagon with mismatched paintwork and dodgy aftermarket roof racks.
Nonetheless, that will be US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy's mode of travel in April when she joins around 500 other participants in the annual Shitbox Rally, which this time around will travel the infamous and bulldust-choked Oodnadatta track.
"Like every family, my family and embassy families have lost too many people we love to cancer," Ambassador Kennedy said.
"In September 2022, on the 60th anniversary of president Kennedy's Moonshot speech, President Biden relaunched the Cancer Moonshot: an ambitious, whole-of-government effort to end cancer as we know it."
Since her posting to Canberra by current President Joe Biden a few years ago, Ambassador Kennedy has been a regular visitor to Summernats in Canberra and was spotted again this year on tour of the main judging pavilion.
Her late father and former US president, John F. Kennedy, was a noted car enthusiast and owned a Ford Thunderbird.
He, too, had many grand adventures during a storied pre-political career, not the least of which was when his US Navy patrol boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, and the crew struggled to survive and escape capture in the remote Solomons Islands (and eventually rescued by an Australian, but that's another story).
Ms Kennedy has visited remote parts of Australia several times before so will know what to expect. In October 2022, shortly after her posting here, she was the first US ambassador to visit East Arnhem Land, and the Garma Festival of traditional cultures.
The Shitbox Rally is a curious and uniquely Australian charity fundraiser in which participants are not permitted to pay more than $1500 for their roadworthy entry vehicle.
No 4WD or all-wheel drive cars are allowed, and teams need to raise a minimum of $5000 to participate. Dress-up themes and novelty features are strongly encouraged and participants make camp along the route each night and sleep under the stars, usually in swags, in rural and remote locations. The event has raised over $42 million since its inception.
The cars break down, of course, quite often. The challenge is to keep them going, bush mechanics-style, and make the finish, raising as much money as possible for the Cancer Council.
While breakdowns are guaranteed, this challenges teams to work together to make the finish line after their adventure through the outback.
The rally will stop overnight at such remote locations as Southern Cross and Warburton, in Western Australia.
