September 4, 2026

The People Who Made Mundi Mundi Unforgettable

I went to the Mundi Mundi Bash for the music, the outback and the adventure. What stayed with me most were the people.

There is something about gathering thousands of people on a patch of red dirt outside Broken Hill that makes conversation easy. Maybe it is the long road everyone travelled to get there. Maybe it is the weather, the music or the shared understanding that none of us came all that way to stand quietly in a corner.

Whatever the reason, the Bash had a way of turning strangers into mates.

Conversations that mattered

Everywhere I went, people were ready with a smile, a story or a laugh. Some conversations lasted only a few minutes. Others carried on through the night. Each one reminded me why Shaky Wheels exists.

Parkinson’s can be difficult to explain from a distance. But when people meet the person behind the diagnosis, the conversation changes. It becomes less about a medical label and more about real life: the challenges, the adjustments, the humour and the determination to keep doing the things that matter.

The people behind the Bash

The big stages may get the attention, but an event like Mundi Mundi is built by people. Volunteers, food vendors, campsite neighbours and countless others kept everyone warm, fed, pointed in the right direction and laughing when the mud made things interesting. Lee—our favourite coffee lady at the festival—was one of those people. Her cheerful welcome became a bright part of the day, and the coffee certainly helped keep the adventure moving.

Then came the Mad Max fun day. The costumes were wild, inventive and completely committed. One of the best was this brilliant Mad Max creation—proof that at the Bash, joining in properly means leaving ordinary at the gate.

More than a festival

At night, with the lights up and the music carrying across the plains, the friendships felt even bigger. We shared drinks, stories and plenty of laughs with people who had been strangers only hours earlier.

Living with Parkinson’s can sometimes make the world feel smaller. This trip did the opposite. Every welcome, every question and every new connection made it feel wider again.

To everyone who stopped for a chat, shared a laugh, offered a hand or listened to the Shaky Wheels story: thank you. You were not just part of the Bash. You became part of this journey and the reason I came home with more than photographs.

The road took me to Mundi Mundi. The people made it unforgettable.