How private tragedy led these Dunny Angels to cleansing outback competition bathrooms

One of many final issues Chris “Bull” Sims remembers his daughter saying to him earlier than she died was, “When you’re not lifeless, do not cease residing.”

It was 2016 and Mr Sims and his spouse Judy had been protecting vigil by Cassandra’s hospital mattress.

Their 42-year-old daughter had seen an commercial for a nude bike trip in Melbourne and have become insistent that her father participate. 

Whereas Mr Sims admits he was one thing of an “outrageous” individual on the time, he initially baulked on the thought of baring all of it on a motorbike.

“She mentioned, ‘Dad, do it, do it’. I believed [then], ‘Oh no, I am not doing a nude bike trip’,” he recalled.

By the point the occasion rolled round a number of weeks later, Cassandra had misplaced her battle with most cancers.

However Mr Sims did the nude bike trip, and it set in movement the bereaved couple’s odyssey of “outrageous” issues, in dedication to their daughter and their promise of residing life to the fullest. 

Changing into Dunny Angels

Three years later in 2019, Mr and Mrs Sims, from Goolwa in regional South Australia, took one other leap of religion and signed on to volunteer on the Birdsville Massive Purple Bash music competition in outback Queensland.

In true “outrageous” vogue, they opted to affix the crew answerable for taking care of the a whole lot of compostable bathrooms all through the occasion.

The crew, which over time has come to be often called the Dunny Angels, is made up of paid employees and unpaid volunteers.

The angels preserve a whole lot of compostable bathrooms throughout the bash, and its sister occasion the Mundi Mundi Bash in far-west New South Wales, pristine in return for a free ticket.

Ms Sims mentioned whereas it’d sound like a bum deal, the work was not almost as dangerous as some individuals thought.

“Everybody thinks we’re loopy for doing it, however we comply with good hygiene, and we love that it is composting, it is moral and everybody’s very well supported,” she mentioned.

“Everybody comes right here for a superb time, and everybody has a superb time [including] the people who find themselves doing a number of the worst jobs.”

In August, seven years on from dropping their daughter, the couple returned to the third Mundi Mundi bash, 35 kilometres north of Damaged Hill, with Mr Sims’ service chihuahua Ralph in tow.

The little canine has grow to be one thing of an unofficial mascot for the bash, and the Sims have been promoted from volunteers to paid Dunny Angels.

An enormous Bash household

The variety of individuals who signal as much as preserve the bathrooms — a music competition necessity — clear continues to develop yearly.

Kathee Bowyer and Louise “Bathroom” Jeffery, additionally from South Australia, have volunteered in any respect three Mundi Mundi Bashes, primarily based on a advice from a buddy.

“He mentioned, ‘You clear the bathrooms, they’re so clear, they do not even odor’,” Ms Jeffery mentioned.

“[So] we thought, ‘How dangerous may it’s?’, and it is really the very best job on web site, I feel.”

Ms Bowyer mentioned she thought of the Dunny Angels, and different competition volunteers, nearly like a second household.

“To fulfill completely different individuals and listen to their tales, the place they’ve come from, what they’re as much as, tenting with the volunteers is nice,” she mentioned.

“I feel my favorite reminiscence is [ABBA tribute act] Björn Once more within the first yr … we had been dancing, utilizing our rest room brushes as microphones, with our brooms, doing the strikes to Dancing Queen.

‘A breath of contemporary air’

The camaraderie of the Dunny Angels household has helped Mr and Ms Sims by a turning level of their lives following their daughter’s demise.

“We would not work right here if we did not actually get pleasure from it … we’re self-funded retirees [and] we do not have to work, however we simply love coming,” Mr Sims mentioned.

“It is identical to a breath of contemporary air to me, and it is an actual a part of trendy Australiana, and that is why I really like being concerned.”

“The individuals we work with have grow to be buddies, but additionally the patrons,” Ms Sims added.

“You get to have chats to individuals and share the journey, it is nice.”