Whanganui pair give talk on their Australian adventures

The Robinsons' rig arrives in Queensland's Diamantina National Park. Photo/ supplied

A pair of intrepid Whanganui travellers are offering an immersion in all things outback for on April 17 fundraising evening.

The pair are Marg and Robby Robinson, who have driven 130,000km in the Australian outback, during 12 winters. The funds will be for outdoor education organisation Outward Bound and its Project Refresh.

Tickets will cost $15 and the experience begins at 7pm with a glass of wine or beer and some mingling in the foyer of the Whanganui War Memorial Centre. After that Outward Bound maintenance manager Vic Koller gives a brief illustrated talk about Project Refresh.

Then it's time to take a plunge into the outback, as Mrs Robinson gives a 45-minute talk about their experiences, illustrated by maps and her own photographs. She finishes with 13 minutes of pictures and music - pictures of animals, birds, people and landscape.

That's followed by time for questions, and a supper.

The "Wanganui Wanderers" travel Outback Australia in New Zealand's winter months. They have a rugged 4 tonne caravan, pulled by a 100 series Land Cruiser. And the outback has really grabbed them.

Mrs Robinson remembers emerging from scrubby country into Diamantina National Park.

"The colours, and the vastness of that place. We just had to stop and soak it all in."

They prefer to set up camp in remote areas, far from the "grey nomads" that circulate northern Australia in winter. There will be birds, snakes, crocodiles and Aboriginal communities among their pictures and stories.

Funds raised from their evening will go to Outward Bound, to which Mrs Robinson has a decades-long attachment. She was in the first intake of girls it ever had - 11 of them among 60 boys.

The girls didn't get as much "growling" as the boys, but they did all the same things. Her 21 days made a lasting impression.

"It made me realise that I could do anything if I put my mind to it," Mrs Robinson said.

Since then she's served on the Outward Bound trust, organised annual working bees and helped others get onto courses. As an architectural designer she's also contracted to design new buildings.

Her next weekend working bee, on May 5, will build a sizeable deck at Outward Bound's satellite centre, Te Kainga, which is reachable only by boat.

As well as sharing her love for the Australian Outback, she hopes her presentation will inspire others.

"One of our main reasons for doing this is to encourage and inspire people to get out and do things before it is too late."

For information or to buy a ticket, ring 027 279 8843 or email mrobby@xtra.co.nz.