"Oh, no, that's jinxed me," he said. "Now it's bound to happen."

With his ex-Queensland ambulance LandCruiser troop carrier packed to its cabin headliner with medical supplies and equipment, Mr Gould and his daughter, Sarah, set off from Canberra this week to tail the field of fund-raising four-wheel drivers en route to the Yarra Valley, in Victoria.

The route will take the 50 vehicles through Victoria's high country, finishing on November 23. Meals, accommodation and a track itinerary are provided, together with Mr Gould's medical support, should it be needed.

Each team car has to commit to raising a minimum of $5000, with presentations along the way to sick children and their families.

When he's not "Tail-end Charlie" in a charity vehicle convoy, Mr Gould is involved with aeromedical logistics for Retrieval Service Queensland, which charters helicopters and light aircraft to pick up and drop off patients across his home state.

The event organisers always have their own medical support team because they aim to be self-sufficient, and don't want to call on the already stretched resources out in the bush.

For all the thousands of rugged kilometres travelled as the volunteer medical support for the charity fundraisers, this was Mr Gould's first "bash" visit to Canberra, the launch point for the latest event.

It is also his first with his 24-year-old daughter, also a nurse, but who has never been off-road driving before.

"I'll be teaching her along the way," he said.

Charity "bash" events of various kinds are regularly held and the Variety charity has been doing it the longest, with events for two-wheel drive and 4WD vehicles. By the time this particular event is over, over $1 million in total will have been donated.

"Most of the people in this event have been planning it for 18 months," Mr Gould said.

"For them, it's a celebration of their fund-raising efforts.

"Plus they get to meet new people, see some amazing parts of the country and for some of them, learn more about their 4WDs in a safe, supported way."

Aside from one vehicle rollover a few years ago - "nothing serious, no-one was hurt," he says - the events have been relatively incident-free.

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But he carries a wide range of medical equipment just in case, from a defibrillator to snake-bite treatment kits. The two nurses are accompanied by a doctor, all the "bashers" are connected via UHF radio and the medical vehicle also has a satellite phone, "just in case".

Sarah views her first "bash" as an adventure and had her first challenge when she had to pack everything for 15 days into a small, dust-proof box clamped to the Toyota's rooftop.

"No make-up, no nice stuff, just some basic clothes; that wasn't fun at all," she said.