Invercargill sisters Wendy Heaslip and Pam Turnbull are getting ready to hit the asphalt at Easter Weekend for the 2013 Pork Pie Charity Run, retracing a cinematic Kiwi journey that first inspired Mrs Heaslip's lifelong love of the Mini Cooper.

While the sisters will be following the tyre tracks of the 1981 film Goodbye Pork Pie - along with up to 53 other cars - the charity ride will also raise money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.

Mrs Heaslip said $1984 had already been raised by team Southern Outlaws and she hoped the fundraising would continue.

The sisters are paying for petrol, food, accommodation and airfares out of their own pockets, and Toll New Zealand is transporting Mrs Healsip's beloved 2004 Mini Cooper north to the Kaitaia start point. Invercargill man Nigel Cole from Creation Signs is painting the names of each business that donated more than $100 toward the charity on the car.

The Southern Outlaws will be driving "Mavis" eight to 10 hours a day from Kaitaia and aim to finish in Invercargill six days later.

Mrs Heaslip said she had bought Mavis after 20 years of driving an eight-seater van.

She had a Mini Cooper as a teen and 30 years ago the sisters recalled driving together from Timaru back to Invercargill.

They said they got their team name from their maiden surname, Whitelaw, which used to always get changed to "Outlaw" as teens.

"Our husbands and kids think this is great," Mrs Heaslip said.

For more information on their journey, and to donate, go to porkpie.co.nz and search for Southern Outlaws.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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