Title – Monitor Lizard
Date – August 1998
Location - Kakadu National Park - Northern Territories - Australia
When you hear a rustle in the grass in the UK you can be excused for not jumping aside as a squirrel pops its head out. But remember, when you travel, the rest of the world has slightly different fauna and flora.
This monitor lizard is a ‘Jurassic Park’ version of the UK’s humble little lizards, but it is not a life threatening killer. Having said that a healthy respect for native fauna is certainly advisable, as if you corner or try and catch one of these monitors, their claws and jaws will certainly leave you with scars for life.
The Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop run by Beyond The Blue helps prepare candidates for their travel to unfamiliar parts of the world, we can’t teach you to fight a monitor lizard, but we can train you to avoid conflict in all its shapes and forms.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Aboriginal Paintings
Date – August 1998
Location - Kakadu National Park - Northern Territories - Australia
This long necked terrapin Aborigine Painting in the Northern Territories of Australia is just one example of many ancient rock paintings found throughout the region. No visit to Australia is complete without learning a little bit about the history of the country and what it was like just a few hundred years ago, before Captain Cook dropped anchor in Botany Bay.
Australia is proud of its heritage and the tours run by aborigines themselves really bring the subject of the ‘Dream Time’ to life.
At Beyond The Blue, we realises the importance of cultural awareness and we examine the subject in our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop, run to allow those attending to prepare for their travels.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Barramundi Fishing
Date – August 1998
Location - Northern Territories - Australia
Fishing is seen by many as boring and dull, sitting by the side of a river or lake for hours on end with nothing happening.
Others will say that there is nothing more relaxing then enjoying your environment and that it’s the only way to see all the wildlife that surrounds you.
Barramundi fishing in the Northern Territories is an experience that makes those people who think fishing is dull sit up and take note. Known for jumping as soon as you hook them and thrashing out of the water in the classic ‘blue marlin’ fashion, the barramundi reach serious sizes of over 60kg (130lb). That’s not the only challenge, when fishing from the bank you have to pay particular attention to logs that can turn into crocodiles; and having hooked a ‘Barra’ you have to get them in before the crocs catch up and enjoy a free dinner at your expense. You wouldn’t be the first person to suddenly loose the tension in your line, only to find nothing but the barramundi’s head on the line and a contented ‘big tooth’ chewing and diving in the background.
Beyond The Blue was set up with the following principle in mind, we wanted to help individuals predict the unexpected and act before it effected them in an adverse manner. To eliminate the phrase ‘it came out of the blue’ and see ‘Beyond The Blue’.
Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop helps people to prepare themselves for the unexpected.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Northern Territories Sunset
Date – August 1998
Location - Northern Territories - Australia
Sunset over the Mary river system in the Northern Territories of Australia is a glorious time, with the waders flying across the sunset you can be in no doubt of the grandeur of Australia and the vast nature of this beautiful country. With no substantial urban areas within hundreds of miles, this part of the Australian outback is not the barren red soil we are familiar with, but it is just as dangerous for the inexperienced traveller. Getting lost is as easy as stepping off the ‘yellow brick road’ and the crocodiles just under the surface of every body of water, make it a place to visit only with someone who knows it well.
Australia is indeed a vast country and planning is vitally important when considering a trip. Getting from one town to the next can take a lot longer then you had first imagined when looking at the map. Taking advice from locals as well as fellow travellers is a resource that should be used at every opportunity. Beyond The Blue run Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop that give you a head-start by providing Destination Advice to those attending.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Blue Mountains
Date – August 1998
Location - New South Wales - Australia
The Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia are a great day trip or weekend away from the heart of Sydney. With a spectacular train ride to the edge of the plateau before it drops off into the valley, this is a perfect way of escaping the city and within a short period of time being in an area of seemingly complete wilderness. With monuments and rock pillars as tall as any in Arizona’s National Parks, it is truly a fascinating landscape.
Beyond The Blue run Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop for those embarking on a trip anywhere in the world. These courses provide personal safety advice and techniques to allow individuals to travel with confidence and the knowledge to defend themselves should the need ever arise.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Piggy Back
Date – September 1997
Location - Bora Bora - French Polynesia
Bora Bora, described as paradise on earth, this has long been a destination for the rich and famous to really get away from it all and the number of expensive and exclusive five star resorts is only matched by the complete lack of facilities for anyone unable to afford to stay in one of them.
But if you can afford it, a luxury room on stilts over the blue lagoon is your reward and the service and facilities on offer will stun even the most travelled individuals. But there is room for the intrepid traveller as well; you just have to work a little harder for it. Like much of the Pacific the ‘real’ people of Bora Bora are extremely friendly as, by ‘real’ I refer to those outside of the hotel setting where they are paid to be polite and helpful (although it effectively comes naturally to them). Make a little effort and you can normally find a place to pitch a tent or a low cost bungalow, it will probably not be on the best beach on the island, but this is Bora Bora, even the poor beaches are something quite special.
French Polynesia away from the ugly urban centre of Papette is a strange mix of the pacific and French traditions. Although with the stable diet of baguettes may be baked on the island, much of the rest of the produce is imported directly from France and it certainly is not a cheap place to visit, whatever style of accommodation you opt for. But Bora Bora is an experience that it is difficult to put a price on.
Beyond The Blue runs workshops to help people wishing to achieve their dream of travelling across the world and to exotic locations from Boston to Bora Bora, our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop provides individuals with the basic knowledge they require to plan and execute a safe and enjoyable trip and return home with stories and memories they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Island Paradise
Date – September 1997
Location - Bora Bora - French Polynesia
Bora Bora is one of the jewels of the pacific ocean and the exclusive nature of the island and its remote location (making it difficult to travel to on a budget), certainly help this image.
French Polynesia remains as you might imagine as a French colony and this brings a unique feel to the country itself. But it’s not quite what it was when it was discovered by the Spanish in the 17th century or when rediscovered by the British navy under Captain Samuel Wallis in 1767 or when it was reclaimed by the French explorer Bougainville in 1768 or even when Captain Cook claimed it and renamed it the Society Islands in 1769. Then the reports are of a society of liberal and amorous people whose female population would readily exchange sexual favours for trinkets from the new world, Polynesia became famous as the most welcoming islands of the pacific and many a wayward sailor abandoned ship here to live in the ‘paradise’ of the pacific. Even Captain Bligh fell foul of the charms of the island when his harsh regime on board the HMS Bounty contrasted so much with the welcome received by his sailors on Otaheite (as the islands were then known) that it led to the famous Mutiny in1788.
Much has changed since then, missionaries arrived to convert the locals and the mother hubbard dress (still popular today) took over from the bare breasted grass skirted native way of dressing. Sailors were discouraged from stopping here and the diseases they brought with them devastated the population. Now one of the most European island nations in the pacific the locals benefit from Frances financial support in some areas and suffer from it in others.
France used French Polynesia as a testing ground for their nuclear weapons programme and despite outrage from all over the world, they continued to test nuclear weapons until 1996 when they eventually, under mounting pressure, agreed to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty; having as they saw it, proved their independence by effectively destroying the stunning Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls lying some 1500km to the south of Tahiti.
Beyond The Blue run workshops to help people wishing to achieve their dream of travelling across the world and to exotic locations like Bora Bora. Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop provides individuals with the basic knowledge they require to plan and execute a safe and enjoyable trip and return home with stories and memories they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com Image – ©Peter Mayhew
