Title – Pacific Dance
Date – January 2003
Location - Cook Islands
Dancing is one of the activities that is practised the world over from Carlisle to the Cook Islands and despite the obvious differences in dancing styles and dress; the effect is the same.
The relatively recent phenomenon of popular music does however mean that it most parts of the world there is now an alternative to the traditional. A club or bar where western music (or local copies of western tunes) can be danced to, until the early hours is often available.
The bar and club environment is one that many individuals travelling enjoy on a regular basis and just as this environment can have hazards in the UK; the situation can be just as bad in other countries. In unfamiliar environments these hazards can be treacherous and little problems seem to be magnified. Beyond The Blue can provide individuals with the skills to avoid these types of problems and our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops are designed to train you in some basic low-impact personal safety techniques, these help you to remove yourself from situations in which you feel uncomfortable or threatened.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Harvesting Sea Cucumbers
Date – January 2003
Location - Cook Islands
Collecting Sea Cucumbers at sunset is a nightly activity here on Atutaki, the harvest either consumed locally or shipped on to the far east where it is considered a delicacy. The locals are all too aware of the limited resource available and are careful not to over harvest any one area, ensuring there will be an endless ‘average harvest’ and not just a one year bonanza.
When you travel for any period of time there is usually a budget to stick to and this has to account for all your needs while you are stranded so far away from home. Some people choose to work for part of the duration of their trip and some just rack up credit.
During our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops we examine not only ways of protecting your valuables and documents we also look at areas where you can make savings, as well as those where these savings carry too much risk. Beyond The Blue’s instructors have stayed in some of the worlds best hotels and in some of the poorest slums, we know where each option is the appropriate choice.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Island Life
Date – January 2003
Location - Cook Islands
There are some spots in the world where it would actually be a challenge to be anything else but utterly relaxed; there can literally be no other state of mind.
The Beaches of the Cook Islands are certainly a location that is relatively easy to visit and as soon as you get out of the plane you’ll start to immediately understand why the locals are so laid back.
Beyond The Blue run workshops to help individuals prepare correctly for their forthcoming trip. We teach as part of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop various ways to protect your own personal safety and also give you our experiences learned the hard way over a period of 15 years travelling to Europe, Asia, The Pacific and well beyond. Once you have the confidence in yourself, not relaxing really is impossible here.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Island Dreams
Date – January 2003
Location - Cook Islands
If the only reason this doesn’t excite you is a fear of your destination country, then Beyond The Blue with our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop can help you to prepare with the guidance of our experienced instructors to overcome these hurdles and help design a trip within your parameters.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Spinner Dolphins
Date – September 2002
Location - Christmas Island - Kiribati
I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t love Dolphins. They epitomise intelligence, fun and happiness and sometimes with all the myths that surround them, we paint them as being almost human in some of their emotions. No where is this impression more potent than in the spinner dolphin, like those found here in the waters around Christmas Island in the South Pacific.
The Spinner Dolphin is named for its habit of jumping out of the water and spinning several times in the air with a cheekiness that would make even flipper smile. It seems sometimes that no matter how many you have seen and no matter how familiar you are with the sight of them, they can still break a smile out on even the hardest of faces every time they pop their beaks out of the water. Excitement is a normal reaction to a sighting and excitement an emotion in them that they seem capable of transferring on to us.
At Beyond The Blue we know how exciting the prospect of travel can be, we still get ‘that feeling’ every time we have the opportunity to travel or have to research countries and destinations for presentation on our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops. We believe that the excitement is something to be harnessed and held on to throughout your trip and for this reason we are not into scare mongering; we know that the majority of travel experiences are positive and without incident. But we also understand that a little preparation can go a long way and know that our workshop allows you to enjoy the excitement rather then fear it.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Village Sing Sing
Date – September 2002
Location - Christmas Island - Kiribati
A ‘sing-sing’ is a Pidgin word for a dance show or party; and in the pacific they know all about putting on a party. Traditional singing and dancing is an important part of the culture and truly living art. If you have the opportunity to visit almost any of the pacific islands you may well find yourself invited to attend one of these performances and I have yet to come across anyone who has not found the experience fascinating, fun and a great honour.
Pidgin is a common language in many parts of the world, but specifically in the old British Colonies. It’s a combination of basic English and native languages that is often the only way for tribes from island nations previously isolated from each other to communicate. On the island of Papua for example over 820 languages are spoken by different tribes. The languages from this island alone account for almost 12% of all the languages spoken on the planet. Pidgin sometimes seems relatively easy to pick up, superficially it may seem simply to be English words being repeated to have a related meaning, as in the case of sing-sing; but get into a destination where nothing else is spoken and you will struggle to understand it.
Beyond The Blue run workshops to assist people planning to travel to any part of the world to prepare for their trip. Through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we advise you on appropriate destinations and inform you on what to expect when you get there. Effective preparation for your trip will allow you the luxury of feeling confident and relaxed when you are far away from home.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
