Title – Mini Bar
Date – September 1998
Location - Yap - Micronesia
When you’re thirsty there is nearly always a solution, but when trekking or in very remote locations it’s not always possible to buy water away from urban centres. Learning to climb a coconut tree solves this problem as the milk from a young coconut will certainly quench your thirst.
No one at Beyond The Blue is going to teach you to climb a coconut tree; we will even go so far as to recommend you do not attempt this. Coconut trees are the cause of many an accident every year. You are already in enough danger from the nuts falling on your head, without the need to for you to put yourself in a position to fall on your own head. Ask a local they will often be happy to harvest one for you or direct you to someone who will sell you one for just a few pence.
During our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety and Awareness worshop we examine the concept of assessing risk; risk from another individual or from your own actions. We know that travelling has enough inherent risk associated with it, without adding to that by taking pointless risks for little reward.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Collapse
Date – September 1998
Location - Palau - Micronesia
The infrastructure of countries far away from our own, are not always what we expect. With climates and seismological activity that we simply can’t imagine here in the UK, the infrastructure can be prone to damage and lack of repair.
This extreme example in Koror is a great demonstration of what tends to happen when something goes wrong; it is just left where it failed, be that on the side of the road or hanging from a collapsed bridge…
Beyond The Blue examines transport options and difficulties wherever your planned trip is going to take you. Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops are designed to suit your needs and concentrate on the destinations of those attending. Our workshops are not generic, we know what information those attending will find most useful and design the workshop structure that best suits them.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Complete Freedom
Date – September 1998
Location - Palau - Micronesia
Out of the 343 of the islands in Palau there are a number that you can visit, if you can find someone to drop you off. This island is 2 hours by boat from the inhabited island of Koror, but most days a couple of dive boats come into the region. It is possible to camp on the islands for the price of a National Park Ticket and this means you are left alone and can have an island all to yourself. It is an extremely tempting and a unique experience. The sense of freedom is only matched by the knowledge that you are alone, with no means of communication, no means of escape and relying only on a verbal agreement that someone would come and pick you up on a prearranged date.
Experiences like this may not be appropriate for the first time traveller and there are less remote parts of the world that will suit them better, but at Beyond The Blue we believe that our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop can help you achieve your plans and help you get almost anywhere in the world and back again safely.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Two Dog Island
Date – September 1998
Location - Palau - Micronesia
Palau is a group of small islands that from the air look like deep green mushrooms in an intensely blue sea. There can be no more beautiful sight when flying into any airport in the world.
Two Dog Island is just one of the 343 of these little islands and is known for its only inhabitants, two semi-wild dogs. The dogs are reasonably friendly to visitors, but with visitors being infrequent they have learned to look after themselves and can bee seen hunting and more impressively fishing. Jumping into the sea they are capable of catching fish which makes the stable of their diet.
Finding these absurdities in strange corners of the world make any trip exciting and interesting. Beyond The Blue run Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops for individuals planning to travel to any part of the world. As well as the issues of security and travel planning, we can also guide you through some of the world’s most exciting destinations and the advise you on the best way to get to them.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Men’s House
Date – September 1998
Location - Yap - Micronesia
Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia is one of the most traditional countries of the South Pacific. The men’s house found in every village is a meeting place for the elders and a rest place for visitors from other villages. Exclusively the domain of men; women are not welcome in the house, unless specifically invited to take part in an important discussion on village matters.
The islands traditions remain very important and many people still use the grass skirt as normal day-to-day dress. With a people as friendly as anywhere in the pacific, this quiet little island is a jewel in a very blue sea.
Beyond The Blue offers individuals the opportunity to attend our workshops that help them prepare for travel anywhere in the world. For candidates taking part in our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we provide them with Destination Advice and Cultural Awareness information for the countries they plan to visit.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Big Guns
Date – September 1998
Location - Chuck - Micronesia
The conflict in the Pacific ocean during WWII is sometimes the forgotten war in much of Europe, but the conflict here was equally as devastating and cost millions of lives throughout the region. But in the pacific the monuments to the war are less ceremonial and more real.
The Japanese occupied many of the islands in the region and had in places dug tunnels literally running for hundreds of kilometres through the hills to enable them to be defended from every side without ever needing to leave the safety of these bunkers. They stand to this day as a monument to those souls lost during the conflict and a memory to the time when the peace and tranquillity of this part of the world was destroyed by many alien nations fighting for control of this region of such strategic importance.
Beyond The Blue offers workshops to allow individuals to develop the skills they will need to avoid conflict and reduce the risk to their personal safety, while undertaking a trip to any part of the world. Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop teaches basic low-impact personal safety techniques to help candidates create space and time when their personal safety is threatened, without the need to use excessive physical force. The techniques are designed to be appropriate no matter how much physical strength you may have, they are easy to learn, easy to remember and easy to master.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
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
