Title – On top of Australia
Date – August 1999
Location - Kalbarry National Park – Western Australia
Hiking in Australia is an activity that should not be taken too lightly; it requires a lot of preparation or preferably the help of a good guide. Many of these excursions can be done as part of a one day or multi day trip with a tour organiser. Locations like this are difficult and often dangerous for those inexperienced and uninitiated.
Australia is the perfect country to explore for your first big trip abroad; the services are well organised and ready to accommodate the traveller looking for adventure and excitement. At this location in Western Australia you really got the feeling that the rest of Australia was laid out in front of you.
Beyond The Blue offers training to anyone undertaking a Gap Year or Independent Travel for the first time, our training targets Safety and Awareness when you travel to new countries and cultures all over the world. The preparation helps you to enjoy your trip from the day you get on the plane.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Jungle Lodge
Date – August 1999
Location - Sabah – Borneo Island - Malaysia
Accommodation comes in all shapes and sizes, for those not willing to part with large sums of money on swanky hotels, there are many options to choose from; sometimes they are the only options available.
The jungle of Borneo Island is no place to look for a 5 star hotel at the last minute, because they are few and far between. Often you will only find jungle lodges like this one in the heart of Sabah. Even then you might find them full and be relegated to creating your own space in-between other peoples rooms. But after a long trek through the jungle, all that is needed is a thin mattress and a mosquito net to satisfy your needs; when you wake up in this magical setting in the heart of the rainforest, the discomfort of the conditions is forgotten in a heart beat.
As part of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop we look at accommodation options in various countries. We offer tips on the best way to choose between those on offer and how to manage when the options are limited.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Kids Games
Date – August 1999
Location - Sabah – Borneo Island - Malaysia
The difference between the after school games children at home play and their counter parts in the developing countries of the world, such as here in Borneo, could not be further apart.
In London kids sit back on their X-boxes and Play Stations killing imaginary monsters and dragons, in Sabah on Borneo island they have the real thing in the form of Monitor Lizards and the joystick is made from scratch to try and capture the monster, all in the name of fun!
Beyond The Blue through its Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop addresses the issues of culture shock for those individuals embarking on new and exciting trips all over the world. Alongside Travel Safety advice, we provide Cultural Awareness training to enable those attending to have a better idea of what to expect when they arrive in a new country and therefore to be more relaxed and more able to make the most of these experiences.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
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
