Press Releases

WorldNomads.com has announced that the Northern Territory team, Americans Willie Concepción and Andrew Adams, are the winners of Van-Tastic Adventures. Willie and Andrew were one of seven teams who drove Geoff, the Van-Tastic van, through a total of 33,000 kilometers of Australia over the past year. Willie and Andrew win the grand prize of $10,000 and two return air tickets with Virgin Blue, anywhere on its Australian network.

The contest attracted nearly 100,000 views to the 100 videos that the teams created and posted during their road trip. At the end of the competition, the travelling public was invited to vote for their favourite team video, with the chance of winning an ultimate road trip adventure pack.

The winner of the voter competition is Naomi Edmondson. The prize pack included an ipod Touch; iphone; MacBook Pro and Canon video camera.

The contest consisted of seven teams of adventure travellers from across the globe, each taking on one Australian state in the ultimate, all-expenses paid, Aussie road trip. Each team was armed with the keys to the brilliantly-coloured and kitted out Van-Tastic van, provided by Travellers Auto Barn, and charged with tackling – and recording on video and blogs – the wild Australian terrain and a host of adventure activities over six weeks.

From swimming with dolphins to jumping out of planes; abseiling to wine-tasting; surfing to horseriding; bungee jumping to caving, the teams filmed it all.
“It’s affirming, really, which is what’s most valuable to me. Willie and I both chose to study arts in college, knowing full well how low the rate of success is in such fields. So to earn such an amazing opportunity in the first place, and then to know that our work touched people in such a way and was actually entertaining — it means a lot. It lets us know that we didn’t make a mistake, and that we were right to study what we love.” – Andrew Adams

Van-Tastic Adventures was sponsored by the State Tourism Offices of NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia, and by Backpacking Queensland. Addional sponsors, who provided the backup and technical gadgetry included YHA, Global Gossip and TNT Magazine.

To view the teams’ videos and blogs, visit http://vantastic.worldnomads.com. For more information about WorldNomads, visit www.worldnomads.com.

Editors Note: Follow the VanTastic Adventures around Australia:
Van-Tastic Adventures Facebook Fanpage, World Nomads Group in YouTube, Vantastic Adventures Channel on YouTube and Van-Tastic Twitter

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WorldNomads.com provides global travel safety products and services to travelers from over 150 countries around the world. From great value travel insurance, travel safety advice, language guides and free online travel journals, WorldNomads.com provides the tools to keep you travelling safely. All clients can donate to a community development project when purchasing travel insurance through the Footprints Charity program. WorldNomads.com is backed by a suite of strong, secure, specialist travel insurance companies. Visit http://worldnomads.com

(June 23, 2010) – WorldNomads.com announces that voting for their Van-Tastic Adventures contest will officially begin on July 2nd and run through July 25th. Voters will also be automatically entered for a chance to win their own prize pack, valued at over $5000AUD.

The contest consisted of seven teams of adventure travelers from across the globe, each participating in the ultimate road trip across the breathtaking terrain of Australia. Each team was armed with the keys to the brilliantly colored Van-Tastic van, fully loaded and equipped with everything from beds to a stove and fridge, and charged with tackling some of Australia’s most beautiful areas and participating in multiple adventure activities.

Over 33,000 kilometers have been travelled, with adventures and activities spanning from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory and through Western Australia. Teams participated in a wide range of exhilarating activities, from exploring caves, to swimming with dolphins to skydiving, all the while documenting their journeys through video, photographs and online journals.

The film documentaries produced by each team, along with their detailed online journals, are currently available for viewing and will be officially open for voting beginning July 2nd. The winning team will receive ten thousand Australian dollars (AU$10,000.00) in cash plus two Virgin Blue return domestic flights to any destination on the Virgin Blue network within Australia.

Response to the contest thus far has been overwhelming, with the 100 videos created by the teams being viewed over 47,000 times on YouTube. The eighty journal entries have garnered similar interest, bringing more than 45,000 views. Additionally, more than 2,000 photos have been uploaded, and over 200 backpackers and adventure tourism operators have gotten involved in the activities.

Voters can choose their favorite team, and as a bonus, those that also submit their best road trip tip will automatically be entered into a separate drawing for a chance to win their own ultimate road trip adventure pack, with prizes consisting of:

- iPod Touch 32GB
- $100 voucher iTunes
- MacBook Pro 15’
- iPhone 32GB
- Canon Legria HF20 video camera
- WorldNomads.com adventure travel kit

The event is being sponsored by such exceptional companies as Travellers Auto Barn, Virgin Blue, YHA, Global Gossip, TNT Magazine, Backpacking Queensland, Tourism New South Wales, Tourism Victoria, Tourism Tasmania, Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism South Australia and Tourism Western Australia.

Fans can keep up-to-date on the competition and voting results by signing up as a fan on Facebook, subscribing to the roadtrip videos on YouTube, or following on twitter @van_tastic.

For more information about WorldNomads, visit http://www.worldnomads.com. For details on the Van-Tastic Adventures contest, and to cast your own vote, go to http://vantastic.worldnomads.com.

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WorldNomads.com provides global travel safety products and services to travelers from over 150 countries around the world. From great value travel insurance, travel safety advice, language guides and free online travel journals, WorldNomads.com provides the tools to keep you travelling safely. All clients can donate to a community development project when purchasing travel insurance through the Footprints Charity program. WorldNomads.com is backed by a suite of strong, secure, specialist travel insurance companies. Visit http://worldnomads.com

Young Canadian filmmakers, Alex Heaslip and Patrick Shine will hit the road in Western Australia from May 6. The two award-winning short-filmmakers will take charge of steering Geoff, the Van-Tastic Adventures van, on his final adventure, through the wild, wild, west!

Heaslip and Shine will turn their talents to capturing the wild and funny side of Western Australia, as the winners of the seventh and final leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic 30,000km, around-Australia Adventure, which began in Cairns in August, 2009. They will take the baton from NT team and fellow North Americans, Andrew Adams and Willie Concepción, in Darwin on May 6 and drop Geoff the van off in Perth – his final destination – on June 17.

Their task along the way is to ‘road test’ the best of Western Australia’s holiday and adventure offerings – and share their adventures with the world via blogs and videos on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

Tourism Western Australia, World Nomads and the Western Australia tourism industry have teamed up to provide Heaslip and Shine with a swag of adventures to report on during their trip.

Crossing into WA from the NT, the pair plan to drive the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley, taking as many adventurous sidetrips as they can manage. So far, the line-up includes paddling the Upper Ord River with Big Waters Kimberley Canoe Safaris; and flying by chopper over the rugged country featured in the movie Australia, en route to Broome, where a camel ride along the beach at sunset is almost compulsory.

They’ll head south to Ningaloo Reef to snorkel with whale sharks with Three Island Marine Charters and with manta rays at Coral Bay. They’ll head south to the state’s oldest wine region, the Swan Valley and end in Perth for some end-of trip adrenalin rushes, including a Fremantle Flyer helicopter ride and a tandem skydive with Skydive Express.

**PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR DETAILED ITINERARY AND INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES.

Heaslip and Shine attended film school together in Toronto, Canada. They’re award-winning filmmakers whose films have played at festivals in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. They’ve travelled extensively and have recently founded their own production company, working on corporate spots, short films and music videos. They won their free, six-week adventure – beating out entries from around the globe – on the basis of their application video.

The Van-Tastic Adventure has travelled through every Australian State and finishes in Perth on June 17, 2010. At the end of the trip, from July 2 to 25, the viewing public will vote for the best video produced during the year-long, 30,000 kilometre adventure – and the winning team will take home $10,000 cash.

To see how the first teams fared on their holiday of a lifetime and the latest blogs and video clips, visit: http://vantastic.worldnomads.com

END
Media Enquiries: Kerry Lorimer, Splash Communications, +61 (0) 411 550 329, kerry@splashcomm.com.

ALEX AND PATRICK ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW. PLEASE SEE ITINERARY FOLLOWING:

May 6 Depart Darwin for Timer Creek

May 7 Arrive Kununurra – Big Waters Canoe Safari May 8-10

May 10 Halls Creek

May 11- 12 Broome

May 12-15 Port Hedland

May 16-17 Karajini National Park.

May 18-20 Karratha

May 21-23 Exmouth

May 24-26 Coral Bay and Coral Coast

May 27 Nambung National Park/Pinnacles

May 29-30 Albany

May 31-Jun 1 Margaret River region

June 2-3 Bunbury

June 4-8 Fremantle

June 10-15 Perth and Swan Valley

WorldNomads.com provides global travel safety products and services to travellers from over 150 countries around the world. From great value travel insurance, travel safety advice, language guides and free online travel journals, WorldNomads.com provides the tools to keep our clients travelling safely. All clients can donate to a community development project when purchasing travel insurance through the Footprints Charity program. WorldNomads.com is backed by a suite of strong, secure, specialist travel insurance companies. For more information visit http://www.worldnomads.com

Young Canadian filmmakers, Alex Heaslip and Patrick Shine have received their driving orders: “Go west, young men!” The two award-winning short-filmmakers will take charge of steering Geoff, the Van-Tastic Adventures van, on his final adventure, through the wilds of Western Australia.

Heaslip and Shine will turn their talents to capturing the wild and funny side of Western Australia, as the winners of the seventh and final leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic 30,000km, around-Australia Adventure, which began in Cairns in August, 2009. They will take the baton from NT team and fellow North Americans, Andrew Adams and Willie Concepción, in Darwin on May 6 and drop Geoff the van off in Perth – his final destination – on June 17.

Their task along the way is to ‘road test’ the best of Western Australia’s holiday and adventure offerings – and share their adventures with the world via blogs and videos on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

Tourism Western Australia, World Nomads and the Western Australia tourism industry have teamed up to provide Heaslip and Shine with a swag of adventures to report on during their trip.

Crossing into WA from the NT, the pair plan to drive the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley, taking as many adventurous sidetrips as they can manage. So far, the line-up includes paddling the Upper Ord River with Big Waters Kimberley Canoe Safaris; and flying by chopper over the rugged country featured in the movie Australia, en route to Broome, where a camel ride along the beach at sunset is almost compulsory.

They’ll head south to Ningaloo Reef to snorkel with whale sharks with Three Island Marine Charters and with manta rays at Coral Bay. They’ll head south to the state’s oldest wine region, the Swan Valley and end in Perth for some end-of trip adrenalin rushes, including a Fremantle Flyer helicopter ride and a tandem skydive with Skydive Express.

Heaslip and Shine attended film school together in Toronto, Canada. They’re award-winning filmmakers whose films have played at festivals in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. They’ve travelled extensively and have recently founded their own production company, working on corporate spots, short films and music videos. They won their free, six-week adventure – beating out entries from around the globe – on the basis of their application video.

The Van-Tastic Adventure has travelled through every Australian State and finishes in Perth on June 17, 2010. At the end of the trip, from July 2 – 25, the viewing public will vote for the best video produced during the year-long, 30,000 kilometre adventure – and the winning team will take home $10,000 cash.

To see how the first teams fared on their holiday of a lifetime and the latest blogs and video clips, visit: http://vantastic.worldnomads.com

WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic Adventure Announces Winners of Northern Territory Leg

American comedy duo, Andrew Adams and Willie Concepción will turn their talents to capturing the wild and funny side of the Northern Territory, as the winners of the penultimate leg of the WorldNomads.com Van-Tastic around-Australia Adventure.

Willie and Andrew met in a college comedy group and have been filming, writing and performing skits, plays and rap routines ever since. They’re heading Down Under to undertake the ultimate Aussie road trip, picking up Geoff, the Van-Tastic Adventures van, in Adelaide on March 22 and dropping him off in Darwin on May 1.

Their task is to ‘road test’ the best of the Northern Territory’s holiday and adventure offerings – and share their adventures with the world via blogs and videos on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

Theirs will be the sixth of seven legs of the Adventure, which started in Queensland and will see seven teams of travellers drive Geoff more than 13,000 kilometers through every state and territory of Australia. Andrew and Willie won their free, six-week adventure on the basis of their three application videos. (Only one was required – they were just extra keen).

Tourism Northern Territory, Van-Tastic and the Northern Territory tourism industry have teamed up to provide Willie and Andrew with a swag of adventures to report on during their trip.

“Our rough plan is to bee-line it for Uluru to see sunset and sunrise on the Rock; take a motorcycle tour through the desert, then head to Kings Canyon and on to Alice, saying ‘yes’ to every adventure opportunity that comes our way – no matter what,” says Willie.

“From there, we plan to head north up the Explorers Way to Katherine, to Kakadu for some croc spotting – and then to get right up close and personal with the big reptiles in the Cage of Death in Darwin.”

Along the way, Willie and Andrew will get to swap Geoff the van for all manner of transport options, including quad bikes, camels, helicopters, Harley Davidsons, canoes – and, of course, the NT is bound to turn up plenty of other unexpected wild times.

Applications are still open for the final leg of the Van-Tastic Adventure, a competition designed for enthusiastic and adventurous travellers who are willing to tackle – and capture on video – one leg of an Australia-wide road trip.

The winning team of one or two travellers will be flown from wherever they live to Australia and will spend six weeks driving across the country in Geoff the Van-Tastic van, which is fuelled up and kitted out with camping equipment and all the technology to enable them to capture their adventure on video and in blogs.

Applications for the Van-Tastic Western Australia leg close on February 28. The Van-Tastic Adventure finishes in Perth in June, 2010. At the end of the trip, the viewing public will vote for the best video produced during the year-long, 13,000 kilometre adventure – and the winning team will take home $10,000 cash.

To apply for the remaining leg, and to see how the first teams fared on their holiday of a lifetime, visit: http://vantastic.worldnomads.com

World travellers, Victoria Brewood and Trent are about to hit South Australia, to drive the fifth leg of the 13,000km, year-long, around-Australia Van-Tastic Adventure, blogging and filming their way through Kangaroo Island, the Barossa, Flinders and into the outback, tackling whatever adventures come their way and telling the world all about them.

Victoria and Trent were selected from among dozens of aspiring film-makers from around the world to drive Geoff, the Van-Tastic van, for the six weeks of the South Australian leg of the Van-Tastic Adventure, which has seen teams of two steer Geoff to adventures in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, so far, investigating and promoting the best fun to be had by travellers in each state.

The South Australian Tourism Commission, Van-Tastic and the South Australian tourism industry have teamed up to provide Trent and Victoria with a host of adventures to report on during their trip. They’ll be wine-tasting in SA’s wonderful wine regions; heading deep into the Outback on a walking safari in the Flinders Ranges and trying their luck, mining for opals at Coober Pedy. They’ll be in Adelaide for the Fringe Comedy festival – second in size only to Edinburgh’s Fringe festival – when the entire city becomes the butt of its own jokes.

There are plenty of wildlife encounters lined up: swimming with wild tuna and sea lions at Port Lincoln; getting up close and cuddly with koalas on Kangaroo Island and – if they’re up for it – diving with the ocean’s most fearsome predator, the Great White shark.

Applications are still open for the final, Western Australia leg of the Van-Tastic Adventure, a competition designed for enthusiastic and adventurous travellers who are willing to tackle – and capture on video – one leg of an Australia-wide road trip.

The winning team of one or two travellers will be flown from wherever they live to Australia and will spend six weeks driving across the country in Geoff the Van-Tastic van, which is fuelled up and kitted out with camping equipment and all the technology to enable them to capture their adventure on video and in blogs.

Applications for the Van-Tastic Western Australia leg close on February 28. The Van-Tastic Adventure finishes in Perth in June, 2010. At the end of the adventure, the viewing public will vote for the best video produced during the year-long, 13,000 kilometre adventure – and the winning team will take home $10,000 cash.

To apply for the remaining leg, and to see how the first teams fared on their holiday of a lifetime, visit: http://vantastic.worldnomads.com

END
Media Enquiries: Kerry Lorimer, Splash Communications, +61 (0) 411 550 329, kerry@splashcomm.com.

Dara Simkin and Catherine Fleming, two friends from Florida, USA, will take on Tassie in the fourth leg of the 13,000km, year-long, around-Australia Van-Tastic Adventure, hitting Devonport on December 23 (after taking the ferry across the Bass Strait).

Taking the baton in Melbourne from Briton, Tim Akroyd, who completed the Victoria leg and posted a host of quirky videos, Dara and Catherine will drive Geoff, the Van-Tastic van on a six-week adventure through the Apple Isle, dropping him off in Melbourne on January 27.

The girls won their free, six-week adventure on the basis of their application video – it’s their task to showcase Tasmania through their blogs and videos, which will be posted on the Van-Tastic Adventures website.

Tourism Tasmania, Van-Tastic and the Tasmanian tourism industry have teamed up to provide Dara and Catherine with a swag of adventures to report on during their trip. Although it’s Australia’s smallest state, the girls will have their hands full kayaking on the gorgeous Freycinet Peninsula; mountain-biking Mt Wellington; hang-gliding over Launceston’s Cataract Gorge; cruising the magnificent East Coast and Gordon River; camping in the pristine Tarkine; rafting the rapids of the Franklin River; discovering the state’s convict heritage at the Port Arthur Historic Site;  sampling Australia’s premium beers at Boags and Cascade; exploring some of the famous walking trails, such as Cradle Mountain, and a dozen other adventures, including coming face-to-face with a Tasmanian Devil. Along the way, the girls will be enjoying the hospitality of the Cradle Mountain Chateau, Strahan Village and the Art Hostel to name just a few.

They’ll be in Hobart in time for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race – one of the world’s great ocean races, the Hobart Summer Festival, from December 26 to 30 and MONA FOMA (January 8-24)– the ground breaking urban arts festival curated by Brian Ritchie (formerly of the Violent Femmes). New Year’s will be welcomed in partying at the Falls Festival (December 29 to January 1).

Applications are still open for the final two legs of the Van-Tastic Adventure, a competition designed for enthusiastic and adventurous travellers who are willing to tackle – and capture on video – one leg of an Australia-wide road trip.

The winning teams of one or two travellers will be flown from wherever they live to Australia and will spend six weeks driving across the country in Geoff the Van-Tastic van, which is fuelled up and kitted out with camping equipment and all the technology to enable them to capture their adventure on video and in blogs.

Applications for the Van-Tastic Northern Territory leg close on January 17, 2010. The last leg, Western Australia, closes for applications on February 28. The Van-Tastic Adventure finishes in Perth in June, 2010. At the end of the adventure, the viewing public will vote for the best video produced during the year-long, 13,000 kilometre adventure – and the winning team will take home $10,000 cash.

To apply for the remaining legs, and to see how the first teams fared on their holiday of a lifetime, visit: http://vantastic.worldnomads.com