Congratulations Willie Concepcion and Andrew Adams!
After 12 months, 7 states, 33,000kms and heaps of adventure activities, Van-Tastic Adventures has come to an end. We’re proud to announce that Willie and Andrew’s roadtrip in the Northern Territory has been crowned the ultimate Aussie roadtrip!
The American comedy duo took on the 6th leg of the roadtrip, motoring around the legendary outback of the Northern Territory for six weeks. It was actually outback life that served as the inspiration for their winning documentary How to Survive in the Northern Territory.
From flirting with kangaroos to alleged UFO sightings, they kept us entertained with their antics on the road, truly capturing the spirit of a roadtrip in Australia. As our Van-Tastic Adventures winners, Willie and Andrew have won AUD$10,000 and two flights with Virgin Blue to keep them travelling. What will they do with it?
‘Together we’re working on a script, a dark comedy that we can make on a super low budget. Using the award money, we’re hoping to get a nice camera, to move to New York and get involved in the comedy and film scenes there, and to start funding a film. Basically, we’re hoping to use the money to launch careers in film. We’re also hoping to use the recognition in pitches to other tourism bureaus, ideally ones that would fund more travel and more videography. - Andrew and Willie
The final leg of the Van-Tastic roadtrip goes to Alex and Patrick, two freelance filmmakers from Toronto, Canada. Congrats guys – way to bring home the gold…er, van.
Alex Heaslip and Patrick Shine first met at film school in Toronto, Canada. Both have traveled throughout North America and Europe and are excited to embark on their greatest adventure yet: a Van-Tastic voyage in Australia.
They have been working as freelance videographers and have recently founded their own production company, working on corporate spots, short films and music videos. Their films have played at festivals in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia and even won them some awards.
How will their videos fare in Australia? Will they find Sasquatch on their roadtrip, or will they be properly introduced to the Aussie kangaroo? Check out their adventure cred in their winning video
The team is looking forward to getting up close and personal with whale sharks, riding camels across the outback and exploring Rottnest Island. Follow their adventures from May 6th to June 17th as they travel the outback from Darwin to Perth.
Posted by (1) Comment
South Australia Ambassadors
Victoria and Steve parted ways and now Victoria has a new travel buddy – Trent!
Victoria and Trent met in the booze-fuelled town of Lagos in Portugal, where backpackers are drawn to the partying, the cheap pint cocktails, the endless sunny days and the incredible surf. After meeting 11,000 miles away on the other side of the world over a year ago, they’ll be reunited in the Land Down Under, Trent’s home country; Oz. They’re looking forward to catching up over a few drinks and comparing battle scars (Trent’s super accident prone and Victoria just had a motorbike accident a couple of months ago).
After finishing her degree in Broadcast Journalism, Victoria decided to escape cold, rainy England to travel the world in search of something more. After a stint in Portugal where she met Trent, an adventure up the East Coast of Australia and some island hopping in Greece, Victoria decided to finally make the transition to full-time traveller and booked a one-way ticket to Bali. Having lived in Bali for six months working as a video editor, travel writer and online marketer, Victoria now lives a completely nomadic lifestyle working from anywhere in the world.
Trent is from Sydney and loves the outdoors, camping, picking fruit, surfing and all that jazz. He’s no stranger to vans and road trips; he spent 5 months living in a caravan in Stockholm and 6 months causing chaos with his amigos on a surfing trip around Portugal and Morocco.
Trent and Victoria both love to live for the moment, will say yes to anything, and love living a carefree life on a shoestring budget so who knows what crazy things this Pom and Ozzie will be getting up to in South Australia!
Congratulations Willie from Miami, USA and Andrew from Baltimore, Maryland, USA! You have just won yourself Van-Tastic Northern Territory.
This filmaking, writing, photographing, rapping comedy duo share the passion for travel and new experiences.
Mates from college, they ended up writing and directing a play together. Their plan is to travel the world whilst saying “yes” to every other conceivable adventure along the way. First stop – Van-Tastic Northern Territory, Australia.
From the effort they put into their 3 application videos (we were pretty much sold by the first one) they have convinced us that they will be the best team to represent us in what is likely to be their best production yet – Van-Tastic Northern Territory.
Check out their application videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkaVMeZ3MNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np6i217pCps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPviUG4QqaA
Follow their adventure (March 22nd – May 1st) across Northern Territory to Darwin.
Find out if Will and Andrew really have the personalities we are looking for…or if they are just REALLY REALLY GOOD ACTORS.
And no worries about the Aussie accent Will-o, by the time we have finished with you, you’ll be sounding as true blue as Johnny Williamson.
For all you Wannabe Van- Tastic adventurers, we are still searching for one more pair for the 7th and final leg : Van-Tastic Western Australia. Apply Now!
Calling all hungry travellers in Melbourne.
Come down to Federation Square and meet Tim, the winner of Van-Tastic Victoria, check out his videos up on the big screen, enjoy a snag on us (that’s Aussie for free BBQ) and take a tour of Geoff the Van from 9.30am to 10.30am on Tuesday 15 December.
Where: Meet us in front of Transport Bar on the Swanston Street forecourt of Federation Square.
When: 9.30am to 10.30am Tuesday 15 December
Posted by (3) Comment
Congratulations to Victoria and Steve who have been selected as our Van-Tastic SA Ambassadors. Check out their winning video.
Victoria is a fun-loving English gal and Steve is a adventurous American. They met New Years Eve last year in Portugal and have been travelling together ever since. She is a broadcast journalism graduate and he is a techy web designer and together they think they have just the right chemistry to make an excellent Van-Tastic team. According to Victoria they are “up for absolutely anything” and not afraid to make a fool of themselves… Sounds like our kinda couple!
Desparate to avoid the dreary 9-5, they bought a one way ticket to Bali where they embarked on a working holiday trip of a lifetime and now they are ready for OZ.
They just can’t wait to experience the great South Australian outback, see the wildlife on Kangaroo Island and guzzle some of those Barossa great reds. The question is will they pluck up the nerve to dive with the great whites?
We are still looking for 2 teams for Northern Territory and Western Australia. Send in your video for the Van-Tastic Northern Territory roadtrip by January 17th 2010.
Come down to meet Kirsty and Carly, the winners of Van-Tastic NSW and check out Geoff the Van this afternoon at Travellers Auto Barn.
The beer is on us, and you can find out how win a 6 week Van-Tastic Adventure.
When: 4pm-5pm, Monday 2 November (TODAY)
Where: Travellers Auto Barn Showroom, 177 William Street, Kings Cross Sydney
Larger map of Travellers Auto Barn Sydney Showroom, 177 William Street, Kings Cross
