As summer comes to a close in Perth and the South West, this marks an end to another International Arts Festival in Perth. As Broome is almost 3000kms north of Perth it was great to receive an email from the team at PIAF last week, celebrating another successful festival – a claim that was backed up by the headlines in The West Australian newspaper:

“PIAF success confirms the vital role of the arts”.

“Perth’s International Arts Festival has established itself as a vital and distinctive part of our lifestyle, whether it involves a relaxing night at the Somerville with a picnic and a glass of wine or a challenging night at the theatre”.

Monique and her team went on to say;

“After more than three magical weeks during which Perth was transformed by more than 800 performances by 1,000 artists from Australia and around the world, the 2010 Festival is almost behind us, with the pleasure of Lotterywest Festival Films carrying us gently to the conclusion of another wonderful summer of art. The 2010 program has enabled our audiences to experience moments of joy, wonder and enrichment that only come about at Festival time. We are on track to meet our target of 190,000 tickets sold and we are pleased that the count of people in Perth and the Great Southern, experiencing either a paid or free event, will very likely exceed 350,000.

Perth International Arts Festival takes place every year in February and showcases some of Australia’s talent as well as welcoming acts from other parts of the world. We are proud to be affiliated with the festival by donating a Stateroom to the festival as a prize for the ‘See Three and Win competition’.

To read the official media release to wrap up the festival, click here

Happy New Year to you all…..well, even though holidays may now seem a distant memory, it is better late than never for the Great Escape crew to wish you all the best for 2010!!

There is good reason for my tardiness….we have been jet-setting around the country celebrating The Great Escape Charter Company’s 10th birthday. Not a bad achievement, huh? (the 10 years of successful operations that is, not the 10 days of partying!!) Kylie, Trippy, Jez and myself had a fantastic time in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, catching up with old friends and making new ones. It was great for us to visit you and shout the drinks this time!!

More about our celebrations later…

No doubt many of you have been doing some of your own jet-setting over the past few months? Well, hopefully, following on from our article in Qantas, you read about The Great Escape Charter Company’s Southern Kimberley Experience which received a great review in Voyeur; Virgin Blue’s Inflight Magazine.

Alix travelled with us in September last year when she a memorable time seeing Whales frolick along the coast, spotting a few crocs, fishing and seeing Aboriginal Art for herself.

Click on the image below to read the article if you did not get a copy for yourself.

Great Escape Feature in January's edition of Voyeur

The Great Escape Charter Company featured in the December issue of Qantas In Flight magazine. Robert travelled with us in April 2009 and was amazed how much there was to discover in the Kimberley – a far cry from the QM2 that he had previously cruised on.

In the same edition, you can read about the 20 Reasons to visit Broome. This can come in handy when you are planning your visit to this Kimberley tropical paradise.

The winner of the 2009 Hidden Jewel awards has been announced….
Pop Sullivan’s Ross River Dam Boat Cruises is now the proud recipient of the website design, hosting and marketing package from OM4, the online specialists. Congratulations to Pop and his crew.

Having been on the panel of judges for these awards this year, it was great to read about some of the fascinating tourism experiences on offer in Australia. Click here to read more about the awards and Pop Sullivan’s cruises.

Every year OM4 Tourism (formerly OM4 PublicityShip) holds the Hidden Jewels Awards to recognise one of Australia’s unique, unusual, fascinating and largely unknown tourism businesses.

The prize is a fantastic way to give any small business the ’step up’ it needs to achieving not only its online goals but also its overall business objectives. The prize includes a website design package, 12 months free hosting and a web marketing strategy to go with it. Anyone who is involved in web marketing nowadays appreciates the necessity not only of the website but also of the strategy behind it. Having worked with the OM4 team for a couple of years now, and having experienced first hand, the improvements in Great Escape web performance, I can vouch for the awesome support given by these experts – it is invaluable in a field like web marketing where the goal posts seem to be always moving!!

Click here to read more about the 2009 Hidden Jewel National Prize that will be awarded to one lucky business.

Each year the awards are judged by a panel of people involved in the Tourism Industry. In fact, this years entrants have been judged and we are now patiently awaiting the announcement of the winner.

Watch this space….

The Kimberley region is a rugged and largely undiscovered part of Australia due to its isolation.  Management of the area are faced with many hurdles is many facets – Fire Management being just one of them.

The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) is responsible for management of Western Australia’s State Forests, National Parks, Conservation Parks and Nature Reserves. When conditions are suitable the Department carry out prescribed burning in the Prince Regent Nature Reserve, Mitchell River National Park, King Leopold Range Conservation Park, Drysdale River National Park, Unallocated Crown lands, and Aboriginal Lands adjoining DEC estate during the early part of the dry season.

Each year, the Regional Fire Coordinator for the Department of Environment and Conservation, Edward Hatherley liases with Kimberley cruise operators to keep us all informed about Fire Management in the Kimberley region.

“The Department uses planned fire to manage the natural ecosystems in order to maintain the biological diversity of habitats and species richness, and to protect life, community assets and natural resources from damage by uncontrolled fire later in the season.  The objectives of the burning is to create areas of burnt and unburnt country that may limit the extent of wildfires and create a mosaic of different age vegetation that will assist in maintaining the biodiversity of the area.

Generally DEC operations run over a 12 week period commencing around April  through to late June, drying conditions permitting and works closely with other agencies, Traditional Owners, and stakeholders in the interest of developing a strategic fire plan to address the issue of large late dry season wildfires that are having a significant impact across the Region.”

So it seems there is more to the smoke that we see at times of the year.  Fire Management can be largely misunderstood but this highlights just how we need to work with Mother Nature as she will always be the winner in a region 3 times the size of the UK!!

Many thanks to all the local Broome Travel Agents for taking time to join us to kick start the Festive Season for a champagne and sunset cruise in Roebuck Bay.

We are also proud to announce Claire Marquis from Broome & The Kimberley Holidays, as the proud winner of the pearl pendant, made especially by Jodi Penfold at Jewels of the Kimberley. Pip accepted the prize on Claire’s behalf as Claire now enjoys motherhood.

The Great Escape crew have taken the diving plunge for the first time this year….it is great to back at the Shoals. The three coral atolls provide some absolutely fantastic diving and snorkelling.

The Shoals were named by Capt. Philip Parker King in 1818; Mermaid, Clerke & Imperieuse. The latter make up the Rowley Shoals Marine Park and are managed from Broome by the Dept. Environment and Conservation (DEC). The Dept. of Environment and Water Resources (DEW) manage Mermaid which is a Marine Reserve. The Dept. of Fisheries and Border control also assist management of the Shoals.

The Shoals offers something for everyone; the kids can go snorkelling, whilst the divers can enjoy shark dives or head to the Cod Hole to say G’day to Agro!!

Read more about The Great Escape Rowley Shoals Dive Adventure schedules and itineraries or email for more info.