Jersey Boys in Rehearsal Ready for Sydney Opening

Jersey Boys. Glaston Toft on right

I was fortunate to attend the first day of rehearsals of Jersey Boys, the hit musical that will open in Sydney in September and then move on to Brisbane and Melbourne. When there I was able to see and hear some of the hit songs that feature in the show.

Jersey Boys tells the true-life story of four guys from the wrong side of the tracks. It brings to the stage the rise to stardom of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, one of the most successful bands in pop music history. Even though they wanted to be taken as a serious band, they soon found themselves to be swamped by millions of adoring teenage fans who idolized them. The band sold more than 175 million records and were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons worldwide hits include many well-known timeless songs such as "Can’t Take My Eyes Off You", "Walk Like a Man", "Bye Bye Baby", "Sherry" and "Big Girl’s Don’t Cry". All of these songs, plus many of their other toe-tapping hits, feature in this musical.

Some of the cast of Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys first came to Australia in 2009 and toured for 4 years to sellout audiences of 1.6 million people. Jersey Boys has won many awards, including the Helpmann Award in 2010 for the Best Musical in Australia. The Jersey Boys movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, was a hit in Australia, where it had the highest box office sales of any country outside North America.  

The 4 leads in this production of Jersey Boys will be Bernard Angel, playing Frankie Valli, Cameron MacDonald as Tommy DeVito, Thomas McGuane as Bob Gaudio and Glaston Toft, reprising his celebrated portrayal of the band’s musical marvel Nick Massi.

When at the rehearsal I was fortunate to have a brief conversation with the producer and one of the stars of the show.

Glaston Toft

Glaston Toft studied Classical Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium and graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2005. He toured for 4 years from 2009 with the Jersey Boys, clocking up more than 1,300 performances. Since then he has appeared in lead roles of many musicals, including the FBI agent Ray Court in The Bodyguard and of Athol Guy in Georgy Girl – The Seekers Musical.

He is excited to once again be in Jersey Boys, because of the brilliant story the musical tells about the famous pop band with their joys and struggles of making it to the top. He is also looking forward to the fun he will have with the other actors on tour in this production of the musical. Even at this early period of rehearsal they have bonded together and recognise that while the role of each character is important, it the cast working together on stage as a whole that is also important.

There was a 14 year age gap between the youngest and oldest of the Four Season's. In this production of Jersey Boys, Glaston will be closer to his character Nick Massi's age than when he played him in the first tour. 

Glaston will bring all his acting, singing and dancing skills to the stage to make his character Nick Massi come to life. Each performance will be tiring for Glaston, as each song has its own energetic dance moves. The women in the musical will have to do many costumes changes, but he will have to make quick changes into his different suits for the scenes he is in. To be true to the 50's era, he will need to wear pointy-toed shoes on stage. He is looking forward to getting back into his comfy casual shoes after each performance.

Glaston lives in Melbourne, so will miss his home and friends when the musical is in Sydney and Brisbane, but will appreciate the opportunity to be with his other friends and family who live in those cities.

Rodney Rigby

Australian producer Rodney Rigby is delighted that Jersey Boys is touring Australia once again. He is an Australian who shares his time between Australia and Broadway producing many hit musicals. He is passionate about live theatre and the Aussie way of life. He would love to see Jersey Boys tour to regional Australia, but the logistics of the large cast, technical crew, and complex staging will make this impossible.  

Rodney says this will be the true Jersey Boys show, but with a vibrant (mostly) new cast and energy. He feels that there has been a long enough gap since it first started its 4-year tour of Australia in 2009. Rodney feels those people who saw it before would love to come back and see it again, and there is a whole new audience that has not had the thrill of seeing it who will come along this time. 

Jersey Boys

There is only a limited season of the Jersey Boys in Sydney before it moves onto other capital cities, so get in early to book your seats or you might miss out.

JERSEY BOYS

Sydney Season - From September 2018
STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON
Capitol Theatre, 13 Campbell Street, Haymarket, NSW 2000
Show Times: Tue, Wed, Thur 7:00PM, Fri 8:00PM, Sat 2PM & 8:00PM, Sun 2PM & 6:30PM

Tickets: BOOK NOW
By Phone 1300 558 878

Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel - Ideally Located at the Airport!

Recently I flew to Thailand to attend the Mekong Tourism Forum. I had an early morning flight to catch at 6am from Sydney International Airport. This meant being there to check in at the unearthly hour of 3am! As I love my sleep I pondered the options of what to do. I live in Muswellbrook, so I could have spent the night driving to the Airport. Or I could have stayed the night with friends who lived in the outer suburbs of Sydney and got up at 2am to go to the Airport. Both of these options meant very little sleep!

The sensible thing to do was to stay at the closest hotel to the Sydney International Airport, the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel. This is located right at the Airport, just a very short walk across one road, into the terminal, and up the escalator to the departures check-in area. As the real estate agents say, the 3 most important things about a property are location, location, location. The Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel certainly is the best located hotel to the Sydney International Airport. It is so close and convenient.

I travelled down to Sydney the day before my departure and checked in that evening with the helpful staff at the reception lobby on the ground floor. I then took the lift up to my room and settled in for a restful night. I was pleased to see a welcome note from the hotel manager and a welcome cheese platter and bottle of wine. I ate the cheese and crackers, and took the bottle of Australian wine with me to Thailand to share with my hosts there. Fortunately, the bottle did not break in my checked in bag!

My spacious Deluxe Airport View KIng Room, one of 318 rooms, had framed prints of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge to remind me that I was still in Sydney.

My room had the benefits of free Wifi, a 42-inch flat-screen TV on the wall, and individually controlled air conditioning. The window offered views over the runways, and even in the evening hours, the bustle of airport activity could be seen.  Blackout curtains made the room very dark when it was time for me to sleep. There was tea & coffee making facilities which I used, and a minibar, iron and ironing board and hairdryer that were there but I did not use on this hotel stay.

A very clean separate modern bathroom vanity, shower (with plenty of hot water) and toilet were next to the bedroom, with a range of toiletries on offer.

The best thing about the room was that it was very quite. No noises from outside or other rooms could be heard at all. This meant a wonderful (shortned) sleep in the very comfy Rydges Dream Bed until my alarm went off at 2.45am to remind me it was time to walk to the Airport and check in. This did not take long to do, so I went back to the hotel at 3.30am to have some breakfast. Due to the very early hour of the morning, the hot food items were not ready, but I could help myself to the hot drinks and cold items such as the fresh pastries and fruit. I also made a cheese, ham and tomato jaffle. I then checked out of the hotel and walked back to the Airport to go through customs and board the plane in time for its 6am departure.

Dining options at the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel include the urban-bistro Blackwattle Grill, the colourful Touchdown Sports Bar  and the  Cloud 9 Rooftop Bar for relaxing and unwinding, the Touch & Go Café for quick breakfasts on the run, and Rise Breakfast Concept, that combines the best of contemporary hotel breakfasts with the latest café offerings in a bright setting.

My stay was only short, so I did not make use of the gym. For those who like to work out, the gym has cardio equipment and free weights that can be used anytime in the day or night.

For business people, there is a dedicated Business Centre and 11 different meeting and conference rooms that can be rented on an hourly basis.

Sydney has two seperate airport terminals, the International and Domestic. For those people departing from the Domestic Terminal, the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel provides a handy free shuttle service to and from the hotel.

Getting to the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel is easy by travelling by train to the airport station, by taxi or Uber, or by driving and using the discounted parking at the international terminal parking station. 

Rydges Sydney Airport is a wonderful place to stay for a restful nights sleep and is conveniently located right at the Sydney International Airport. Check out the hotel deals on offer to make your stay enjoyable and affordable.

Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel
Address: 8 Arrivals Court, Sydney International Airport NSW 2020
Phone: +61 2 9313 2500
Reservations: rydgessydneyairport@evt.com

Email: reservations_sydneyairport@rydges.com 

Website:  Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel

Local Alike Promotes Community Based Tourism

Local food

We all love travelling.

Travelling is one of the best ways to see the world in new perspectives. The people at Local Alike believe that travelling of any kind or the tourism sector as a whole must head towards more collective responsibility and sustainable outlook. Local Alike works with local communities and businesses to create the best experiences for everybody.

LocalAlike.com is an online marketplace where you can find curated travel experiences in local communities across Southeast Asia.

It is a social enterprise building an online platform to connect travellers and locals through meaningful and authentic experiences. As a social enterprise, Local Alike uses community-based tourism as a form of development tool to solve local issues, preserve local culture, and generate additional income to local communities.

You get to experience trips that are designed to be enjoyable and authentic for every traveller and local alike. You simply have to try out the amazing food and drinks, adventurous treks, immersive cultures, exciting shows, and so much more that you won’t find with traditional tour companies.

Exploring local

Local Alike matches you with local communities and responsible tour operators instead of simply matching you to one tour guide. This is called community based tourism, a form of tourism that allows local residents to be involved while emphasizing community development.

The vision of Local Alike is to create opportunities for locals communities and businesses to better their livelihoods through tourism.

The Local Alike website gives you instant access to curated travel experiences, in-depth content, unstaged photographs, social impact reports, real user reviews, and news to help you plan your trips better.

Local Alike offers

• Large selection of responsible travel experiences
• Approved local hosts and tour operators
• All experiences contribute towards a social cause
• Secure, safe, and fast booking

Social impact

Advancement in our society should never lead to the deterioration of our world. Creating positive social impact through tourism is the very reason this company is founded.

Strive to be better

local craft work

This is at the core of everything Local Alike does— to be better. This is the reason why Local Alike people come to work everyday. They are proving that tourism as a business can be a viable development tool for local villages. As a social enterprise, Local Alike measures where each baht goes and ensure that every traveler’s contribution goes into improving the local livelihoods.

Local Alikers are on the mission to enhance the livelihoods at local communities across Thailand and neighbouring countries. By introducing them to community-based tourism, Local Alike bring out their best and surface them to the world through the Local Alike website. On the other hand, Local Alike also build a free online solution for locals to use in managing their tourism business.

What is community based tourism?

Community based tourism is a form of tourism that takes environmental, social and cultural sustainability into account. It is managed and owned by the community, for the community, with the purpose of enabling visitors to increase their awareness and learn about the community and local ways of life.

How Local Alike curate their listings

Local Alike work closely with the Community Based Tourism Institute of Thailand (CBT-i) to establish a clear set of expectations and standards in our endeavours. The principles of Local Alike development work is backed by well-researched guidelines developed by the CBT-i. Local Alike only works with communities that have mutual understanding in the work that Local Alike does. In return, Local Alike make a responsible decision to manage their carrying capacity, ensuring that their livelihoods are undisturbed.

meeting a local

1) Conduct field inspection
Local Alike selects villages based on their readiness. Local Alike introduces a set of tourism standards to make sure each village is ready to welcome travellers.

2) Know the locals and set expectations
Local Alike enter the village and create an active conversation. Local Alike understands their needs and agrees on how tourism can help them reach their solutions.

3) Bring out their best and help them shine

Local Alike takes responsibility in helping them come up with unique content used to promote their village. Local Alike work with locals to come up with a price then get it online.

4) Generate interest and soft launch
Local Alike launch a pilot trip to introduce travellers to the village while going through the entire process with villagers. These trips help Local Alike iterate and make sure everything is ready.

5) Lift off onto online platform
Once everything is good-to-go, Local Alike green light the village on their platform and it’s ready for all travellers to book. Local Alike start tracking their social impact starting here.

How do you use the Local Alike website?

Local Alike built their marketplace website with one basic premise: to surface the best responsible travel experiences to the world. All their local partner hosts are matched with travellers for the most enjoyable experience. All of their tours are curated by their very own trip experts. They meet with local leaders and responsible tour operators to surface the best experiences possible.

Every experience has been designed to be immersive, memorable, unique, and more importantly be socially conscious. It’s really super easy: You can either find a curated experience collection or you can use their filters to find your best match.

Book easily, pay securely

Once you’ve decided which tour you’d like to join, Local Alike will inform you of the confirmation within 48 hours after their local friend accepts your booking. Payment is done on their website too!

Each tour’s price is determined by the local host and to keep it transparent, the Local Alike website adds a small management fee to support their operations.

The Local Alike website is able to take your bookings and process your payment with the help of Omise and PayPal. Your private and sensitive data are protected with the highest standards and regulations by VISA, Master, JCB, and American Express. All sensitive data is transmitted using TLS.

Share to earn travel credits.

Once you create an account with Local Alike, you can start sharing your personal referral link. Both you and your friends will receive travel credits when they create a new account. Share enough and you may be able to redeem a free trip with Local Alike!

Somsak “Pai” Boonkam

Somsak “Pai” Boonkam

The founder and CEO of Local Alike is Somsak “Pai” Boonkam, an Ashoka Fellow, a social enterprise building an online platform to connect travellers and locals through meaningful and authentic experiences. As a social enterprise, Local Alike uses community-based tourism as a form of development tool to solve local issues, preserve local culture, and generate additional income to local communities.

Prior to founding Local Alike, Pai worked at the Mae Fah Luang Foundation Under Royal Patronage. He was tasked with business development at Northern Thai communities under the Doi Tung Development Project.

Pai was born and raised in rural Thailand where he developed a deep appreciation for the ingenuity of indigenous culture and the role of sustainable development. He graduated with an MBA in Sustainability Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco, California. Pai has worked in a variety of cross-cultural settings. His goal is to bring the wisdom of indigenous people to the mass market in order to develop sustainable products that have a positive impact on the society.

Email: pai@localalike.com

Website: www.localalike.com

Ban Na Chok (Ho Chi Minh’s House)

Ho Chi Minh’s House

The first wave of Vietnamese immigration to Thailand began as early as the 18th century when Catholics fleeing religious persecution settled in Isan, followed generations later by compatriots escaping colonial repression and war. Because of its proximity to the border, the small village of Na Chok had become a vibrant Vietnamese community by 1925 when one of the world's greatest revolutionaries, Hồ Chí Minh, arrived. Uncle Ho who lived here from 1925 to 1930.

Here he lived in a cute wooden house which has been beautifully preserved and is open to the public. It is surrounded by trees (some planted by Uncle Ho himself).  The house is like stepping back in time. The two-bedroom house and Ho's desk and chair are authentic, and there are many other household items including an ancient radio.

Ho Chi Minh’s House

At this shrine everyday locals offer coffee and fruits to pay respect to him. Many Vietnamese nationals visit Ho Chi Minh’s House. 

There is a noodle restaurant not far away. Nearby is a museum dedicated to his memory with a rare collection of diaries and photographs. 

The village also has a home-stay programme where one can live and share tea with Uncle Ho's friends. There are about 150 Vietnamese-origin families in this village and some have been here since the time of King Rama III (1825-1851). 

Directions -  it is located on the outskirts of Nakhon Phanom.  Get the excellent map from the town's Tourist information office and follow signs to the Thai Vietnamese Friendship Village and find Uncle Ho's House.

Ho Chi Minh’s House

There is no admission charge, but there are two donation boxes where visitors can make a donation,

Ban Na Chok (Ho Chi Minh’s House)
Address: Nakhon Phanom–Sakon Nakhon Rd., Na Rat Khwai, Muang Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Phanom 48000 Thailand
Tel: +664252 2430
Open: Everyday, 08:00-17:00

EVENTS BY LUXPERIENCE RE-IMAGINED

IMAGE CREDIT: Camera Creations

Events by Luxperience enhances its annual program by offering a tailored product for the premium events market. In 2018, Luxperience has re-created its unique platform to connect event and incentive specialists, executive assistants and professional conference organisers with a collection of premium events products on Wednesday 19 September 2018.

“After extensive consultation with our attendees and key influencers, we have re-imagined our events offering,” said Luxperience Marketing Manager Claire-Ann Leo. “Designed with premium event specialists in mind, this forum will offer a condensed and rewarding experience in the form of the Events by Luxperience Showcase.”

This new experience will enable up to 50 event visionaries to meet with up to 15 exceptional event suppliers for a two hour session of intimate group presentations. The Events by Luxperience Showcase also includes the opportunity to participate in the educational and social program of the annual event.

WHERE: International Convention Centre, Hall 7 – MICE Marketplace
WHEN: Wednesday 19 September 2018
TIME: Full Day – 9:30 – 15:00 (includes educational session) | Half Day – 11:05 – 15:00

BUYERS CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
EXHIBTORS CLICK HERE TO EXPRESS INTEREST

Registrations for those interested in participating in the Events by Luxperience Showcase must be completed by 31 August 2018

For buyers and exhibitors who would like to be involved in the full Luxperience program, there are still options available with registrations closing 29 July 2018.

Luxperience is being held at the ICC Sydney 16-19 September 2018; connecting the world’s most exclusive travel providers dealing in luxury and experiential travel.

www.luxperience.com.au/

CHINESE AIRLINES FLY TO PATTAYA

Two Chinese airlines are starting scheduled services to U-tapao airport, 36 km south of Pattaya City on Thailand’s eastern seaboard.

Donghai Airlines started a scheduled service from Wanzhou to U-tapao at the end of May, while Kunming Airlines will launch a service from Kunming in July.

According to Airlineroute timetable information, Donghai Airlines is now flying three times a week to U-tapao (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The flights booked by Chinese tour groups heading for Pattaya depart Wanzhou at 1100 and arrive in U-tapao at 1345. The return flights leave U-tapao at 1500 and arrive in Wanzhou at 1940.

Wanzhou city is part of a district on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China with a population of a round 1,75 million residents. Governed under the Chongqing Municipality, Wanchou district borders Sichuan to the northwest and Hubei to the southeast.

Owned by Sichuan Airlines, Donghai Airlines is currently embarking on expansion by opening international flights starting with a flight to Darwin Australia and U-tapao in Rayong province Thailand. It will increase its fleet to 120 aircraft by 2025, including buying Boeing 787 Dreamliners and additional Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Meanwhile, Kunming Airlines adds its U-tapao service effective 1 July flying from Kunming to U-tapao on the eastern Gulf of Thailand coast four times a week.

The flights are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and geared to the holiday package market in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

Using a Boeing 737 aircraft the flights will depart Kunming at 1340 and arrive in U-tapao at 1540. The return flight will depart U-tapao at 1755 and arrive in Kunming at 2200, according Airlineroute information.

Read full article at TTRWeekly: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2018/06/chinese-airlines-fly-to-pattaya/

http://www.mekongtourism.org/

SECONDARY DESTINATIONS TAKE SPOTLIGHT IN TAT’S 2019 ACTION PLAN

Huay Mae Kamin waterfall in Srinakarin Dam National
Park, Kanchanaburi Province –
one of Thailand’s secondary destinations.

Driving visitor flows to provinces with less than four million annual trips and alleviating the negative impacts of tourism will be key challenges that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) seeks to address next year under its Action Plan for 2019.

Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT governor, said during a press conference earlier this week that the organisation seeks to better balance the economic value of inbound visitor arrivals with the socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism growth.

Promoting secondary tourist destinations has been identified as a new focus for TAT in 2019, coming on top of its existing three priorities – gastronomy, content marketing and environmental awareness.

Secondary tourist destinations
Travel routes will be created to boost the identity of and distribute visitor flows to secondary tourist destinations. TAT will work with the public and private sectors and local communities to review their willingness to receive visitors and assess their marketing needs.

Potential target groups include senior citizens and female travellers, who are showing good growth in terms of both volume and purchasing power; the millennials, who are adept at using social media to communicate powerful messages; and working executives, who will be targeted by a Travel on Weekday campaign to reduce the impact of peaks-and-troughs in daily and seasonal demand.

Gastronomy
Gastronomy will be a means of reaching out to local communities and experiences. Recent projects like the Michelin Guidebook 2019 will be used to promote Thailand as a gastronomic destination, with a second book expected to be launched this November.

Future activities will follow the Michelin Food Festival 2018, the first of its kind for high-end street food of Thailand, featuring chefs from Bib Gourmand Michelin-star restaurants. This project will be targetted at foodies and family travellers, both Thai and foreigners.

Content marketing
Apps such as Knowing Thai will be used to attract the “gurus” who can act as storytellers on Thai society, religion, history, culture and food, enhancing Thailand’s brand value through content marketing.

Environmental awareness
TAT will step up environmental consciousness by organising more clean-up projects to tackle the growing volume of tourism-generated waste. Next year, it will give more importance to corporate social responsibility by merging environmental consciousness into its working system both within and outside the organisation.

Read full article at TTGAsia: https://www.ttgasia.com/2018/07/11/secondary-destinations-take-spotlight-in-tats-2019-action-plan/

www.mekongtourism.org/

First intangible cultural heritage festival to be held in Tuyen Quang

The Tuyen Quang City Festival (Illustrative image)

The first festival on the world’s intangible cultural heritages and the Tuyen Quang City Festival will take place in the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang in September, promising to feature many cultural and artistic activities.

The first festival on the world’s intangible cultural heritages is expected to attract the participation of provinces from across the county, featuring globally-recognised Vietnamese intangible cultural heritages, including Thua Thien - Hue’s nha nhac (royal court music), the gong culture space in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands), Bac Ninh’s quan ho (love duet singing), Ca Tru ceremonial singing, Xoan singing, and Don Ca Tai Tu music, among others.

Meanwhile, the Tuyen Quang City Festival will also feature the participation of districts and cities in the province, as well as several international delegations and embassies from ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The opening ceremony is expected to be held on September 21, with many activities such as art programmes, exhibitions and workshops.

The events aim to honour and promote the national treasures of the intangible cultural heritages, contributing to the further implementation of the Resolution on 'building and developing Vietnamese culture and people, meeting the requirements for the country's sustainable development'. Furthermore, the events also aims to introduce the land, people and values of the cultural heritages of Tuyen Quang, especially the values of history and culture, to domestic and international visitors.

http://www.vietnamtourism.com/

A SIGHTSEEING EXCURSION: WHALE WATCHING WITH NEWPORT LANDING

Forty-two miles of stunning coastline await visitors to Anaheim and the greater Orange County area. Beyond the coast, however, lies an entire underwater world to explore. On your upcoming trip to Anaheim, climb aboard a Newport Landing passenger vessel bound for the open sea. Departing from a harborside port in Newport Beach, Newport Landing’s whale-watching cruises promise exciting on-the-water experiences for all ages.
Choose Your Own Adventure

Two cruise options through Newport Landing cater to both families and thrill-seekers. Large, spacious boats can carry up to 100 people at a time with on-board restroom facilities, snack bars and upper and lower viewing decks.

For adrenaline junkies over the age of 5, Newport Landing partners with sister company Newport Coastal Adventure to offer rides on smaller fast rafts that hit speeds of around 20 to 30 miles per hour. In addition to the thrilling roller coaster of a ride, the speed allows the captain to travel farther from shore if there’s an interesting animal sighting

“Our newest boat does have a cool TV screen behind the passengers, so when they fly the drone over the whales they can see what the drone pilot is looking at,” says Jessica Roame, Newport Landing’s head of marine education. “We try to incorporate a lot of visuals into the trip.”
Setting Sail

“Our boats will head out of Newport Harbor and it takes about 15 mins or so to exit the harbor,” Roame says. “You get million-dollar views of the yachts in the harbor and Pirate’s Cove, which is where they actually filmed parts of ‘Gilligan’s Island.’”

From start to finish, the entire tour aboard a larger vessel lasts approximately two to two-and-a-half hours. During the trip, the captain and onboard crew point out local landmarks and explain each animal sighting as the boat approaches.

“Most of our captains have been with us for more than a decade,” Roame says. “They’ll come over the PA to give you an idea of what’s going on, what they’re up to and the sightings along the way. … An onboard marine science naturalist with a degree in marine science or marine biology will bring artifacts and pictures and can talk to passengers one-on-one to help make your ex perience onboard more enriching”

Following international whale watching guidelines, Newport Landing’s boats can get within 300 feet of any animal. In the event an animal wants to come closer, the captain puts the boat in neutral and follows from a respectful distance. “There are many instances every day where these animals are coming closer to us because they’re curious, especially dolphins,” Roame says. “They will never hit our boat because of echolocation abilities, this allows dolphins to ride along in the wake that we make and play alongside our boat with ease.”
Marine Life Sightings

Newport Landing doesn’t use GPS or tracking devices to find marine life, so captains follow visual cues—such as birds hovering over the surface and diving for food—to identify the best spots for animal sightings.

“Recently, our sightings have been phenomenal,” Roame says. “Not only has the weather been perfect, but we’ve been encountering blue whales, the largest animal that lives on planet Earth.”

Blue whales in the northern hemisphere reach sizes of approximately 80 to 85 feet in length, larger than Newport Landing’s 100-passenger boats, according to Roame. A rare sighting in Orange County is the arrival of blue whales with calves, occurring in June usually through the end of August and September depending on the blue whales’ food source.

“There’s not much known about blue whale breeding, so to not only see a blue whale but one with a baby is incredibly special,” Roame explains. “Their babies alone are 26 feet long. They can literally drink 200 gallons of milk a day. They gain 10 pounds an hour.”

She says Orange County is a nonstop cycle of different whales popping up all year, with California gray whales migrating through the area in fall and spring and orcas through the end of December. Year-round, visitors can see fin whales and minke whales, as well as dolphins and sea lions.

“The cool thing about what we do is [that] every trip is different because we’re dealing with wild animals. … You won’t know what’s going to happen every day,” Roame says. “Our goal is to help [visitors] gain a better appreciation for animals in the area and continue to be ocean-minded about the daily things that they do. I think it will help protect these coastal waters for future generations.”

To book a cruise with Newport Landing, visit newportlanding.com. Advance reservations are highly recommended, though walk-ups can be accommodated on an as-available basis.

New kinetic technology sets Luna Park alight

cievents produced an incredible night of entertainment for Flight Centre’s annual NSW retail ball, bringing a different kind of circus to The Big Top at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park. Over 1,500 of Flight Centre’s management and staff gathered to recognise its high-achieving team members, and celebrate in grand carnival style.

cievents once again engaged the technology services of newly rebranded Encore Event Technologies, who used the opportunity to pull out all the stops for their progressive client, featuring their latest lighting innovation, kinetic lighting.

Responsible for the technology solution, Encore Event Technologies amplified cievents’ theme with creative lighting design for a flawless, high-impact experience.

Visitors were welcomed at Luna Park’s Big Top by a visual feast of dynamic, colourful lighting, using kaleidoscopic “dancing” kinetic spheres suspended from the ceiling as guests were absorbed in the carnival atmosphere. Hexagonal panels were configured in a dynamic formation and dramatic content projected as the backdrop for the stage performances. Six supersized-screens also projected with custom designed visual content to create a cohesive visual experience for the stunning event.

The kinetic lighting technology was choreographed to change colour and move in sync with a breathtaking opening performance by well-known aerialist, Debonair, leaving the crowd mesmerised.

The esteemed annual awards were presented to recognise the team’s achievements, broadcast across the room via the large-screens underneath the festoon-lighting, bunting and animated projections.

Jonathan Leggett, from cievents, says the production team are ecstatic with the night,

“We trust Encore to understand our brief and deliver seamless technology every time. We are constantly impressed with what the Encore team bring to the table.”

Michael Magafa, National Sales Director, Encore Event Technologies, agrees the team outdid themselves,

“Using our newest technology offering, kinetic lighting, gave us the opportunity to really elevate cievents’ vision for this event. We’re thrilled with the positive feedback we’ve received.”

This event represented Encore Event Technologies’ first major foray under the new brand since it was announced last week.

For more information, visit www.encore-anzpac.com