FEATURE assistance somewhere that they really need help. Our Cambodia trip is all about getting up there and helping out, but also getting a chance to enjoy what Cambodia has to offer – so there’s lots of time off to go and experience the place. Work is usually scheduled between 9am and 3.30-4pm, so it’s not complete full days. “A lot of the volunteering projects available are quite hard core and really more geared to adults, whereas we wanted to give this a lighter mix more suited to a 17 year-old or 18 year-old school leaver.” These trips are a far cry from the Lorne after-school trip (Schoolies wasn’t really a thing then) with four girls and four bulging suitcases packed into my tiny Ford Laser I went on many years ago. We left armed with what little cash we could scrape together and winning smiles to compensate for the lack of the photo ID as our way into the local pubs and bars. It was cheap and cheerful… but no comment on “It’s a new concept any booze-free element! These trips are an altogether other kind of holiday, with school leavers staying in luxury in beautiful tropical locations.
on anti-social behaviours, and we send people home every year for this. It’s only one or two, but there’s always a couple of kids that come for the wrong reasons and they soon get sent home.” It was all sounding very highly structured, but Jot pointed out that within some admittedly strict parameters, how kids spent their time on the trips was really up to them. From lazy days on the beach to day trips to neighbouring islands and plenty of water sports, and with a stock of DJs flown in from Australia and themed party nights when the sun goes down, I could see the attraction. These trips are a big operation, with 60 staff covering the trips, which all work on a ratio of one adult to every seven school-leavers. Unleashed Travel also fly over Red Frog volunteers for additional support.
The Red Frogs is a volunteer organisation that does a lot of work on the Gold Coast and around Australia and the concept of over Schoolies and advocates positive life choices and safety your kids going overseas can be scary, but once they find out that we’re escorted, messages around drugs and alcohol to teens and young adults. that we charter the whole island,
and that we have bag searches, controls “The enjoyment for me is seeing these on alcohol or alcohol free, most parents “Initially, when kids come home and kids have a great time and to not want say, ‘I want to go to Fiji,’ or ‘I want to to leave. Seeing them hugging the see it as safer than going up to the go to Vanuatu for Schoolies,’ I’m sure local Fijian staff and crying because Gold Coast in our own country.” they meet with a bit of resistance,” they don’t want to go, the true feeling Jot said. “It’s a new concept and the of that amazing,” Jot said. concept of your kids going overseas can be scary, but once they “The whole year for us builds up to the end of the year, and when find out that we’re escorted, that we charter the whole island, and you see these guys have a really great time, and they’re not that we have bag searches, controls on alcohol or alcohol free, endangering themselves and just having good clean fun, that’s most parents see it as safer than going up to the Gold Coast in our what gives us the satisfaction.” own country. We have a lot of staff and a lot of security. We have a police presence and doctors and nurses and we have a no drugs And the market for good clean fun amongst young adults is a policy as well. strong one. Jot said that while the growth in the company has been amazing, it hasn’t come as a surprise. “The drug culture amongst youth is actually quite rampant, so we’re lucky that we are overseas and they have to get through “I think we were all very confident that we could grow quite rapidly. two sets of customs, as well as our bag searches. They also don’t We knew that we had a really good product and that over the years really get to spend any major amount of time by themselves on the we could make it even better. I see that growth continuing over the mainland – it’s pretty much straight off the plane, on to the bus, on next five to ten years,” he said. to the boat and on to the island. So we’ve never had any instances of drugs and we intend to keep it that way. “We also have a zero tolerance policy on bullying, on fighting and
DAVINA MONTGOMERY
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