Highlights of an Unmapped Roadtrip of NSW

I have just got back from a 31 day mission around New South Wales as part of a new innovative approach to Tourism Marketing. The campaign took a unique angle for targeting the youth market by inviting four influencers from four of its key target destinations, being UK, US, Canada and New Zealand.

We were asked to interact with the Visit NSW Facebook and Twitter communities, asking them where to go, what to do and who to see.

Starting off at Mardi Gras in Sydney on March 1, we ended up back in Sydney on March 31 after travelling 3600 kilometres and pulling 56 u turns. All in all, a whole lot of fun was had.

And there is more to follow, including a MTV produced documentary due to be completed in May, with a newly revamped youth page for Visit NSW, which will host a lot of the content produced from the trip.

In the meantime, having just got back on Sunday, I thought I would take the opportunity to quickly highlight five of the moments that stood out for me from the trip.

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Eating the World's Hottest Chilli

The hardest I laughed all trip. We turned up to this little balinese styled villa in the middle of Hunter Valley, after being challenged on the Facebook page to eat the world's hottest chilli. It was hot. Real hot.

Quad Biking and Sand Boarding in Port Stephens

By far the most fun I had. Over three hours of riding up and over some of the biggest sand dunes I have ever seen. Sand boarding was a classic experience also. #fail

Surfing in Port MacQuarie

Being a passionate surfer, I was hoping to get plenty of waves in during the trip. This never eventuated due to our schedule not matching with mother nature. However, Wayne from MacQuarie Surf School took me and Ben the bus driver to a nice spot, where we got the only dawnie of the trip. It was pretty magical and reminded me why I loved surfing so much.

Guinea Pig Racing in Grenfell (pop 2400)

The community of Grenfell reached out to us on Facebook and rallied up enough influence for us to drive in land to the small farming community of Grenfell. In June each year, they have a festival which attracts thousands, and the highlight is always the Guinea Pig Race. Calling a horse race was something I have always wanted to do, this was as close as I will get I think.

Filming with MTV

As tedious as the back and forth, repeat with more energy became, the opportunity to work on a film set was something I really enjoyed and again, probably will never do again. But who knows.