Following TAG Cares’ very successful trip taking musical instruments, audio and lighting to the remote Indigenous Community of Amata in the South Australian Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, part 2 of the tour takes the #Ampervan, now with dLive on board, off on adventures of its own!
“500 kilometres of dirt roads in the South Australian desert left the #Ampervan with a taste for more!” said Stephen Bray, Allen & Heath Brand Manager at Australian distributor Technical Audio Group (TAG). “Someone said, there’s plenty of people in regional Australia who are interested in Allen & Heath mixers, why don’t we pack a dLive and SQ into the #Ampervan and go visit them. So, we did.”
Keen to see some open spaces, inner-city cat and TAG NSW Sales Manager James McKenna, took the first long haul from Alice to Darwin. Along the way he dropped into Barkly Regional Arts (BRA) in the remote town of Tennant Creek. “Through a mutual friend, I hooked up with BRA’s Jeffrey McLaughlin and was amazed at the scale and scope of the BRA program.” Enthused James. BRA provides an interface between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures with assistance and programs to over 800 people throughout the region. On their books are visual artists, musicians, traditional Indigenous singers, dancers and writers. “It was a great meeting and I was humbled by the quality of work and the passion of the BRA team.”
Back in the #Ampervan, James had Darwin in his sights, a neat 1000 kms due north, where Peter Bayfield, TAG’s South Australian & Northern Territory Sales Manager, eagerly awaited. “It’s a long, lonely road so I was sitting in Darwin with several fingers crossed.” Said Peter. “But #Ampervan and James came through, which was lucky as several customers were very keen to get in front of the dLive and it’s unwise to disappoint Territorians – most of them have pet crocodiles!”
The territory survives on a bit of FIFO so, as Peter and James flew out, TAG Director Maxwell Twartz flew in for the next leg. “Doesn’t the road from Darwin to Mount Isa go through the Kakadu World Heritage National Park?” Questioned Max, and #Ampervan eagerly agreed.
2000kms (and a few twigs and locusts in the front grille) later Max flew out of Mount Isa, and the heavy hitters of Team Allen & Heath flew in. Stephen Bray and Mix Wizard Andrew Crawford took the next leg from Mount Isa to Cairns but not before a successful visit to the Mount Isa Civic Centre and a less than successful visit to the local RSL for an Anzac Day game of two-up!
With a string of dLive demos scheduled in Cairns, #Ampervan had no time to lose. Unfortunately, roads through outback Queensland are no places to hurry, and a couple of beers in Normanton’s Purple Pub, a glimpse of the Gulf of Carpentaria at Kurumba and a very lonely coast-to-coast 750kms across the bottom of the Cape York Peninsular meant #Ampervan was dodging kangaroos well past dusk on the run into Cairns.
“Over the last couple of hectic weeks Steve and I have been demoing in Cairns, Townsville, Ayr and Arlie Beach as the #Ampervan steadily heads south.” Said Andrew, before quickly adding. “We will, of course, be stopping wherever a well-toured dLive and an adventurous little Fiat van with a big ‘&’ on its rear door is welcome.”
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