WILDfestTM
The Wildest Ride for Founder Amanda Fry

A weekend like no other - WILDfestTM 2017 introduces a remarkable 3-day program of wilderness adventure experiences like never before; each artfully curated to connect people with The Wild in a way that moves them by creating moments of awe, wonder and sheer magic. Founder Amanda Fry is a force of nature in her own right with a veracious passion for conservation. WILDfestTM is a game-changer yet the vision for this mammoth undertaking was conceived from the most unremarkable of beginnings.

For Amanda, the 'aha' moment that ultimately set WILDfestTM in motion was seeing the wonder in her niece and nephew's faces following an encounter with some of her wildlife rescue friends fauna. “From that moment forward Aunty Mandy could walk on water in their eyes” Amanda recalls. It was a real eye opener for Amanda who spent most of her adult life in the heady world of International celebrity but having grown up in Sydney was always off enjoying weekends in country NSW or travelling to wilderness destinations around the globe chasing wildlife encounters from Rwanda to Galapagos to explore the great outdoors. Buying a house in the southern highlands 4 years ago it reminded her just how beautiful NSW was and how rare such connections with nature had become for the digital generation.

One of Amanda celebrity assignments saw her trekking in Vietnam to experience an encounter with the endangered Black Gibbons and this ignited Amanda's heart for conservation so much so, that it became the driving force in her professional and life path.

“the group I worked with in Vietnam felt it was too late to influence the baby boomers on mass with the strong medicinal culture wildlife represented and that the best hope for these magnificent creatures and other endangered species in the region was to engage up-and-coming generations. So they started a program in the Wild in a way that got millennial's connected with at a deep level to change the culture of wildlife protection. I knew then and there that I wanted to play a part in making that happen in some way and the best place to start was at home in Australia.” Amanda said.

That passion ultimately landed Amanda at a conference for Change Makers Rule Breakers with Richard Branson on Necker Island, along with a host of other entrepreneurs and trail-blazers. Honouring her heart for The Wild, Branson arranged for Amanda to accompany his zoology team visiting another of his islands, dedicated to re-populating several endangered species of Lemur.

“It's an indescribable feeling to trek into raw forest and be swarmed by these beautiful, playful creatures that come out of nowhere at the game keeper's call. Just a magical moment. That feeling of absolute awe for the wonder of nature is what I want people to experience at WILDfestTM and Joadia is home to large populations of Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, platypus, kookaburra's, monitors and birds of prey” Amanda said.

Returning home with an overwhelming sense of the profound possibilities for a wilderness experience unique to Australia, Amanda unplugged from her fast-paced professional life path and made the permanent move to the NSW Southern Highlands where WILDfestTM became her raison d'etre.

“Being in the Highlands where outside the towns and historical villages there's are great pockets of wilderness with no wifi reception to speak of became a sort of became imposed stillness meditation for me.” She says. “I needed to un-plug, re-boot and re-connect with the wild by immersing completely in the environment and it showed me how many places there are just 2 hours from Sydney to get lost in nature.”

New connections with equally wild-at-heart individuals ensued – Like Canadian-born mountain-man Travis Frenay of Paddle & Portage, whose love of The Wild lured him from upper New York State to Australia's Southern Highlands where he has joined forces with Amanda to re-imagine luxury canoe-rigs. These vessels are designed to glide through the magical sunken forest off Kangaroo Valley's Beehive Point while enjoying forest canapés and champagne – and are exclusive to WILDfestTM ! Also the wildly-creative Damien Monley who answered the call of the wild himself in stepping away from success in the Sydney café scene to get his hands dirty in the vineyards and fields of the Highlands.

And it was in the southern highlands that Amanda met like minded and now business partner Lynne Shaw. Having both come from the corporate fast paced life of communications in Sydney they bonded over their delight in really starting to understand how spectacular and unknown this region is. From there Lynne joined Amanda on her quest and WILDfestTM became a reality.

The venture has been met with enthusiastic support by tourism bodies, travel companies and corporate partnerships, responding to the growing market for experiential wellness travel. Tourism Australia's Consumer Demand Project Nature Report identifies Australia's greatest strength as being “World Class Nature” with “Nature and Wildlife” ranking highest, above “food and wine” for appeal with Asian and European visitors!

NSW alone received 25.3million international and domestic nature-based visitors in 2015 while wellness tourism accounted for 15.6% of total tourism revenues.

“Travellers are looking for real-time, authentic, experience-led holidays. You have to go beyond offering a destination and craft an experience which is what WILDfestTM is all about. It's an innovative way to interact with the Australian landscape; to let loose,

have fun and disconnect from your working life. We are building a brand that will evolve and grow each year. This is definitely NOT your average weekend in the country!”

The WILDfestTM 2017 experience includes:

• The 3-day, all-inclusive remote glamping experience with concierge in Joadja Old Town that weaves storytelling, food

  & wine and the whimsical into a refreshing itinerary

• Wild Canoe Exploration of The Sunken Forest with forest canapés and champagne that is as indulgent as it is beautiful

• Wild Native Feast - the signature WIldfest event, dining out under the milky way in a magical wilderness setting amid the ruins of an old mining settlement at Joadja.

  With more offers to come from a Pop-Up Restaurant to Mountain Biking in Morton National Park.

  Having traversed the globe in pursuit of the ultimate adventure experience, Amanda has personally hiked and harvested, peddled and paddled, abseiled, climbed and tasted every element of the WILDfestTM offering, enabling her to fully customise each experience so that each moment unfolds as a magical and memorable encounter with The Wild that will leave adventure-seekers and nature-lovers deeply moved. Most of the equipment has been created exclusively for WILDfestTM - such as the Wild Canoes. Each WILDfestTM activation delivers a delicate balance of wildly exciting and untamed yet enjoyable exploration.

  It's a first for Australia and the world !

  For further information or to access a gallery of images contact WILDfestTM publicist Tina Irving m: 0403487179 e: Tina@solitaireaustralia.com.au
  www.wildfest.com.au