about
Hi, I’m Cara, the owner and operator of take you there tours.
Tourism and guiding people have always been a part of who I am. Born into a family with over 40 years of experience in the travel industry I started young.
At the age of ten I was flying around the country solo attending sporting events. My Dad says this is where I first caught the travel bug.
At the age of twelve my sisters and I ran farm tours around our backyard for family and visitors from overseas.
I finished school and went on to study adventure tourism. Looking back I think I mastered more of the adventure than the study component, but believing that one must always keep their options open, completely out of left field I then decided to open and operate my own boutique florist shop. I loved that job, but after ten years of having my feet planted in a shop I was itching for adventure again.
My family’s adventure tourism business was picking up pace and we needed extra guides, so I put my hand up to throw on a backpack and answer the call to action.
I followed my aunt around the world as her 2IC, learning the ropes, attending trade shows and specialising in trekking holidays to remote destinations. This time round I really did do the study and take it all in. It wasn’t long before I was ready to take the reins and take on a role as a head guide.
I’ve lead people to the most incredible destinations and guided them on unforgettable journeys. Up the glacier and volcanic route of Mt Kilimanjaro, the O circuit of Patagonia, across the famous Kokoda track and to the summit of Mt Wilhelm, the highest peak in Oceania Australasia to name a few. The destinations were world class but it was the clients who made every trip unforgettable and I remember every guest who has ever trekked with me.
Travelling the world for work is a privilege I don’t take for granted. Spending weeks at time with a back pack on my back brings me a lot of joy, but its always nice to have a home base to come home to. That feeling of home for me is Perth, Western Australia. I’m based right in the city centre overlooking the Swan River. I can tell you the best rooftop bars to watch the sunset from, which restaurants have the best local ingredients and where to access the most beautiful walking trails. I know which historic buildings bear the scars of our convict history, when the Perth designer stores have their sales and who sells the best champagne by the glass.
But it’s not all city hustle and bustle. That sister I mentioned before, who helped me run our ‘very professional farm tours’ moved two hours north of Perth to the rural countryside of the Turquoise Coast. She and I somehow found ourselves offering (slightly more professional) tours once again, this time to our family and friends visiting Western Australia from afar.
Thats is when it suddenly dawned on me, ‘why is our own back yard not something we are offering in our tourism business?’ This was my light bulb moment, when it occured to me that take you there tours was what I wanted to do.
Unlike trekking holidays, this business needed wheels rather than waterproof boots so with the help of my mechanical brother in law I purchased a 4 wheel drive van. We kitted it out with fridges, promo TV screens and built an internal storage system that caters to tourism.
Everything else just sort of fell into place after that and with my itineraries ready to go, I launched the take you there tours website. Adverts went up online, booking software was in place and over time the seats began to fill up. My little dream was becoming reality.
It’s my greatest joy to see my clients enjoying the place I call home. I don’t necessarily want you to feel like you’re on a tour, I’d rather you feel like you’re traveling with an old friend for the day.
I run this business the same way I like to travel and with the same principles I’ve leant throughout my life. I keep it small, I keep it authentic, I believe in old fashioned customer service and that sometimes the journey is just as good as the destination.
I’ll sign this message off with phrase a good friend of mine would often use when I would bring trekkers into the jungle to trek the mountains of his ancestors’ land. “The gate to my backyard is open, you are always welcome.”
So wherever in WA you have your heart set on seeing, it would be my great pleasure to take you there.
Your Tour Guide,
Cara
book your next adventure
If you’d like to experience the delights of the West Australian Wheatbelt and Turquoise Coast, see what tours we currently have scheduled – or get in touch and create your own.