Sean Blocksidge is the owner operator of the Margaret River Discovery Company, a small high-end gourmet eco touring business that he refers to as “the tour for people who don’t do tours”.
I met Sean at a recent Social Media conference in Wollongong where he and I were both speakers.
He started his business in 2008, the beginning of the global financial crisis and quickly blew through $100k in marketing and advertising before realising that social media was a path to success. He shares his guest experiences through photos so that is where we found our “Common Ground”.
In recent years Sean has won Western Australia’s highest accolade for a tour guide, the Golden Guide, and his tours have held the #1 position on Tripadvisor as the best thing to do in all of Australia, regularly outranking the Harbour Bridge climb or a visit to the National Gallery.
“I grew up in a suburban semi rural area called Wanneroo. Yes, wanna roo? It was here I learned the art of adventure ….. or more accurately misadventure. We played in the drains, caught snakes in the swamp, and raced skateboards on the freshly laid skin shredding asphalt of the ever expanding Perth suburbs.
My folks continued to move further and further from the city to maintain their love of the Aussie bush. Along the way we accommodated a joey kangaroo, a goat, a sheep, several dogs, some parrots, mice, hermit crabs, cats, guinea pigs, pigeons and itinerant snakes that occasionally visited the mice. The pet cemetery was extensive. My parents dragged us with them on their journey and along the way I developed an affinity with the bush.
Later I headed back into the lil big smoke, Perth, to study and develop a career in the tourism industry. I specialised in business and beer appreciation. The university honor roll reflects neither of these personal achievements.
I spent several years indoctrinated in Hyatt Hotel customer service, “yes maamm”. And went on to manage a big hotel and a small winery. Along the way I travelled a lot, three times round the world, but Canada mostly, applying my very average skateboarding skills to snow.
Those early misadventures led to a number of lessons along the way; a near drowning on a boogie board, a skewering on my bike forks, fractured skull, somewhat lost in the Yukon wilderness, frozen in a snow cave, chased by a Tiger Snake and a Rattlesnake on two continents, several close encounters with bears and amazingly not a single stitch from any incident. Mostly they taught me to take calculated risks and extract the most from every living day. And use GPS.
Having made lots of money for other people I decided to take my biggest risk so far and open my own business; at the end of the tourist season and the start of a financial crisis. The calculated risk was how could I go wrong in Margaret River, a paradise on earth. And here I am, all grown up, booked out tours every day and having the time of my life.
I feel incredibly privileged to share such a special place through photos and experiences.”
So if you are heading to Margaret River look Sean up….you can contact him here:
Sean Blocksidge Ph: 0439 9100 64
www.margaretriverdiscovery.com.au
