Fulfilling adventure for tradies

By Emma Sun
TWO Casey tradies were part of the team that took home a Volkswagen Amarok ute after winning on the TV show Rok Adventure.
Mt Burnett resident Mark Pratt entered himself and his two workers, Berwick 27-year-old Daniel Rutter and 24-year-old Trevor James from Narre Warren North for the five-day adventure competition.
They dubbed themselves the Tricky Brickies and battled it out against the Three Wise Monkeys from NSW in a bid to win the vehicle.
They travelled from Bondi to Broken Hill and competed in a range of challenges, from extreme four-wheel driving in the Blue Mountains to building sheep yards in Orange.
Mr Pratt, who runs MLC Bricklaying and works for Fairhaven Homes based in Narre Warren, said it was a wonderful experience, which made up for what he didn’t get to do when he was younger.
“The best thing I took away from the experience was that I got to travel a part of Australia I would probably never have got to see with two mates,” he said.
“I left home at 15, was engaged at 18, bought a house by the time I was 20 and I’d never ever done those road-trips with a couple of mates, so when the opportunity arose, I thought it was perfect – a guys road-trip across central Australia.
“The fact I can take a week from being a family man, go away, have a bit of fun with two mates and possibly win a really good car, that’s what made it the most enjoyable.”
He thanked everyone, including his employer and he and his team-mates’ families, for their support during the filming and was glad they were able to have such an amazing experience.
“It was definitely worthwhile; those things don’t always come up, though I’d do it again in a heart beat,” he said. “Do I think anything else will come out of it, definitely not – there’s no career in television for us.”