The hoodies were worn in support of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) and Virgin Blue’s four-year sponsorship of the program. This year was the AIME’s first National Hoodie Day, but was quite the success, with fellow supporters including: Ian Thorpe, Libby Trickett, The South Sydney Rabbitohs, The NSW Waratahs and Wendell Sailor; business man Andrew Forrest and entertainer Adam Spencer.

Check out Virgin Blue’s Facebook page for more information or go here to learn more about this great cause.

V Australia provided the main auction prize of the evening – two Business class tickets to from South Africa to Melbourne, including dinner at the newly-opened Maze Restaurant, located at the Crown Metropol, in Melbourne’s Southbank precinct.

The proceeds raised R80,000.00 (about AU$13,000) which went directly to the charity, Bobbi Bear, which looks after sexually abused children and those made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. The funds will help build a new safe haven home for local children.

It’s not often that a dinner can change lives, but the Gordon Ramsay dinner at Maze in the One&Only Resort in Cape Town, did just that. The deep love and unconditional support provided by the Bobbi Bear team is helping change children’s lives; making them feel and see hope, safety and a future.

Ashley & Jen (pictured left to right) took a break from the podium to help out at the V Australia booth

For the major North American stage races, only two girls are selected per race.  The girls travel throughout the duration of the Tour and assist the sponsors and athletes with the podium presentations each day  – presenting the winning jersey and the V Australia “kiss” to the cyclist winner that wins the stage.

Their job is extremely important, requiring a commanding stage presence and the confidence to lead presenters and athletes through the podium ceremony in front of a large crowd and media.   The V Australia Fly Girls also participate at the V Australia booth during the Lifestyle Festival where they greet guests, take pictures with fans, and promote V Australia’s product and service flying from Los Angeles to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.

Name: Jennifer Caudill
Age: 28
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

This is Jen’s 5th time serving on the podium!  She worked at the Tour of Georgia in 2005 and 2006 and at the Tour of Missouri in 2008 and 2009. Completing the 2010 Amgen Tour of California will make Jen the only young woman to serve as a podium hostess for all three major North American races. She grew up with the sport, is an avid cyclist and even writes a column for VeloNews.com.

Jen currently lives in Girona, Spain with her boyfriend, Garmin Transitions rider Steven Cozza.

Jen is a professional fashion model, freelance writer and photographer. When she isn’t in Girona, she can be found in Northern California or Atlanta, Georgia. Jen is also an animal lover. She enjoys volunteering with a variety of animal rescue organizations and is an accomplished equestrian.

Name: Ashley White
Age: 25
Hometown: Douglasville, GA

This is Ashley’s first time working as a podium hostess at a cycling tour.  She is a graduate of the University of Miami and was a Miami Dolphins cheerleader and a former news anchor.  Recently, Ashley went on a thrilling AFE Military Tour entertaining troops overseas in the Middle East.

Ashley has a toy poodle named Maggie that she loves taking to the dog park.

In addition to the V Australia water bottles we’ll be handing out, we’ll be raffling off a Fly V Australia team jersey at each stage. Be sure to stop by early, because just like the riders this gear moves fast, and supplies are limited.

A big shout out & congratulations to all the winners of our VIP pass giveaway. We can’t wait to see you, don’t forget your cameras.

We’d love to see any photos from the tour, post your favourites to our Facebook page.

Go V!

As the largest cycling event in America, the 2010 Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race, sponsored by V Australia, that challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course from May 16-23.

The goods we’ve got to share:

Multiple pairs of passes to: Stage 6 – V Australia Sponsored Stage
Friday, May 21st
Big Bear Lake, CA
Lifestyle Festival – 11:00am-4:30pm
Estimated time of rider arrival to the finish line – 2:54pm to 3:52pm

Two pairs of passes: Stage 7 – Individual Time Trial
Saturday, May 22nd
Los Angeles, CA – Downtown LA Live
Lifestyle Festival – 11:00am-4:30pm
Start 1:00pm – Finish 4:15pm

Two pairs of passes: Stage 8 – Tour Finish
Sunday, May 23rd
Thousand Oaks, CA
Lifestyle Festival – 11:00am-4:30pm
Estimated time of rider arrival to the finish line – 3:39pm to 4:10pm

As if  VIP access to various stages and locations was not fabulous enough, we’re making the entry super simple: leave a comment on this post telling us:

1. Why you want to go to the tour.

2. The name we should add to our VIP guest list

3. The stage you want to attend.

The first fans to post will be the first to win– we’ll count comments until we run out of passes! As always, extra points if you plan to cheer on Fly V Australia.

Note: no travel or lodging expenses are included, so this one is only for our mates in California.

Get posting and be sure to tell your friends. We’ll see you this weekend, Go V!

Check out our peek into the week that was!

As sponsors, nay as fellow party people, it is our duty to share the good news of Mardi Gras, so you don’t get left out. Allow us to prevent you from becoming the person that hears the same stories again and again but can’t participate, just has to smile and nod and isn’t tagged in any of the best Facebook photos because you weren’t there. But, I digress, the moral of the story is that you really, emphasis on really, do not want to miss out.

Because we want you to be prepared for all of the awesome that you will encounter at Mardi Gras we’re sharing a few of our favorite pictures from last year’s festivities.

While we can only imagine what the 2010 installment will deliver, we do know that we’d hate for you to miss out. No worries, there is still time to book your Mardi Gras holiday.

And the countdown continues….

The stars turned out in their droves to support V Australia’s MEL-LAX launch last week with a gaggle of Aussie celebs joining the inaugural flight including actors Vince Colosimo, Tim Campbell, Pippa Black, musicians Axle Whitehead and Jacob Butler, Balinese Princess Lindy Klim and of course the fabulous V Australia crew.

There was mid-air jamming sessions and plenty of fun and laughter on board the flight to LA before the big event at Chateau Marmont the evening we all arrived.

It was all very festive with an appearance by Santa and his helper who helped welcome guests on the red carpet.

Among the crowd were Sophie Monk, Yeardley Smith (aka Lisa Simpson), True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, Julian McMahon, Twilight’s Kellan Lutz, Jamie Durie and an array of former Neighbours stars now based in LA. They rocked the night away with the help of Human Nature who flew in from their sell-out show in Las Vegas to give some Motown lovin’ to the V Australia party goers and had the entire room dancing away. Guests also enjoyed Aussie fare including party pies and lamingtons to stay true to our Aussie roots and the V Australia crew proved a huge hit with the Guests as always. It was truly a fantastic event for our special celebrity guests, our corporate guests and industry friends and highlighted to LA that V Australia is the best choice for trans-Pacific flights.

Experience our rock star treatment for yourself and book a holiday!

Britney and her entourage of dancers, support singers, stage designers, “roadies”, technical support and management all flew with V Australia from the USA and arrived in Australia morning.

The Circus Tour is the first worldwide tour Britney has embarked on in five years and follows the highly successful release of Britney’s new album “Circus” which made its debut at number one in the USA. The first Australian concert will kick off in Perth at Burswood Dome this Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November before continuing on to:

Sydney at Acer Arena on 16, 17, 19 and 20 November

Brisbane at the Entertainment Centre on 22, 24 and 25 November

Adelaide at the Entertainment Centre on 29 November

Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on 11, 12, 13 and 27 November

V Australia Executive General Manager, Scott Swift, said, “We are delighted to be supporting Britney and look forward to giving her and her entourage “rock star” treatment on board V Australia.”

He continued, “Since we launched V Australia in February, we’ve been thrilled with the response. V Australia has hit the mark with a wide range of travellers including the niche celebrity travel market.”

“Much of that is due to superb service provided by our outstanding crew and careful design of our aircraft to include features such as our “Row 5 privacy suite” in International Business Class.”

V Australia’s sister airline, the award winning domestic carrier Virgin Blue will be flying the Circus Tour team between capital cities. The airline recently supported the Black Eyed Peas’ ‘The E.N.D World Tour’ in Australia.

To get us into a party mood, we’re offering one lucky WHO reader and a friend an exclusive invite to V Australia’s sexiest people party followed by the chance to experience the glamour and glitz of LA!

Grab a copy of WHO on sale from Friday October 30 and jump over to their site. To enter the comp, tell WHO in 25 words or less why LA is a hot and sexy place and vote which of our top ten favourite locations are on the must-see list for your LA journey.

For inspiration, here are some pics of the 10 LA hotspots on our hitlist.

The Grove

Malibu Pier

Pink's Hot Dogs

Rainbow Room

The Viper Room

Venice Beach

Rodeo Drive

Santa Monica Pier