Category Archives: General

Mar 21 2013

Feel the love in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand

Beautiful and majestic New Zealand.  Famous for Hobbits, sheep (ha ha), epic snow and now voted the NUMBER ONE friendliest place for tourists in the world. Equal with Iceland ( but who wants to go there. It’s too cold, brrrr.)

This year’s “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” ranked 140 countries based on attractiveness and competitiveness in the tourism and travel industries.

One of the rankings looked at how welcome tourists were in each country on a scale of one to seven, categorised as “Attitude of population toward foreign visitors”.

In the overall Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index – which is “based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector” – Europe dominated the top five positions with Switzerland, Germany and Austria in the respective top three.

Switzerland has held the top spot since the index began five years ago. All until now. Congratulations New Zealand, you’re legends and all so friendly!
Kiwi's. Friendly buggers aren't they?

Kiwi’s. Friendly buggers aren’t they?

Friendliest
1. New Zealand 6.8
2. Iceland 6.8
3. Morocco 6.7
4. Macedonia, FYR 6.7
5. Austria 6.7
6. Senegal 6.7
7. Portugal 6.6
8. Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.6
9. Ireland 6.6
10. Burkina Faso 6.6

Thinking of heading to New Zealand. Well why not? It’s full of amazing things to see and do. With beautiful rolling hills, high snowy peaks and all the way down to its amazing sandy shores, New Zealand pretty much has it all covered. Especially the FRIENDLY part.

Shotover Jet. A river cruise it's not!

Shotover Jet. A river cruise it’s not!

The Luge in Rotorua, North Island

The Luge in Rotorua, North Island

Check out Peterpans in Queenstown, South Island. Or give them a call on +64 3 4427224 to book tours and accommodation or just get some friendly kiwi advice.

Happy travels.

From the Peterpans team.

Mar 8 2013

Triple J Road Trip Relay

Triple J Road Trip Relay

Triple J Road Trip Relay

Last year Triple J (a radio station in Australia) came up with the Road Trip Relay. They called out to their listeners to Instagram, photograph and video document their travels around Australia over summer 2012/2013.  Over 2000 listeners replied to the call and hit the road over the last summer.  All they while documenting their amazing travels.

Esperance, WA

Esperance, WA

Mossman Gorge, QLD

Mossman Gorge, QLD

Triple J picked the cream of the crop and made a great documented road trip traveling around and through Australia through the eyes of regular people. This is a great every day persons point of view of this wonderful country.  Showing off hidden spots around Australia. Real stories with real people is what it’s all about.

If you are planning to hit the road and travel around Australia this is a must see. Click on Road Trip Relay video to watch these amazing trips. Before you get your road trip on, pop into one of our 19 stores around Australia to book your trip, camper van, accommodation and more to make your trip around Australia a memorable one. Or check out the Peterpans Adventure Travel site for more travel info.

Happy travels

From the Peterpans Crew

Cable Beach, WA

Cable Beach, WA

If you are planning to hit the road and travel around Australia this is a must see.  This link explains it all Road Trip Relay.  Before you hit the road, pop into one of our 19 stores around Australia to book your trip, camper van, accommodation and more to make your trip around Oz a memorable one. Or check out the Peterpans Adventure Travel site

Mar 7 2013

Sculptures by the Sea

Paper boat sculpture from last years Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach.

Paper boat sculpture from last years Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach.

Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia in on today the 8th March. Sculpture by the sea has come from humble beginnings.  Starting out in 1997 in Bondi on a shoestring budget to a much sort after annual event. 2005 saw the  launch of Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe, held annually at Cottesloe Beach, Perth on Australia’s Indian Ocean coast. With its sunsets, long horizon and the gorgeous pocket of beach near Indiana Tea House it’s a wonderful location.

Ken Unsworth sculpture for Cottesloe 2013

Ken Unsworth sculpture for Cottesloe 2013

Ghostnets Crocodile

Ghostnets Crocodile at Cottesloe 2013

If you’re in Western Australia make sure you check out Sculpture by the Sea. Don’t stop there though. WA is amazing and us here at Peterpans Adventure Travel are happy to help you out with your travel needs.  Come into our Perth store and have a chat to one of our friendly staff at 225 William St, Northbridge.

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, to be staged along the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama in Sydney, Australia from 24 October – 10 November, 2013. If you’re in the area around this time, be sure to check it out.

 

 

 
Feb 26 2013

Whitehaven Beach. Come see Australia’s Best!

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Iskand

Whitehaven Beach has been named third Best Beach in the World.  It came pretty close behind a remote beach in Sicily, Italy called Rabbit Beach and Grace Bay, Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.

Rabbit Beach in Sicily

Whitehaven Beach is on Whitsunday Island in the beautiful Whitsundays off the coast of Queensland.  With over seven kilometres of pristine sand along the island you will see why it has been named the Best Beach in the World in previous years.

Beaches in Brazil, Spain, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Aruba also featured in the top 10, praised for their white sands and swaying palm trees.

There was one big surprise in the Trip Advisor list: coming 10th was Rhossili Bay in Swansea, Wales, which beat beaches in Hawaii, the Caribbean and more exotic locations to make the top 10 list.

Rhossili Bay, on the Gower Peninsula, stretches for five kilometres and its vast expanse of sand backed by sand dunes and towering cliffs make it popular with surfers, paragliders and ramblers.

Heart Shaped Reef, Whitsunday Islands

You too can experience the breathtaking Whitsunday Islands and walk the amazing Whitehaven beach with our deals and packages at Peterpans  or head into your closest store for deals like our 11 night Atlantic Clipper East coast package. Sail the islands and swim with the beautiful sea life in the crystal clear waters of  the Whitsundays.

Whitehaven Beach

The Top 10 beaches in the world:

1. Rabbit Beach, Sicily – Italy

2. Grace Bay, Providenciales – Turks and Caicos

3. Whitehaven Beach, Queensland – Australia

4. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha – Brazil

5. Flamenco Beach (Playa Flamenco), Culebra – Puerto Rico

6. Playa de las Catedrales, Ribadeo – Spain

7. Lopes Mendes Beach, Ilha Grande – Brazil

8. Horseshoe Bay Beach, Southampton Parish – Bermuda

9. Eagle Beach – Aruba

10. Rhossili Bay, Rhossili, Swansea – Wales, UK

Feb 26 2013

What’s HOT in the Valley, Brisbane.

If you’re in Brisbane at the moment and are stuck for things to do, here’s a few things we highly suggest you check out in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Steak and chips at the Tempo Hotel

A Great Deal, at the Tempo Hotel!

Buy a drink and get a steak, salad and chips for only $8.50!

Tempo Hotel
388 Brunswick St
Fortitude Valley

2 minutes walk from Peterpans and Bunk in the Valley!

Fender Guitar and Amp Roadshow
Free Event The Fender® Roadshow
Friday, 1 March 2013 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
420 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley

‘The Fender® Roadshow is a unique opportunity to see, hear, feel and play the latest Fender guitars and amps, as well as a selection of the finest Custom Shop models.’

Family Nightclub.
Dance up a storm at The Family Night Club
8 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley

This multi level night club is one of the hottest spots to head out in the Valley. Pumping beats and a crazy crowd!

Remember to come and see us at the Peterpans store on 1st Floor, Cnr Herschel and George Street in Brisbane for all your travel needs.

Regards,
Emily

Feb 25 2013

Get WET in Cairns with Raging Thunder Rafting!

Raging Thunder
The Barron River flows east from the tablelands and to the coral sea, north of Cairns.  It’s also a fantastic place to go rafting with our friends at Raging Thunder Tours. With all the rain we’ve had lately the river has become rougher and more challenging.  Perfect to get your helmet and life jacket on and charge down the rapids with the Raging Thunders tour guides.
Standard preparation to get ‘wet and wild’ ready for rafting involves the following :

 

- protective helmets

-life jackets

-plastic/old shoes

- most important… raft and paddles!

Raging Thunder River Rafting

Raging Thunder Tours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t have a raft, or any crazy friends to take you? But you want to try rafting and check out what all the hype is about?  Come see us at Peterpans and we can arrange a day & time where you can go out with expert raft guides!

Trips start from $140 for half a day & $195 for full day :)

Feb 20 2013

What’s a Puggle?

Baby Platypus Peterpans Adventure Travel Austtralia

Image via Dr. Carin Bondar – Biologist With a Twist.

 

It’s a baby platypus… the cutest things EVER! (Sometimes they’re referred to as “Platypups”. Equally adorable!)

The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal and can be found up and down the entire Eastern coast of Australia, including in Tasmania. Kind of looking luck a cross between a beaver, an otter and a duck (a “Beavottuck??”), they may be as cute as a button, but the males are also venomous, having a sharp barb on their rear feet that they can administer a poisonous jab to predators with. Ouch!

The platypus (female, obviously) is one of only two mammals that lay eggs, the other being the Echidna. They’re a weird mob here in Australia.

If you’re heading to Northern Queensland, you might even see some on this tour.

 

 

 

Feb 18 2013

We Love Cairns!

Thinking of heading to up north?  Make sure you stop in Cairns, the backpackers’ playground. With lush rain forests, beautiful coastline and access to tropical island and the Great Barrier Reef, you’re spoilt for choice.

Cairns Lagoon by Night

Few freebies to do in Cairns

Few freebies to do in Cairns

So you’ve already fallen in love with the Cairns Lagoon and you actually want more besides the sun and the great perv?  How about trying one of these bad boys out, free on the Esplanade!

P.S. Don’t forget your sunscreen!

Get involved with our 2day/2night Atlantic Clipper Whitsunday Party Boat. So amazing you will want to get out and get inked!  Here’s one of our good looking customers from Sydney. He had such a good time on the Atlantic Clipper that got branded on his leg “King Of The Clipper”.  A title he quite rightly won.

Atlantic Clipper

The Atlantic Clipper

King of the Clipper

King of the Clipper

Put this one on your “Bucket List”. Eat a green ant!

Like a lime, but with legs.

Like a lime, but with legs.

I highly believe that anyone that lives in Far North Queensland should tick the box of “licking a green ants bum”.  What ,’lick a green ants bum’ you say? I know right! BUT from when I was a young “takka” we all have had a crazy fetish to put these grumpy little ants in our mouths!

Why?  They have a lime or a citrus flavour. If you  run out of the occasional lime for your coronas, why not go the green ant?  Out camping in the bush and have run out of bug repellent?  This will sound crazy but, how about get a load of them crawl on you and rub them into your skin?  Hey Presto, no more bugs!

These guys have even been used by the aboriginals for remedies of colds/flus by boiling them in hot water and even grounding them into a paste and applying to the chest area.

The Green Ant. The solution to so many problems.

I know that we all have our favourite places in the world but I feel forever fortunate to grow up in a place like Cairns. We are surrounded by rainforest, reef, culture, the sense of adventure and the need to explore. Right on our doorstep! I make sure I take advantage of this by rafting, diving, skydiving, hiking, hunting, and fishing just to name a few.

Monday for my friends and I is activity day, today we will be rafting the Barron.  Stay tuned next week for our crazy pics!


Over and Out – Peterpans Cairns Blogger
Chelsea-Anne Cooke xxx

Sep 5 2012

The end of the beginning

20120905-200153.jpg
“I want to get away, I want to fly awaaaay!” Eight months ago I was editing my winning movie with Lenny Kravitz’ Fly Away to win a 6 month holiday to Australia. Who could ever imagine seeing that add on Facebook, putting a lot of my time in making that video and listening to those fly away words would bring me to the point where I am now: the luckiest person in the world after traveling all over Australia for free! And now it is finished…

And how I lived! Absolutely EVERY possible Australian tour, EVERY inch of Australian soil and EVERY drop of Australian ocean I felt, did and saw and Peterpans took all the effort in their power to make me feel at home & highly appreciated. I am not lying if I say I have felt lucky seriously every minute of those six months and thinking about that time wakes up the butterflies in my belly instantly.

I can look at my pictures forever and ever and get reminded of all those amazing things I’ve done. Skydiving at Mission Beach, bungy jumping in Cairns, rafting in Tully, Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, swimming with wild dolphins, snorkelling with whalesharks, surfing in Byron Bay, horseriding in Cape Tribulation, jetskiing in Surfers Paradise, hiking in Victoria, sailing in the Whitsundays, dirt-road driving at Fraser Island, partying all over the coast, biking at Rottnest Island, abseiling in Karijini, holding a koala, feeding kangaroos…there is too much to mention! And let’s not forget all the wonderful things I’ve seen!

I made friends from all over the world and learnt about love, life and happiness but most of all about myself. I know it is a cliché but traveling really made me a different person. I can’t repeat enough how happy I’ve felt the past half year and it keeps going! Although I am working at the moment, this trip will always leave its marks in my life.

I want to thank all the awesome sponsors and Peterpans Adventure Travel in particular to have made this all happen to me. From the moment I stepped on Australian ground I felt at home and everybody around me made me feel really special. And it’s not even finished, because Peterpans offered me a job! My adventure continues… and so does this blog. I will post more videos about my journey and stories about my work at a cattle station :)

Special thanks to ANZ, Ocean Freedom, Red Earth Safaris, Skydive Australia, Bunyip and Aquarius Backpackers for putting money in my bank account, to Optus for supplying my iPhone and to Area4Work for supplying my GoPro camera!

“I did really fly, into the sky, so very high, just like a dragonfly.
I flew above the trees, over the seas in all degrees, to everywhere I pleased…”

To book you tours check out the website at www.peterpans.com