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
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
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
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.
“Yeehaaa!” The busdriver Squatter wakens everybody up with his enthusiastic shout-out. It is 6.45 in the morning and we are still pretty tired. We are about to begin our 3 day journey to Sydney via Wilsons Prom, Mt Kosciuszko, Snowy River … Continue reading →
If you are in Victoria everyone will tell you to experience Philip Island. This small island is connected by a bridge to the mainland and houses the famous Australian penguins. These penguins return to their nests from the ocean at … Continue reading →
Tuesday 24th of January it was time for another Bunyip tour! This time I will discover Mornington Peninsula, just one hour away from Melbourne. We first stopped at Murray’s lookout, where you have a perfect view of the bay. In … Continue reading →
Yesterday it was Australia Day. On the 26th of January 1788 the first fleet arrived in Sydney. It is a national public holiday in Australia and there are a lot of parties everywhere. I met up with some people I … Continue reading →
When I arrived at Melbourne I heard I was going to do the Neighbours tour, but I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Apparently Neighbours is a popular Australian tv show that has been on television for … Continue reading →
Wow did I just love this trip!! I did the 3 day/2 night Great Ocean Road and Grampians with Bunyip Tours and it couldn’t have been better. Our trip started early in the morning and everybody in the bus was still a little bit quiet and sleepy, but that changed pretty soon as we got to know eachother. We had people from all over the world (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, USA, England) so it was nice mix of backpackers. Our first stop brought us to Torquay Surfcity (home of Rip Curl) where everybody got loose on the discounted surf accessoires.
Then the Great Ocean Road could begin! The road is scenic with a lot of beautiful beaches. Our first beach was Bells Beach, with turqouise water and white sand. Our group started to bond and it was the beginning of my three best days in Australia so far. Together we checked out villages like Lorne and Apollo Bay and we climbed up to the firehouse to enjoy a perfect view. The weather was great all the time and I already started to get a tan
At the middle of the day I had my first encounter with wild koala’s. They were just sleeping and being stoned high up in the trees, but it’s amazing to spot these Australian animals in the wild! After taking many photo’s we continued with the rainforest walk. Our guide, Duncan, told us everything about the trees and the way they grow, which was really interesting. At the end of the day it was time for the famous Twelve Apostles (rocks that stick out of the ocean due to erosion). Actually there are only eleven apostles left, because the ocean distroyed the other one and a lot more will be destroyed because of the soft limestone. It is beautiful to see what the sea is capable of and it makes you feel just one tiny little piece in this amazing world.
The first day of the Great Ocean Road was perfect and so was the night. We camped in tents and had pizza’s on the beach and played drinking games. The group became friends and the night was sweet.
The second day we woke up early to see the beautiful coast in the morning light. We saw the collapsed Harbour Bridge, played bingo in the bus and enjoyed the view of Warnambool, Tower Hill, a dormant vulcano. We entered Grampians National Park and viewed an informative video about the different view Aboriginals and scientists have on the creation of the Grampians. We stayed the night at the Wilderness Lodge, which was the perfect Australian picture for me. Nobody around for miles and kangaroos hopping at your doorstep! Our guide made us kangaroo beef and Australian burgers with mashed potatoes and spinach. After dinner we sat around the campfire, played songs and watched the many stars in the sky.
Day 3 it was time for me and two other girls to go quadbiking. Steve, the owner of the lodge, did a great job on explaining how to quadbike and we had 30 minutes of practicing before going ‘into the wild’. We tried different kinds of surfaces, experienced how fast a quad can go and drove up to our knees in the mud. We played around for almost two hours while kangaroos were watching us. If you are going to the Great Ocean Road, this experience has to be part of your trip, it was just so awesome! We left the Wilderness Lodge at 10 in the morning to have a look at the Mackenzie Waterfalls and to view other lookouts. Then it was time so say goodbye to our amazing group and tourguide Duncan drove off to Adelaide with a few people, while others went back to Melbourne. Thanks to the group and tourguide, this trip will always stay in my memory and I can recommend the 3day tour to everyone who’s out here!
At 18th of January my alarm woke me up at 6.00 in the morning. It was time for my first real tour with Bunyip Tours! The trip is going to take me to Wilsons Prom, the most southern point of mainland Australia, which is a national park. The bus arrived on time and the group started talking right away. Our driver, Matthew, told us everything about the prom, like the bushfires that have to appear every now and then to make nature grow again. That explained why all the trees were black and burnt (see photo on Flickr). After one hour in the bus we arrived.
First thing I saw was the kangaroos relaxing in an open area. We sneaked up on them and started to make pictures. My first encounter with wild kangaroos and emu’s! We went hiking up to the highest point and I did it all on flipflops, because I didn’t know we had to bring decent shoes. But it’s a really easy track and I absolutely had no problems with it.
When we arrived at the viewpoint, the view was just amazing. White sand beaches and tuorquoise oceans popped up in front of us. We had our lunch at this area and all of us enjoyed the scenery. After lunch we had a little rainforest walk, which was also nice. When we made it down the mountain again, we enjoyed some quality time on Squeaky beach (when you walk on the sand with barefeet it squeaks!) and we could take a swim. I discovered the little balls made of sands by crabs, which gave the beach a special look.
The second beach we stayed at was even nicer than the first one. There were not many tourists and you could really have some time by yourself. The sun even showed herself on this beach so we all got a little tan!
At 17.00 it was time to get to Melbourne, I had a really good time at Wilsons Prom and met a lot of new people!
I am starting to get used to Australia. My jetlag is gone and I am realizing that I’m really doing this! I am surprised Australia is such a clean country; there is no littering at all and everything looks tidy! Last days I had a lot of meetings with Peterpans to get all the right information about my tours (OMG there are sooo many!!). Wednesday 18th of January Peterpans invited me to their Turf Bar party, where we got to spend $200 on drinks. The whole party was sponsored by Peterpans and everybody could win amazing prizes.
The day after we had a nice breakfast and I met all Peterpans Melbourne employees. At the end of the day I had a free entrance to Melbourne Aquarium, which was really awesome! I even got a cute litte penguin animal (thank you Estelle!). The Melbourne Aquarium is set up really well and the scenery is amazing. There is a lot of information about all the fish and presentations every 30 minutes. You have an option to feed or swim with the fish and there is an area where you can touch them. I loved their new penguin section, with King en Gentoo penguins!
After the aquarium I went to Eureka Skydeck 88, where I also had free entrance including the EDGE experience. Eureka’s elevator will take you up to 300 meters within 40 seconds! The view up there is amazing and you will have a different look on Melbourne. The EDGE experience is a cube made of glass where you can stand in. The block will then move out of the building to bring you 300 meters above the ground. It can be quite scary if you are afraid of heights, but I found it really cool! You will see Melbourne all around you which makes it even more special.
So as you can see I’ve been quite busy, but I am enjoying every second!
For more amazing tours and packages in this area go to peterpans.com.au
Duncan drove off to Adelaide with a few people, while others went back to Melbourne. Thanks to the group and tourguide, this trip will always stay in my memory and I can recommend the 3day tour to everyone who’s out here!
