Booking with Peter Pans Adventure Travel in Australia

 

If you’re looking to travel in Australia with Peter Pans Adventure Travel, take a peak at my experience below! You’ll know exactly what to expect before you book and during your trip.

 

This past summer I took a 5 week trip to Australia. I was meeting friends for the last 3 weeks, which meant I had 2 weeks to see as much as I could. My flights arrived in Brisbane and I had to meet my friend there at the end of my 2 weeks, so I wanted to stick to that area of the country.

My Australian friend recommended Peter Pans Adventure Travel to me when I was looking at how to fill my solo time in Australia. If she’s heard of it as an Aussie, it must be good right?!

Peter Pans is basically a travel agency that books every aspect of your trip that you want. You can pick the places you want to go, activities you want to do and they will do all the logistics like booking bus travel, hostels, activities, etc. Obviously, they partner with specific places so that’s what you have to choose from, but it’s great to get it all done in one place.

I was so busy before I headed down under, that I really pushed this part of my trip to the back of my mind. That was a mistake, to say the least. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do or really have any plans at all, other than I knew the date I had to be back in Brisbane. I ended up looking and booking in the same day about 3 weeks before I left. Avoid this.

Do your own research.

The travel agents know what they’re talking about and are SO willing to help you pick what you want, but you need to do your own research about what you would like to do. Case and point, I accidentally booked myself on the “biggest party boat in the Whitsundays” without knowing it. Whoops! I still had a great time, but knowing what I was looking for before booking would have been very helpful.

The tour I booked with Peter Pans Adventure Travel was Brisbane to Rainbow Beach, with a tour of Fraser Island, then Rainbow Beach to Airlie Beach with a boat tour of the Whitsundays before flying back to Brisbane. I only had about 10 days and with the long bus rides, this was about all I could fit in my schedule.

If you want the full run down on the spots I checked out, you can read my post on traveling Australia from Fraser Island to the Whitsundays!

I LOVED that they booked everything for you and you didn’t have to coordinate pretty much anything yourself.

From Brisbane to Rainbow Beach I took a bus and it took me nearly an entire day. Once at Rainbow beach, I checked into Dingos Hostels. It was fine, nothing special but not bad either. This hostel is actually the meeting place for your Fraser Island tour.

All the tours of Fraser Island with Peter Pan are the same. You drive around the island in a jeep and camp in the forest at a pre-set up camp. Now, I didn’t know I was camping on Fraser Island because I thought I picked one that you didn’t camp. It was a nasty surprise to be asked if I wanted to rent a sleeping bag… Yes you do want to rent one by the way. 

Also, make sure to bring your own pillow, because those aren’t provided.

Keep your tent shut and without food inside. There was a problem with mouse size kangaroo things, actually known as Kangaroo Rats that got into people’s tent who left food inside. Leave food in the jeep people!

The camping ended up working okay for me because they’re quick to remove huge spiders from camp and there are fences to keep out the Dingos. There are bathrooms and paid showers and an outdoor kitchen in which they provide meals for you. You and your jeep group have to cook the meals, but all the ingredients are provided for you. That’s another bonus if you ask me.  You don’t have to think about food during your time on the Island.

Fraser Island itself was so beautiful!

We toured the island and went to Lake Wabby (my favourite), Mackenzie Lake, Maheno Shipwreck, Champagne Pools, Indian Head Lookout and Eli Creek. I feel like I saw everything on the island that I would want to see, so another trip isn’t needed for me. That’s always what I aim for on a trip, that I don’t need to come back because I missed things. I would go back because it was awesome, but I don’t need to go back! 

A few things you should definitely keep in mind for the Peter Pans trip to Fraser Island:

• You pretty much only need to pack bathing suits, activewear, sandals, a hat, LOTS of sunscreen, toiletries, a pillow and a towel

• Buy booze in Rainbow beach and pack it if you want drinks while you’re out there

• Do NOT bring anything that couldn’t handle getting wet because it probably will (I ruined my all-time favourite purse out there)

• You’re go go go all the time on this excursion so don’t expect any down time or relaxing time

After the Fraser Island excursion, I stayed in Rainbow Beach for an extra day to lay low and recover. There’s not a ton to do in town other than walk the beach but it was so nice to be able to see what the place had to offer. I had one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had at Somewhere Over Coffee, but careful, they close early so go in the morning/right at lunch. If you’re in town for dinner, hit up Arcobaleno for pizza! Make sure to go early or make a reservation because that place is popular, I’m telling you!

That day I also did a Dolphin Feeding activity booked by Peter Pans. It was something I thought was included in the tour. As it turned out, I did pay extra for it without even realizing… Either way, I would say skip it. It was about 4 seconds of fun for $50, so not worth it!

I hopped on a bus from Rainbow beach and made my way up the coast to Airlie Beach. This spot is a tourist destination for sure because it’s the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. I stayed in Nomads hostel which again, was not bad but also nothing special. I’m not a huge hostel fan so this was outside of my comfort zone for sure.

Peter Pan is exclusively for those that want to stay in hostels.

It’s for more of the lower budget, backpacker travellers than it is for those that want to stay in hotels. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking of booking with them.

 I really liked this town. It had everything I needed for a relaxing few days, including some shopping, a grocery store, little restaurants, and even a lagoon to relax on. The lagoon was my favourite part of Airlie Beach. You could just take your book and relax on its bank without being on the ocean. There wasn’t a ton of ocean beach space so this was a nice compromise.

They make everything super easy for you in terms of checking in and getting ready for your boat trip. Keep in mind that you aren’t allowed to bring anything on the boat with a zipper. I know, I know. I had never heard of this in my life either. They say it’s to keep out bedbugs or something like that that like to live in zippers. Valid, but annoying when you’re traveling.

Luckily, a girl I had met in Rainbow Beach had told me about this and given me her waterproof bag that had no zippers on it. You can also opt for reusable grocery bags or large totes to bring your stuff on. You really don’t need much so it all ends up working out. Plus, you can leave your extra stuff at the booking office in Airlie Beach! Win!

A few things you should definitely keep in mind for the Peter Pan trip to Whitsundays:

• What to pack: bathing suits, a coverup/kaftan, sandals, a hat, LOTS of sunscreen, toiletries and a towel. Leave the rest in Airlie Beach.

• Buy booze in Airlie Beach and pack it if you want drinks while you’re out on the water

• Consider bringing an extra towel, one to dry off with, and one to get sandy on the beach!

• If you suffer from motion sickness, make sure to plan for that because it can get pretty bumpy

Once we got back to Airlie Beach after the boat tour, Peter Pans had booked a bus for me to take to the airport. This is honestly probably what I valued the most of their booking for the entire trip. They knew the boat wouldn’t be late coming in and they booked a bus so that I could get to the airport on time.

This wasn’t originally offered as a service, but after I explained my situation to the agent, she easily booked me and added it to the cost of my trip.

Overall, if you’re planning a whirlwind trip to Australia, or anywhere that Peter Pans Adventure Travel books, I definitely recommend booking with them. They make the process so seamless and more manageable than anything I could have done myself.

As long as you follow the tips above for booking with Peter Pans, you’ll have an incredible trip!

xx Victoria

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