Australian Escapes

Great adventure with good and not so good things happening. The Spirit of the Outback train was not as described in the photos of our itinerary. The picture we received had two sleeping pods side by side (like in aeroplanes), however the beds were foot to foot. Very misleading. The hallway was curved and so one door to our sleeping area had… Read more ·  1

enough room to open when the bed was down, but the other door to our area would only allow the door to partially open. Two people could not pass in the hallway so one had to back out to let the other pass. Meals and service in the dining car were excellent. Accommodation at Saltbush Retreat was excellent and Ron and Wendy were great hosts who could not do enough for us. We could not fault our stay with them. Long trip on bus of 165 klms each way to Winton and back and not one of the best days. Nogo Station and Stockman's Hall of Fame both were excellent. Qantas Museum and Wing Walk, Cruise up the Thomson River including campfire meal and Cobb & Co Stagecoach experiences were enjoyable. Smithy's Outback Dinner and Show had lovely meals although the entertainment was very average. The way the itinerary was presented in a sleeve was great although there was insufficient information regarding the activities we had booked. Flew home and what a great flight - 2 hours. We were met at Brisbane Airport by a bus which took us all to the airport to collect our baggage. Australian Escapes travel consultant Sandy was always accessible to answer any questions, however her attention to detail could have been better. Overall, an adventure to be remembered.

Our trip to Tasmania was great. Car hire suited our needs perfectly and although some of the accommodation could have done with some upgrades it was comfortable and close to where we needed to be. The activities organised where fantastic. Australian escapes organised the accommodation/flights/car hire and some experiences for us and therefore took… Read more ·  1

the hassle out of trying to organise our travel. It covered most of the places we wanted to go to except the north east corner but we would have struggled to fit it in with our time frame. The package of our information was useful and contained all we needed for our ticket and accommodation etc info.

Our holiday package for Darwin and Kununurra was very good. The tours that we went on were well organised and the guides did a great job. It was good to have a few free days so we were able to see a lot of things on our own. Our accommodation in… Read more ·  2

Darwin was very nice and was in a very quiet area. Also walking distance to town and waterfront. Accommodation in Kununurra was beautiful and also very quiet. Having a hire car was very handy to get around. August was a great time to go because the weather was perfect. Highly recommended.

Should not be booking flights out of canberra in winter for connecting flights - we did not make it. Virgin Australia were most un-accommodating in handling the missed flights due to late departure from Canberra (and delays in landing in Sydney due to opening of new Sydney airport rescheduling of landing of flights. As a result we lost our first… Read more ·  1

day in Darwin - as we arrived 2.00 am the following morning only to be up for day bus trip at 6.30 am. Really wrecked out time in Darwin. Original schedule timing for picking up hire car in Kunnanura didn't work for getting to Elquestro - Zebidee falls (closed at 12 noon) had to work on rearranging pickup times on the go - Sandy was very helpful with this. There was a discrepency with the contract with our hire car at Kunnanura - our documentation said it was unlimited kms - however Avis claimed they didnt do 'unlimited' contracts. Consequently we have had to pay for the extra kms - and to date the amount taken is unresolved.

However Australian Escapes and Sandy (our travel consultant) were most helpful in planning and implementing our holiday including sorting out any concerns we experienced during the trip.

Far North Qld 13/7/26 - 26/07/26 It turned out to be a great adventure of two extremes. The magnificence of the Daintree Forest and Port Douglas, across the Great Divide and into the remoteness of the discovery of gold trail out to the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria at Karumba. the prawn and barramundi capital of Aistralkia It was amazing to… Read more ·  1

experience the remoteness of the Savannah and journey by train through it and the Divide for a day or more. The Barramundi Dis Centre at Kurumba is a must as is the Sunset Cruise. Copperfield Gorge is something of a magnet, somewhat serene and not busy with people Cobbald George is a hidden gem and the Undara Lava Tubes are special for their colours and size. From the beginning our journey was going to be a challenge to plan as we wanted to fit it into our visit to Brisbane on July 11th and head north on the 13th. The first complication was to reverse the package to do Port Douglas first then the western adventure. The second to obtain accommodation in Port Douglas during the peak season with short notice. Alvin must have weilded a wand as he succeeded with both and was able to add additional days to our stay. What's more he planned our flight from Brisbane to Cairns so that we would be in Port Douglas after lunch. Same for our return to Brisbane from Cairns We were able to have a lazy morning in Cairns and arrive in Brisbane late afternoon.

Richard Davis 4/08/26

We had an enjoyable holiday in the Cook Islands. Our accommodation on Rarotonga at Lagoon Breeze was very good. Well equipped, great availability of an enjoyable breakfast and friendly staff to support our stay. We enjoyed our time on the island, including completing the cross island Trek. We then had a few days on Aitutaki, staying at Tamanu… Read more ·  1

Beach Resort. We enjoyed both our complementary foot massage and a full massage while staying there, took advantage of the bicycles available at the resort for a bit of an explore of the island and due to stormy weather the day we were meant to have a lagoon cruise, we were given a private one the day we were due to leave the island, which felt very special. Our accommodation for our last night on Rarotonga was obviously chosen for its location to the airport, and while it was clean and well supplied, it required quite a walk to get to shops as we didn't have a hire car and it was away from the island circuit bus. It wasn't as special as Lagoon Breeze but made for a slightly later start to our morning of departure than originally indicated. Maybe one day we will have a return visit to the Cook Islands.

Our accommodation in Katherine Place was well appointed, close to public transport and within walking distance of the Aquarium and the City. The beds were comfortable and the outlook from one of the bedrooms and the verandah were great. Show details ·  1

Staff very pleasant & helpful. Hotel although not closer to city was very nice & staff helpful.Would have preferred direct flight to Sydney but maybe not available as a big Rugby game on those days. great being picked up to & from airport. Show details ·  1

Everything went smoothly, Darwin was great, the scenic flight over Kimblerys was breathtaking Alvin was very helpful and friendly bookings our holiday and any questions I had. Thankyou great holiday. Show details ·  1

Our experience with our Travel agent Alvin Suan was very positive. I just wanted a holiday that I didn't have to organise myself. Alvin made sure everything was planned to every last detail and was very accommodating with any changes I wanted to make. A few of our tours were cancelled when we were on our holiday and Alvin handled our refund… Read more ·  1

quickly . Norfolk Island is such a beautiful place steeped in history and beautiful scenery. The people are very lovely and are very friendly and accommodating with tourists.

Alvin & the Aussie Escapes Team thought of everything to make our trip ‘One to Remember’!!.Our accommodation was great & the experiences that were planned for us were so interesting & enjoyable!! Our Ghan experience was exceptional!! The food & wine just delicious! The Staff were so helpful, friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. They, along with… Read more ·  1

the amazing people sharing the trip with us, became like family!! Thank you to everyone who made our trip so special…..we have such wonderful memories!❤️

I was very impressed with everything about how this whole thing went (travel and accomodation for a trip to the UK). The service, the price, the detail and advice contained in the documents provided; all really thorough. There was only one glitch in the whole trip. That was getting access to a booked Airb&b room. I called the help number from… Read more ·  1

overseas and left a message. I received a callback within minutes (it must have been the middle of the night in Australia). With half an hour new accomodation was sourced and booked (at Australian Escapes expense). Access to the original accomodation was organised by the following morning. I certainly recommend Australian Escapes and will use them again for my next trip overseas.

It was a well organised holiday to Tweed heads. Alvin looked for accommodation that would suite me. The one bedroom apartment was close to restaurants, the beach and public transport. Alvins bubbly personality made it a pleasure to deal with him. I will definitely use Australian Escapes again. Show details ·  1

We Travelled to Spain, Portugal including Douro River Cruise, Aeolian Islands and Puglia on a 9wk trip with four different small group tours. We loved every minute. Sandy very efficiently booked our tours and secured extra accommodation and transport connecting all the tours. She coordinated it all very well and kept us updated along the way. … Read more ·  1

There was only one issue of not receiving our final documents until the day of leaving which was a bit stressful. Also the final documents giving times and contacts of the Aeolian Islands self directed tour with Ormina were not sent when they were ready but when we emailed Sandy she was very efficient responding and sent them through overnight. Overall we were very happy with booking through Australian Escapes.

Commendable customer service from Alvin Suan from start to finish. Alvin kept in contact along the way offering suggestions and solutions. We were able to book two apartments for our accommodation on Norfolk Island. The whole Norfolk experience was a beautiful time enjoyed by the four of us. Thoroughly enjoyed the activities that Alvin was able to… Read more ·  1

book for us. The apartments were very central to the centre of the main Township and very satisfactory. Huge thank you to Alvin for also organising the lovely dinner to celebrate our 46th anniversary. Thoroughly beautiful meal had by all at Hilli Restaurant. Unfortunately our connecting flight to Norfolk Island, on the Thursday 21st, had been cancelled by Qantas. Friday 22nd, was delayed, therefore we had to fly on the 23rd May. Lost 2 nights accommodation, 1 activity for 4 and 2 days Car rental. Alvin is assisting with paperwork for us to be able to claim through our Travel Insurance for this loss.

We were very happy with all the effort Armi made to ensure we had a great holiday. Lord Howe was very beautiful and the people were lovely. Armi ( from Australian Escapes was excellent with her communications at all times and answered our questions promptly. The accommodation was a bit different to what we had thought it would be, but that was due… Read more ·  1

to the fact that no development is allowed on the island, so it’s difficult for locals to update. Armi organised three tours for us and they were very well run. I highly recommend working with Armi to plan your Australian Escapes holiday.

Due to bad weather we were kept in doors a lot a the in house movies were the same for every day.. A variety would have been great. Otherwise it was quite a good cruise. Show details ·  1

The paperwork was thorough and well organised, even with suggested driving routes between cities. We were driving in New Zealand and had 4 accommodation places booked. Three were excellent but one was a bit disappointing. That bedroom was small, the parking wasn't easy to find and breakfast was served at 1 or 2 large tables with the other guests. Show details ·  1

I enjoyed my Japan tour very much. It was well organised and we received a lot off information about the culture the people and places we visited. I am very thankful to Armi for looking after me during my enquiry and booking. Nothing was too much trouble and any questions I had were promptly addressed. She certainly helped everything go smoothly. I would recommend using this company again Thank you Show details ·  1