When the Woodward family launched the Rainforestation Nature Park in Far North Queensland, they quickly discovered a missing link. How do you transport visitors into the heart of the experience? Their answer, born from necessity, would eventually reshape the national bus industry.
Growing up, Peter Woodward didn’t dream of buses, only of where they could take you. It sounds like sacrilege, doesn’t it? How could the managing director of Vehicle Dealers International (VDI), one of Australia’s largest bus and coach suppliers, not grow up with a love for buses?
However, upon taking a step back and understanding the Woodward family story that started the best part of half a century ago in Far North Queensland, the origins of VDI aren’t too dissimilar to the beginnings of many family companies that now shape Australia’s bus and coach sector.
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Before April’s Queensland Bus Industry Council (QBIC) annual conference, I joined the VDI team in Cairns to see firsthand the remarkable story of how tourism and transport shaped a regional success story. From the Daintree Rainforest to the Atherton Tablelands, the Woodward family’s mixture of tourism and transport has become a beating heart of Cairns and Far North Queensland. We had the pleasure of experiencing this success through the powerful partnership between VDI, Yutong and Tropic Wings. To get to this point, it’s taken years of hard work.
Like many operators, the Woodward family didn’t set out to run a bus business, but necessity has a way of rewriting plans. In 1976, Charles and Pip Woodward opened the Rainforestation Nature Park in Kuranda, nestled in a former orange orchard on the edge of the Daintree, just north-west of Cairns and up into the mountains that surround the regional city. The setting was perfect, but the problem was access. Tour companies wouldn’t make the steep trip up the hill, so the Woodwards bought a couple of buses and started running their own service.
From that decision came Tropic Wings, the beginning of a tourism and transport legacy that would help shape Far North Queensland.
“We used to live onsite, as we were new to tourism, and run tours through the rainforest from the property,” Peter, the youngest of Charles and Pip’s three sons, told ABC.
“Due to the location, no one turned up to start with, meaning we had a problem.”
This is where the transport side of the Woodward’s story first began to take root, as the family had to quickly decide on a way to get people to make the trip to Kuranda and see Rainforestation before it was too late. Once people got up the hills to the site, the amphibious Army Duck tours and Colonial Restaurant would prove to be enough to entice people to keep coming back.
The family approached tour bus companies to take on the transfers, but none were willing. So, they took matters into their own hands.
“That’s when they made the bold move to purchase Tropic Tours in 1979 and Blue Wings soon after,” Peter says.
“From that, they made Tropic Wings, a name that is now synonymous in the Cairns tourism and bus charter industries.”
It was a bold leap, especially for a family with no experience in running bus services. Peter admits there was “lots to learn straightaway”, but once Charles and Pip got Tropic Wings underway, it allowed Rainforestation to become a popular tourist attraction.
All throughout this evolution of the family’s business ventures, Peter, alongside his brothers Michael and Ben, grew up on Rainforestation, spending a lot of time in what’s known as Woodies Treehouse.
“It was always interesting living on a tourist site and having coaches visit every day,” Peter says.
“I was very young when they bought their first brand new coach, and I know Mum was shocked that it was more than the price of a house.
“It was a massive decision as they were just starting out in business. Dad was an accountant, so tourism and transport was all very new to him. My first memories were working at Rainforestation on the weekend and chatting to drivers while watching the different buses roll up.”
The timing was perfect for the Woodwards, as they cashed in on what Peter refers to as “the golden age of touring”. At its peak, Tropic Wings had almost 30 vehicles in its fleet, with three coaches and up to 150 people heading up the Atherton Tablelands often.
While in Cairns, we get to check out this route that was once immensely popular for Tropic Wings. In the past 20 years, disruptors like the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the pilot strike in the late ‘80s and Ansett collapse in the early 2000s, may have brought this golden age to an end, but the run is still breathtaking as we wind our way through Gillies Range in a pristine Yutong C12 diesel model.
Reaching the top of the tablelands, the steep, winding road we’ve just driven highlights the challenge these routes pose for any coach. Our driver for the multiple days of trips and tours is Brian, who has been working in the past 18 years in tourism. While he once worked for a rival company of Tropic Wings, but he has been with the latter for six years. While on our trip, I learn that Tropic Wings general manager Colin Anderson has just awarded him driver of the month.
“When I first started driving in tourism we were using Dennings, but when I came across to Tropic Wings was when I was first exposed to Yutong vehicles,” Brian told ABC.
“I grew to love them, and when we were introduced to the latest C12 series, they go even better.
“I do a lot of extended charter work from down south. When I’m taking a C12, I know I’ll get there in comfort — and my passengers will love it too. They have great turning circles for smaller roundabouts, and I’ve never had a problem when parking them.
“They’re quite a joy and I love driving any of their vehicles. Give me a Yutong any day and I’ll take it.”
A diesel bus that handles this route with ease is impressive in itself. But now, Tropic Wings is taking it a step further, running the same routes with Yutong electric buses.
The journey towards electrification began when Peter returned to the family business, the CaPTA Group, in the early 2000s. Leveraging his software expertise, he guided the company into a new technological era.
After two years as Yutong’s dealer in North Queensland, the company seized the opportunity to host Yutong’s annual APAC Golf Convention in Cairns – the first time it was held outside of China. This event became the catalyst for establishing Vehicle Dealers International (VDI).
“We came to an agreement, we had been having discussions with the Yutong team about providing further support for the brand throughout Australia,” he says.
“They all came out to Cairns, and we finalised a deal that saw VDI created to take over service and support for Yutong buses in Australia.”
That same year, VDI was appointed as the official local distributor of all Yutong spare parts in Australia. By 2018, it had expanded its role to become the official national distributor for Yutong Australia.
This strategic move completed the CaPTA Group’s full-circle journey – from addressing transportation gaps for Rainforestation visitors to directly supplying advanced bus and coach technology to its tourism operations.
“It all came about unexpectedly, stemming from several changes that occurred from 2013 onwards,” Peter says.
“When Dad got sick and passed away from cancer in 2017, I took the challenge on and saw a way of diversifying our business away from relying solely on tourism, which had taken a hit due to various events.
“The rationale behind expanding VDI into the national distributor of Yutong buses was to diversify our regional beyond tourism, granting us a national footprint.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic brought tourism to a halt, the prior expansion of VDI proved crucial. Its continued growth enabled the CaPTA Group to navigate the lockdowns and emerge with renewed strategies.
The group aimed to revolutionise sustainability in Far North Queensland by introducing electric buses and coaches to Tropic Wings.
“When COVID hit, our family had to decide what was best for the business’s survival amid many unknowns. My wife Jaci suggested we move to Brisbane to focus more on VDI, making it easier to access Melbourne and Sydney offices,” Peter says.
“Having a strong OEM partner in Yutong was beneficial – we always valued their diesel buses and noted their continuous improvements. In 2017 and 2018, we began exploring electric models in Australia, recognising Yutong’s strength in this area and its potential as the future of transport.”
Following EV trials in Canberra and Nowra, VDI introduced an electric model to Cairns for Tropic Wings to test in the region’s challenging conditions. Its strong performance and encouraging data meant the E12 was ready to be joined by a small fleet of fellow electric vehicles.
“We took that model up a significant mountain every day to see what advantages electric models had for sustainable tourism,” Peter says.
“There were lots of positives – passengers and the city loved the lack of noise and emissions that would come out of the bus when we’d drive through restaurants in and around Cairns. Customers found it to be a quieter and more enjoyable experience.”
During our visit to Cairns, we toured Tropic Wings’ depot just five minutes out of the city centre. Though modest in appearance, the facility houses advanced technology, marking a significant milestone for the Woodward family.
“Following our 2019 E12 trial, we decided to bring another 12 electric buses in, aiming for 80 per cent of Tropic Wings’ fleet be electric by 2030,” Peter says.
“Introducing the 12 electric buses and their supporting infrastructure was far more challenging than the initial trial. We underestimated what was involved, but last year we finally made it all work.”
Tropic Wings’ modest electric bus depot, nestled at the foot of the Atherton Tablelands, is quietly revolutionary. At a recent global tourism event, Peter shared the story about what they had managed to do in Cairns, and the international audience was stunned.
“It’s pretty special to do something so massive for sustainable transport and tourism in Australia,” he says.
“We’re proud to be trailblazers and we’re keen to see the uptake elsewhere.”
Part of the Cairns trip was designed to give other Queensland operators a chance to see Tropic Wings’ electric Yutong buses in action. While Murray Priebbenow may be managing director of the Fraser Coast’s Wide Bay Transit hours south of Cairns, he was left impressed by the combination of VDI’s Yutong buses on display and Tropic Wings’ groundbreaking depot.
“I always have a diesel D7 in my fleet, so it was wonderful to drive the electric version – I found it to be smoother without the front engine weight,” he told ABC.
“I wanted to go electric in Hervey Bay, as it would’ve been wonderful having electric buses down main streets where people sit outside at restaurants and cafes, but it didn’t end up working out. Seeing this firsthand has been a highlight, it’s been great to see how Tropic Wings and VDI have worked together to meet the latest trends in the electric market.”
While he may have Victorian roots, Adam Pulitano is now a well-known member of Queensland’s bus industry. The Bus Queensland managing director was left impressed by both Tropic Wings’ innovative electric bus operations and the way in which VDI has grown to become a popular bus and coach distributor.
His praise echoed the broader sentiment: VDI’s foundations are strong and its future looks even stronger.
“Seeing the Tropic Wings depot and its electrification is a great insight for the industry into how to go electric,” he told ABC.
“On the flipside, I think VDI will have great success in the future – credit to Peter for spending the time and effort to go in the right direction.”
Peter may not have started in the bus industry, but today the Woodward family is deeply embedded in it, on both the operator and supplier side. Throw in the CaPTA Group’s bourgeoning tourism sites and it makes for an incredible tale of an Australian family taking risks to succeed in tough industries.
“I’m so proud of my family and where we sit today,” he says.
“VDI is a major focus as it continues to grow rapidly, and the shift towards electrification puts both VDI and Yutong at the forefront of industry change.
“We believe that the product speaks for itself and there’ll be lots of opportunities to play a key role in the zero-emissions transition in both tourism and transport.”
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