Peter studied Applied Chemistry at RMIT before running away to the circus, spending the next forty years in the technical side of the theatrical arts.

In the 1990s he spent three years in the Historic Places Section of the Victorian Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands surveying historic sawmill sites and making recommendations for the Register of the National Estate. He has written widely on industrial and forest history, and is the author of the first major book on the Sunbury rock festivals. Peter’s last employment was ten years in the Steam Operations department at Sovereign Hill, and he is currently semi-retired.