"Chlidonias presents: Bustralia"
Starring Chlidonias
Written and directed by Chlidonias
Original music and songs performed by Chlidonias (not available in this format)
I was going to do a little Australian bus trip in 2020, and then in 2021, and then in 2022, but each time something covid-related would happen so I just remained within New Zealand for the duration. My first overseas trip after covid was Vanuatu in 2023 (see here: Chlidonias versus Vanuatu), and then I finally got a proper trip last year where I went to China and Japan (see here: Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part seven: 2024-2025).
I was intending to go somewhere more exciting this year after that last trip but the planning ran into overtime and I got about a month behind schedule and would then have been running into the rainy season in that place (and that would make travel in some parts impossible), so I have postponed it until next year. In the meantime I decided to revive my Australian bus trip idea.
I’m not at the ideal time for the Australian trip either – it should have been at least a couple of months earlier before it gets too hot – but the benefit is that it doesn’t need much advance planning, I don’t need visas, there’s no time limit for how long I can stay in the country, and everybody speaks English (of a sort).
My original idea (during covid) had been to just spend a few days around Adelaide because I've never been to South Australia before, and then head up to Alice Springs for a few more days because I've never been into the centre of Australia before (or to the Northern Territory, which is the state Alice is in). But then, well, my plans got a little out of control when I discovered that Greyhound has a National Whimit Pass (as in, you can travel on a whim) for various lengths of time from 15 to 120 days. These have gone up in price in the last few years since I found out about them, but they currently cost AU$559 for the 30 day pass, AU$639 for 60 days, or AU$799 for 90 days. The pass gives unlimited bus travel over all of their routes within the country for the chosen time-period - as a price comparison the 20 hours from Adelaide to Alice Springs and the 22 hours from Alice Springs to Darwin can cost upwards of AU$600 together, so even the 60 day unlimited-bus-travel pass barely costs more than just those two buses together.
There is a map on this page showing where all the bus routes are: National Whimit Travel Passes
So I will be starting out as planned, “beginning” in Adelaide (although I’m actually flying into Melbourne first) and then heading up to Alice Springs. Then it will be onwards north towards Darwin, a little side-track westwards to Broome, and afterwards east across Queensland to the imaginatively-named town of Townsville via Mt Isa and Julia Creek. From Townsville I’ll go north up to Cairns and then back south down the east coast with any stops along the way which take my fancy.
That’s the plan anyway. It depends to some extent on where or if I can get affordable hotels along the way. I have discovered that Australia is now way more expensive than it used to be. Even just from the original planning four or five years ago everywhere has skyrocketed in price. It’s like prices went up during covid to compensate for the lower tourist numbers and then they just kept going up from that when things picked up again. There are hostels in places like Sydney or Melbourne where even dorm beds are up to AU$100 a night. It’s ridiculous.
I have no idea how it's all going to go in practice, but that's why it's fun. I don’t really expect things to go swimmingly. For one thing, it’s extremely difficult to get anywhere in Australia without a car. The buses only travel along the main highways so you end up in towns and cities, but invariably anywhere you actually want to reach is somewhere outside that town or city and in Australia most of the non-major centres don’t have much (or sometimes any) public transport. There are already a few places I had to drop because when I looked them up there was effectively no way to do them without your own vehicle. It also doesn’t help that so many of the towns across inland and northern Australia are described as being extremely unsafe.
Basically the wildlife-watching on this trip is going to be in broad strokes rather than fine detail.
Starring Chlidonias
Written and directed by Chlidonias
Original music and songs performed by Chlidonias (not available in this format)
I was going to do a little Australian bus trip in 2020, and then in 2021, and then in 2022, but each time something covid-related would happen so I just remained within New Zealand for the duration. My first overseas trip after covid was Vanuatu in 2023 (see here: Chlidonias versus Vanuatu), and then I finally got a proper trip last year where I went to China and Japan (see here: Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part seven: 2024-2025).
I was intending to go somewhere more exciting this year after that last trip but the planning ran into overtime and I got about a month behind schedule and would then have been running into the rainy season in that place (and that would make travel in some parts impossible), so I have postponed it until next year. In the meantime I decided to revive my Australian bus trip idea.
I’m not at the ideal time for the Australian trip either – it should have been at least a couple of months earlier before it gets too hot – but the benefit is that it doesn’t need much advance planning, I don’t need visas, there’s no time limit for how long I can stay in the country, and everybody speaks English (of a sort).
My original idea (during covid) had been to just spend a few days around Adelaide because I've never been to South Australia before, and then head up to Alice Springs for a few more days because I've never been into the centre of Australia before (or to the Northern Territory, which is the state Alice is in). But then, well, my plans got a little out of control when I discovered that Greyhound has a National Whimit Pass (as in, you can travel on a whim) for various lengths of time from 15 to 120 days. These have gone up in price in the last few years since I found out about them, but they currently cost AU$559 for the 30 day pass, AU$639 for 60 days, or AU$799 for 90 days. The pass gives unlimited bus travel over all of their routes within the country for the chosen time-period - as a price comparison the 20 hours from Adelaide to Alice Springs and the 22 hours from Alice Springs to Darwin can cost upwards of AU$600 together, so even the 60 day unlimited-bus-travel pass barely costs more than just those two buses together.
There is a map on this page showing where all the bus routes are: National Whimit Travel Passes
So I will be starting out as planned, “beginning” in Adelaide (although I’m actually flying into Melbourne first) and then heading up to Alice Springs. Then it will be onwards north towards Darwin, a little side-track westwards to Broome, and afterwards east across Queensland to the imaginatively-named town of Townsville via Mt Isa and Julia Creek. From Townsville I’ll go north up to Cairns and then back south down the east coast with any stops along the way which take my fancy.
That’s the plan anyway. It depends to some extent on where or if I can get affordable hotels along the way. I have discovered that Australia is now way more expensive than it used to be. Even just from the original planning four or five years ago everywhere has skyrocketed in price. It’s like prices went up during covid to compensate for the lower tourist numbers and then they just kept going up from that when things picked up again. There are hostels in places like Sydney or Melbourne where even dorm beds are up to AU$100 a night. It’s ridiculous.
I have no idea how it's all going to go in practice, but that's why it's fun. I don’t really expect things to go swimmingly. For one thing, it’s extremely difficult to get anywhere in Australia without a car. The buses only travel along the main highways so you end up in towns and cities, but invariably anywhere you actually want to reach is somewhere outside that town or city and in Australia most of the non-major centres don’t have much (or sometimes any) public transport. There are already a few places I had to drop because when I looked them up there was effectively no way to do them without your own vehicle. It also doesn’t help that so many of the towns across inland and northern Australia are described as being extremely unsafe.
Basically the wildlife-watching on this trip is going to be in broad strokes rather than fine detail.
I have no idea how it holds up these days, in an era of CGI dominance. I suspect the puppetry is dated and yet nostalgic for film buffs like me.
