They talk about masks (“I don’t see anyone wearing one back there but the law is you got to wear them”), seatbelts, toilets, rest stops, and meal breaks. They call all the passengers “mate” but without the edge that you sometimes hear when a stranger calls you “mate”. The bus drivers on my trip are without exception older, male and lovely. The driver warns us that this will not last: “I have 25 getting on at Airlie Beach.” So the backpackers are back.Īs we clear the city the driver introduces himself, “I’ll take you through to Hervey Bay, then Barry will take over.” As if in tacit agreement we all spread out across the bus, giving each other maximum space. There are only six passengers on the bus when we leave Brisbane. I’ll be on it for almost 13 hours until I get to Miriam Vale in central Queensland at about 1:10am, where my friend Brendan will be waiting to collect me.

It also means “bus station.” The bus drivers on my trip are without exception older, male and lovely On the way to the bus, I ponder the word “Terminal”: it means to die, no hope, no cure. The trip from Sydney to Cairns takes 47 hours nonstop, but I’m breaking it into what I hope will be manageable chunks of 9 to 14 hours, hopping on and off over a two-week period.Īfter resting at a hotel in Brisbane (three stars, no ventilation, and when I wake up I see someone – not me! – has hurled a partially gnawed beef kebab on to the 14 storey-roof by my window) it’s time to keep moving.

Sun city buses to casinos in az