C Swaine, London
Greyhound Australia (00 61 7 4690 9950, www.greyhound.com.au) offers a network of 1,100 destinations across the mainland (not in Tasmania). Its Aussie Explorer passes offer set itineraries that take in the most popular centres. Each is valid for travel for a fixed number of days, and you must travel in one direction, with no backtracking. For example, the Aussie Reef & Rock Pass covers the east coast, from Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef, and on through the Northern Territory to Uluru. It is valid for 26 weeks and costs £460.
If you want more flexibility, go for an Aussie Kilometre Pass, which is valid for a year from your first ride. You buy a “bank” of kilometres and can stop as many times as you wish; you can also backtrack. You can buy any distance from 2,000km (£127) to 20,000km (£930).
The coaches are reasonably comfortable, with air conditioning, reclining seats and toilets, and there are breaks every 4-5 hours for travellers to buy meals and stretch their legs.
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However, Australia is a big, empty country, and the scenery on those long drives can get repetitive, so it’s worth considering flying between destinations — especially given the country’s thriving no-frills airline industry. Virgin Blue (www.virginblue.com.au), for example, an offshoot of Richard
Branson’s British airline, is currently offering one-way flights from Sydney to Melbourne for as little as £23.50; Jetstar (www.jetstar.com.au), which is owned by the Australian national carrier, Qantas, has one-way flights from Sydney to Byron Bay from £19.50.