Deciding on where I want to live while in Australia honestly has been a bit mentally draining. Going back and forth on what I want to do and whether I could see myself living in Australia another year. It’s a lot of decision making that frankly I thought I already figured out but laying in my hostel bed pondering what I want from this experience, my mind racing a mile a minute I know that my decision to move to Melbourne is the right one… I think.
Looking at my trustworthy Greyhound website, as I used them throughout my travels of Canada’s west, I was shocked by the price to travel to Melbourne. I had scanned flights from Sydney to Melbourne before, and knew the prices were cheaper to fly! After mentioning to the German girls in my hostel that I planned on flying, one of them mentioned FireFly bus for $65. Now the flight from Sydney to Melbourne was around $49 not including the baggage which would have come out to roughly the same price. The only thing about the plane was the airport location as I would need to get to and from the airport which is additional money, whereas the bus left from Central Station and arrived at Southern Cross station – both locations close to my hostels. So being the savvy traveler that I am I went with the $65 overnight bus – that way accommodation wasn’t needed for the night!
Rieke did mention that she used rideshare with a mate to get from each destination, however after the couchsurfing experience I thought maybe I’ll try that when I have a travel companion.
Lining up outside of Central Station, the bus driver made sure that he was the one to load my bag, even though I told him it was heavy and he looked like he was about to faint. Climbing on the bus I quickly found seat 10 which unfortunately was an aisle seat. For me when riding a bus I love the window seat for two reasons (1) to look outside and (2) to sleep against the window. With that said, I’ve had practice with the aisle seat as past travel companions – Tonia and Anuschka – always took the window seat.
Once the bus started to get moving at 7 pm, the bus driver started outlining where and how to use the toilet on the bus, where we were going to stop, and what the drive would be like. Honestly, it was a bit funny all of the things he decided to outline, but it probably was what he looked forward to doing on the bus ride. He popped in the movie Everest which I watched for the second time, and I still was annoyed at the movie.
The first stop was at around 10:30 pm for about 15-20 minutes. Having already eaten my snacks, I just sat and watched Farmer Wants a Wife on the T.V. at the truck stop. From the little Australian T.V. that I have watched, they sure do like reality shows – I am a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here and now a farmer dating show! The second stop was around 2:30 am, which I didn’t bother getting off for. In and out of sleep, I longed for the days when I was a better sleeper on buses, but frankly since starting my travels I haven’t had a really good night sleep.
Ahead of schedule, the bus pulled in around 6 am in the morning. The bus driver had his final words, basically describing how to use public transportation in Melbourne and the weather for the day. Grabbing my bags, I switched on my MAPS.ME app, and off I went to find my hostel in Melbourne.
Melbourne is very sophisticated and edgy – we wear a lot of black. Things are lightening up a little bit, but truly, everything looks good in black. – Jessica Hart
Total Cost = $65 AUD
- FireFly Bus Ticket $65 AUD