Getting around

Australia has a substantial transport system in place, on the roads, rail, and in the air.

• Buses - Companies such as Greyhound and Firefly cover many locations all over Australia. You can also go on tours with companies such as Oz experience. This is a great way to travel as you really get a feel for the size of the country, and you can meet lots of different people.

• Rail - The Ghan (Adelaide to Darwin), the Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth), The Overlander (Melbourne to Adelaide), are the three main long distance train journeys. You can get daynighter seats or the more expensive cabins. Make sure to use your concession cards such as Vip or Nomads as this will almost half the price.There are restaurants and lounges on these trains, good thing too as the journey between Sydney and Perth for example takes three days. The cities also have their own train systems which are quite good.

• Air - Virgin Blue, Jetstar, and recently Tiger Airways provide the budget flights in Australia. Because Australia is so large you will probably will have to fly from time to time. It can be cheaper and of course a lot faster, try to limit the travel on airlines if you have the time as you will miss so much of this incredible country.