Oz Experience - Questions and Answers

hi bruce just a few quick questions me and my girlfriend are touring fiji, NZ and Oz hopefully next year and we were just wondering from your experiance how much money we are going to need what we want to do is live cheap (eg meals and accomidation) but have spending money to do what we like such as diving surfing bungey and skydiving Reply to this

Hi Gordon
In Australia east coast hostels are about AU$25 per night. Food you can cook everywhere you stay except for a few Locations on oz Experience. Oz Experience also has a local payment system if you are travelling on a pass from Sydney via Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs to Darwin or vice versa. This covers food and accommodation and National park fees and works out around AU$25-$30 a day which is great value.
On the East Coast where there are alot more optional activities the big things you'll probably want to do are Fraser Island safari and Whitsunday Islands sailing. There are packages that incorporate both places and many nights of accommodation from around AU$400. Depending on the style of trips you do at those major destinations the price increases.
It's cheaper to Travel Cairns to Sydney than it is to go Sydney to Cairns by $25. A cairns to Sydney Oz Ex pass is AU$525. Please be aware this offers a heap more than a basic express bus pass in terms of its inclusions and destinations visited, and you cant put a value on the social interaction you will get. Reply to this

hi malay

This thread is only partial in that it gives accurate information from the operator of Oz Experience. It's only a forum interested in balance. To your questions of which there are many...

The main reason to travel on oz Experience are:
- informative guides not just a driver who says nothing - they are the highest rating feature of Oz Experience on all feedback forms
- the social nature travelling on a dedicated travellers bus
- travel to places you would not otherwise reach on an express bus ie Kroombit Cattle Station and Surf Camp
- on board accommodation booking and optional activities
- there are many included activities as part of your pass ie. a Surf Lesson, Cattle Station experience (goat rodeo and mechanical bull)
- an Oz Experience bus will stop during the day at optional activities that you may want to do (Zorbing and Crocodile farm) where as a Greyhound bus will stop at a whole heap of places picking up members of the public at roadhouses and service stations.

Oz Experience, when you consider the above and the inclusions and the overall experience you get, is not much more than a Greyhound pass. It's like comparing apples and oranges at the end of the day.

You will have to see Sydney yourself - not included in the pass. Although larger national passes include a Blue Mountains day tour which departs from Sydney and most people will do this trip while in Sydney.

Oz Experience is as structured as you want to make it. There is a published Timetable on the website about when the bus will depart and all the places it will pick up and drop off at. The whole point is to get off the bus and stay longer in the places we stop - these are 90%!t(MISSING)he places that most travellers would want to get off at so it's not like you are limited by Oz Experience. You will just go to more places than you would on Greyhound. Some people say, "but I'm not interested in having to stay on a Cattle Station for the night". That's fair comment, but what Oz Experience is trying to do is introduce people to a variety of experiences that will give them a deeper appreciation of Australia. Hey, it's hard to be disappointed by experiences that you had no idea that they ever existed 😉

When you get off Oz Experience wont be involved. At overnight stops often the guide will go out with you and show you a good place to eat and drink. You'll meet other people on the bus and often want to hang out with the new friends you've met - that's powerful reason why you would want to go on Oz Experience. if you don't want to hang out with the people on the bus, that's cool too - it's your holiday and it's not a tour so you can always switch buses, guides and therefore the people you are travelling with.
Reply to this

hi malay

The Blue Mountains Day tour operates daily. Best to book in advance at least 48 hours plus if you wish to travel on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday as these are usually the busiest days.
You will see large Kangaroos in the wild, a 2-3 hour walk seeing waterfalls and native bush to get a true sense of the mountains, lunch (included), a ride on the Scenic Railway (included) - this is the steepest inclined railway in the world. Check out Oz Experience Blue Mountains Day Tour for full details
The Sydney to Cairns pass departs 5 days a week (depending on the time of year). I would book at least 3 days in advance as it is a key place to join the bus and therefore can be busy if you have a specific day you need to start on. For example, people always want to depart on a Monday after arriving into or spending the weekend in Sydney Reply to this

Hey there!

I'll be travelling from Cairns to Melbourne with oz experience nov 10th-dec 22nd later this year. I'm just wondering how much of the accommodation and activities I need to book ahead of time to be sure that it's not full? Or should it be enough to make the bookings along the way?

Lisa Reply to this

Hi Bruce,

We are thinking of doing Cairns to Sydney/melbourne. Can you confirm the price of this pass, and also the price of the local payment? Is the local payment essential, and what EXACTLY does it cover (is it all food and accommodation booked). I am unclear on this? The reason i ask is because why pay a local fund which includes food if we prefer to cook ourselves at the accommodation? Budget is important for us, we need to stick to roughly 30GBP (63 $AUS) a day for travels, accomodation, food and leisure. We appreciate this may not be compeletly possible but would like to stick to it as much as poss.

my second question refers to the size of luggage allowed. I have a rucksack which weighs about 18kg and hand luggage (5kg). Is this acceptable, i seem to remember reading 15kg is the limit, in which case i cant do that.

Roughly how often do the buses come, for example if i decided to get off one bus at a stop and not get back on the same bus when it set off would i be waiting around a long time for the next bus?

Sorry for so many questions!

Jordi Reply to this

Hi Jordi

The Cairns to Melbourne pass is AU$745 + local Payment. You will find all the details about the pass at this link Cairns to Melbourne pass details

Oz Experience does not generally include food and accommodation. However, some parts of some itineraries require us to collect a local payment that does cover selected meals and accommodation. Travel between Sydney and Melbourne is a good example if this. You will get a very good deal of AU$75 for 2 nights dorm accommodation, 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts which you will pay to Oz Experience. If you understand that 1 nights accommodation is AU$25 you will realise you are getting a very good deal. Your 30GBP per day budget is therefore nearly enough enough for 3 days of travel with Oz Experience.

Further and detailed explanation about the local payments can be found here: Local Payments Explained

Your luggage should be fine. Be aware you have to pack your bag into the trailer and carry that bag on board the bus perhaps cramping your seating.

Check out the Timetables page and you will see how often the bus departs, on what days, when and where. Look at the timetable(s) that reflect where you are travelling. You can now plan your travel.

I entrust this helps finding the information you are after.

Reply to this

2 posts moved to this new topic: Oz Experience - and has travelblog.org sold out... Reply to this

Hi Bruce...
Wondered if you'd mind answering a few questions for me as i'm new to all this..
Im going to Australia on 30th June - flying into Sydney and staying with relatives in Oyster Bay.. I want to do some travelling and a couple of my friends back here in the UK have reccomended the Oz experience to me. Beacause i'll be travelling alone I want to do something that's safe and fun and have opportunity to meet new people and see lots of new places, and this sounds like the perfect thing to do!
I've been offered some work at a koala rescue centre in a place called Lismore and I have a cousin in Queensland - i wondered if there would be anyway i could incoporate visiting my cousin and working at the rescue centre with the Oz experience.
So, would I be able to get on the coach at Sydney and stop in Queensland/Lismore or somewhere close?... Also would it be possible to get back to Sydney on the coach after i've finished travelling as this is where my family will be?
Thanks very much.
Libby Reply to this

Hi Libby,
Good to hear you've been recommended Oz Experience. Yes, for people travelling alone Oz Experience is a good alternative. It sounds as if the Surf Pass that will take you from Sydney to Byron Bay will be the best option for you. You'll stay one night at Surf Camp and get an included surf lesson on the way. Better to take a bit of time than travelling 12 hours or so straight to get there. From Byron Bay you'll have to get a local bus to get to Lismore which is about an 1 hour away since Oz Experience hugs the coast and doesn't travel through Lismore. You'll have to buy a seperate ticket to get back to Sydney, so, why not Oz Experience up and express bus back to Sydney or vice versa.
Cheers
Bruce Reply to this