12 hours on an INTERSTATE bus!! The SLOWEST way from Melbourne to Adelaide!
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- This week, i decide to go the long way from Melbourne to Adelaide by taking a Firefly bus the 12 hour journey… Except it doesn’t end up being a Firefly bus at all! Still it was an interesting way to travel between the two states.
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Filmed: 26 March 2024
Departure: Melbourne, Southern Cross Coach Station
Arrival: Adelaide, Central Bus Station
Cost: AUD$65/GBP£34
Duration: 12 Hours
Class: there is just 1, its a bus!
Tickets: vline.com.au or fireflyexpress.com.au
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Please let me know what you think about this video - I appreciate your feedback and suggestions.
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Larry is a unique character. He’s driven me between the 2 cities once or twice.
Larry is a good guy. Very hyper but a great character.
Interesting the driver doesn't do a head count before leaving. I'd have thought that was standard practice
One thing I like about traveling at ground level is seeing all the towns along the way.
The coach service is operated by Firefly contracted to V/Line. The reason the coach was in the V/Line livery is because Firefly use dedicated V/Line liveried coaches for their contracted V/Line services
The PTV (Public Transport Victoria) contract with Firefly. Firefly has use V/Line livery. PTV subsidies the service between Melbourne and Boarder town for regional Victoria public transport connectivity. V/Line is given 22 seat allocation and Firefly keeps the remaining for their own use.
I've riden this bus ride countless times and the drivers all seem to recognise me, and I keeo feeling embarrassed because I forget their names 😂
You aren’t the only one!
@@JoshGoesSlow thers chris marty and larry that I know of...
@@newportdjdrew2593 ah yes Marty, he always asks how my family is going every time, he's remembered my whole life story it seems 🤣
Lucky for that passenger it was a government bus! I once got a sequence of coaches from the end of Sydney’s rail network (south coast) to the end of Melbourne’s rail network (Gippsland) and the driver of the private Greyhound service was EARLY but totally blamed me.
He was super angry that I wasn’t 15 minutes early for him, and I think he wanted to get to the Bateman’s Bay layover to turn the 60 minute break into a 90 minute one, and I spoiled that for him. My theory is that his layover had a layover.
The only reason he waited for me was that the previous bus I was on - a local suburban service in a country town - had a super friendly driver who asked me about my day and what I was up to. He knew the coach service usually ran early and when he spotted the other one, took the WRONG turn onto the highway and flashed his lights and honked like crazy. The other grumpy one pulled up and they chatted for a minute so he finally decided to let me on. I can’t believe the other driver had to convince this one to let me on because I was 3 minutes early instead of 15 (as per the ticket policy … who makes these unexpected rules!)
First time to watch one of your video's. Must say I like your style. Think I might watch more of your collections. Thanks for keeping it real!
Your video captures the highlights nicely. Travelling with a friend would make a big difference. I have driven from Melbourne to Adelaide and it is a nice trip so the bus looks like a decent cheap option. I also caught the Overland when it was a sleeper train in the late 80s and that was lovely.
I traveled from Adelaide to Melbourne and had similar issues with a couple of passengers who didn't listen to the driver's instructions,. At least we didn't leave anybody behind. The service is operated by Firefly under a PTV (Public Transport Victoria) contract, hence the coach in V/Line livery. PTV subsidies the service between Melbourne and Boarder town (South Australia) for regional Victora public transport connectivity hence the cheaper fares if booked through the V/Line website. V/Line is given 22 seat allocation on each coach service and Firefly keeps the remaining seats for their own use.
That makes sense. I didn’t really care, but it would have been nice to have said so on the website. I would have booked anyway, just not been so confused.
*Bordertown
Wild
Hey ive done this trip a couple of times. its cheaper to do it its actually a vline route!!! Also im from qld and i call them potato scallops NOT potato cakes hehe
I recent went to Adelaide from Melbourne, I rode to Ararat on the Vlocity, then changed to a bus, the bus went to Dimboola where I changed to the bus from Bendigo. On the return, the bus took me to Dimboola, Ballarat and then the Vlocity to Melbourne.
Great video and technically if you get off the bus knowing how much time the bus was stopping there for and they take longer then they should be left behind.
Fantastic video mate, what a journey! You're right there's just something special about the interstate bus experience passing through all the towns. Poor Larry :|
Larry was NOT happy! Can't wait for the overland review... if only it was actually usable as a commuter service lol
Hahaha, no he isn’t. I’ve wanted to catch the Overland for years, so glad to have finally done it!
Commuter service? Melbourne to Adelaide??
It used to be a commuter service, but is now wrecked by Journey Beyond, which is actually a tourist business
@@captaingh9407 A commuter service is something you catch daily, usually to go to work, not travel for ten hours.
@gregessex1851 hes actually correct tho. At one point it was closer to commuter
Thanks for the speedy coach ride. Have done trips to Adelaide a few times. Stayed with friends or at a great Motel in McLarenvale.
If I was closer, I would make more trips to Adelaide, it’s been 10 years since I was last there.
The train is even slower.
35 bucks to Adelaide by bus? Had no idea it was that cheap! I've never even considered going by bus, though I think it would be a nice journey. If leg room on the bus is not like the plane that is...
Hey Josh did you know that firefly buses only run Adelaide to Melbourne
Never heard of this CZcams channel before. Great content, Cheers legend.
I'll see you tomorrow.
This could have also been useful for the AFL's Gather Round
In SA there was hundreds of bus going to staions
Thank you very much for giving a very nice video!
You’re welcome!
Firefly run a bus from Melbourne to Adelaide daily in daylight or at night.The night service is run by Firefly and has meal break stops at Ararat and Keith. The daylight service has meal break stops at St Arnaud and Keith.
A good option for regional residents and those who can’t or won’t fly, but after I’ll personally never do a coach trip of more than four hours again.
Nice I rode this bus before and I could recognise this driver haha!!!
The cafe stops at certain places because the driver gets a free feed for bringing you lot there
Lol no.
Totally wrong. Stops on this service are allocated by V/Line and are also required to help the driver from becoming fatigued. They don't get free food every time. It is merely courtesy when they do.
St arnaud road house and keith roadhouse
Actually food gets billed to operator
keen for the train video :)
That person should be totally left behind IMO. Nice video.
Happen to us before when going to Adelaide we had to wait for the person to arrive on the bus
I agree, although they are in the middle of nowhere, so not many options to make your way anywhere from there. If we were a bit further away he might have decided not too
@@JoshGoesSlow The problem is that because it's officially a v/line service, he would be directed by v/line to go back and collect the passenger. If he refused he could lose his job. If it was the normal Firefly overnight service, it is solely the driver's discretion.
Hi Josh! Not sure about your pronunciation at 5:34. if it's the town of St Arnaud it's said "Saint Ar-Ned"
Lovely video otherwise!
The V/Line coaches usually has better seat IMO. A Firefly coach I got on had really cramped seats but perhaps sometimes they use the same coaches as the ones on V/Line services.
I very much enjoyed your video trip. ps. Saint Arnaud in local lingo is pronounced 'Snt Arnud' and 'Kaniva' is 'Can iva'. I will continue enjoying your video trips. Melbournian.
i've driven from Melbourne to Adelaide (there and back). We started in Melbourne to Portland for the 1st part which is around 4 hours. We stopped there for the night and in the morning, we drove from Portland to Adelaide which is a good 6 hours. Then we Drove from Adelaide To Melbourne in 1 Sitting (few rest stops ofc). It was around 12 hours.
Transport used: Car
Nice video. You got Tarnagulla spot on, but St. Arnaud was a little off. More like Rnud. Ka n-i-va as well, but nice work all the same.
Melbourne to Sydney via the South Coast of NSW is slower, you do get to have breakfast at Eden as the sun is coming up though
I’m too unsociable to go on a bus trip like that.
lol, I’ve had the same driver, larry, a couple years ago when I was going up to rupanyup.
Fire fly company would have a contract with Vline to operate this service.
I recently went to Adelaide by car and it took 8 and a half hours both ways
Firefly operates the service on behalf of the V/Line Passenger arm of PTV.
Had Larry before, love that guy
Yeah same ahah, very nice guy.
My experiences with coach have been, shall we say quite negative. I'm 186cm, no coach has enough room for me :) I'm with Larry on this, and any non road based service would have just left the passenger behind. I'm hoping, thanks to some of your videos, to do a rail trip along the entire east coast, maybe even to Adelaide if I can save enough. Bathurst Bullet to Central, fly to Cairns, Spirit of Queensland rail bed to Brisbane, day XPT to Syd, then day XPT to Mel, and maybe, if I can get the funds together, Overland to Adelaide. Being a NSW pensioner, I can get a lower cost fare on the Spirit of Queensland and use my travel vouchers to reduce the costs of the XPT legs.
Sounds like a great trip! The overland is expensive, but the service is worth it.
I have done Darwin to Adelaide by bus....Darwin Townsville Brisbane by bus....Melbourne Brisbane Townsville ,Darwin by bus with five children, some how Adelaide to Melbourne seems easy.....btw I have done Adelaide to Melbourne on the old Broad gauge Overlander in second class.
They are very good. Great service and awesome timing. Good way if you are short with money to take a plane. Cost me $33 in 2023.
This is the exact same route I take every year when i drive to adelaide with my family to go see family except it only takes around 10 to 11 hours since we start in geelong
You go via Bendigo?
@@johnpalmer5010 I go though Ballarat and Ararat
@@ollieottergaming that makes sense! :-)
Town I live in
Only 12 hours. You gotta do the XPT Speedlink Combo from Sydney to Adelaide via Albury...
I almost ended up on that when my Virgin Flight Sydney to Adelaide was cancelled but with next to no time to get back to the city and time to buy a ticket I had to plead to get home on the last one of the day flights.
It’s a strange route this one. Firefly have about a dozen seats that they can sell privately (not subsidised by PTV) and the rest are for VLine passengers Bendigo-Adelaide. Only firefly passengers can use the coach between Southern Cross and Bendigo.
VLine operate Adelaide, Canberra and South Coast NSW. Always cheaper than the private operators.
Except on Sunday mornings, when V/Line passengers use the coach all the way as there's no train from Melbourne early enough to Bendigo.
Why not run more buses to Adelaide that originate in bendigo rather than competing with trains
Strange way to go from Melbourne to Adelaide.
Really surprised to see no staff collecting fruit or fruit bins at the bus stops. SA can literally make your life hell if you bring fruit fly in.
plz review the west coast wilderness railway in tasmania
I’d like to get to Tasmania sometime soon!
You picked a winning day to have it so empty. The few times I've been it was full. You travelled on a Tuesday?
Yes, I wanted the Monday but sold out, but Tuesday ended up being better anyway.
I live in Adelaide and I have traveled with Firefly to Melbourne and vice versa for no less than 30 times the last 5 years. Quality is up to each passenger to judge. But drivers here are extremely nice, easy going and very friendly. I’m so sorry for the argument at the end of the video, and sorry that I have to stand with the driver’s side.
To be honest, I like Larry and I don’t think anyone thought he was out of line, he didn’t have to go back. I didn’t mind the bus at all, but I like traveling this way 🤣
You said you were ahead of schedule so does that mean you left that stop earlier than the timetable? I as a coach driver would not normally be expected to return for a passenger left behind if I departed as per the schedule. But if I left early and someone missed the bus then I would have to and there would be pretty severe consequences for me.
Not exactly. We were ahead of schedule, but all the stops at that point are drop off only, so we aren’t picking up any passengers for the rest of the trip. And when we got off the bus for lunch, he said how long and specifically what time to be back at the bus.
What a ripoff! I'd stick with the Overland even with the🤑
You cop it on the chin well though👍
Driver shouldn’t have turned back if passenger was late, it’s like a cruise ship, be on time. Not difficult 😡
That service you are on is using a coach that is usually operated by Firefly as a V/Line rail replacement coach - I’ll be catching a Firefly coach from Sydney to Melbourne and return in June and I’ll give my honest review of them when I get home! Dubbo to Lithgow on NSW Trainlink coach service CLK570 then a BMT intercity train to Central via Mountain High Pies in Wentworth Falls, Firefly overnight coach service FE21 from Sydney to Melbourne Southern Cross, then a SHT train from Southern Cross to Seymour. Change at Seymour for a coach ride from there to Mooroopna where I will be staying with friends.
So to answer your question about this service, it is operated by Firefly…
Wow, that sounds like a fun adventure! I thought it was firefly, but was a bit confused as you probably knew 🤣
@@JoshGoesSlow best to ask if you are not sure… as for my coach from Seymour to Mooroopna, there is a chance it will be a Firefly coach as well
No one QUESTIONs why you go to Bendigo to get to Adelaide. Talk about a convoluted route. And typical of the bad PT in Victoria to have a bus with no tray table and presumably power socket - I mean it’s the 21st century and our regional trains by and large don’t (despite transit fanboys saying our trains are great cos they have pointy aerodynamic cabs).
It’s 35 bucks. What are you expecting?
@@mhayli1 Next he will want a-le-carte
Hey mate just wondering if we can buy tickets from the station or its gotta be online?
There is both a vline booth and firefly booth at the station, which I’m fairly sure you could buy tickets for.
Other than buying tickets on the V/line website it has a list of ticket outlets and third party agents when travelling in Victoria. It’s usually places like staffed train stations or if there’s none of those a newsagent, milk bar local library and the like. I get that not everyone likes using the internet but it’s not a good idea to buy on the bus as they have schedules to keep.
Done this drive way too many times in the car
where did you stay in Melbourne?
I stayed at the Best Western, just across from Southern Cross Station.
Melbourne to Adelaide is nothing on a bus I used to regularly go from Adelaide to Queensland. Knew every bus stop along the way where I could go and smoke a joint lol
Wouldn’t that be every stop? 😂
@@krispy4605 Where to hide so I wouldn't get caught lol
Larry needs to do a headcount..not rely on the passengers. I.m.o
Yeah Larry hates his life. And yeah there is no excuse for being left behind on cruise ships if you are late back bad luck you will be watching the ship sail away……
nice video mate, but isnt the train slower than this?
its the same because the coach is the one you board from Bendigo, the difference is that the TRAIN only runs from Southern Cross to Bendigo
@@roywells7974 sorry i was talking about the overland not the vline half way option, which also goes to ararat or ballarat where you change for the coach like bendigo, so cheap at 35 bucks return concession
@tangiers365 the overland took me pretty much the exact time as the coach did, it is $100 cheaper on the bus though 🙂
Isn’t the train longer?
Train was 11.5 hours, same as the bus.
I did southern cross to Mildura on the overnight trip and return had 45min spare and return to southern cross at 4pm why I did it I don't know
It’s weirdly true - trains have the least scenery on average, and it’s logical with the design of railway lines. Whereas buses will let you see the walkable street entrances if they’re not on a freeway. I hate buses on principle but at least coaches have an extra axle or two to smooth out the ride. (Plush seats can’t do much about swaying and rocking).
Well live in bendigo
pretty sure that jestar flights cost only 65 bucks from mel to adl
you pronounced St Arnaud wrong
Kaniva was pronounced wrong too I noticed mate
If you want to go to Ballarat from Geelong on the Melbourne to Adelaide coach, you're better off catching the Geelong to Bendigo coach
Or, if you want to travel overnight with Firefly, you could get from Geelong to Ballarat and grab the Firefly from Ballarat to Adelaide.
@@AussieRoads Yeah, not bad idea
You got ripped off haha
imagine spending 12 hours on a bus to wake up in Adelaide
You didn't explain that it's only on Sunday mornings from Southern Cross station (Melbourne) that the road coach operates all the way if you book through V/Line and travel in accord with its timetable: on the other six days, it commences in Bendigo if you're a
V/Line passenger, as you travel by train between Melbourne and Bendigo.
You also mispronounced St Arnaud and Kaniva, so you may not be from Victoria. But overall, a good video: annoying that someone was left behind so you were delayed.
heh
ham and cheese
heh
If you want to travel by public transport with pets, I have 2 small dogs but I don't drive or own a car yet. I wish it was more possible to travel and explore with pets by public transport
JD no vendrá esta mañana.
The price you pay to avoid rip off travel agents in Adelaide!
Why wouldn’t you sit in the first 2 rows? The forward view is much better, especially for your camera. I’m always disappointed if those rows are taken when I board a coach like that.
$74 for a 58 minute flight ... Know what i'd rather 😂
Yeah, no thanks. I’ll stick to the car.
lucky it has the old seats the new seats are horrible. they finialy have USB charging oh and the DAMN THNING MAKES A BEAP SOUND EVERY TIME THE DRIVER SWITCHES THE HIGH BEAM ON AND OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Not Like Bus very Long 👎I Like plane 👍I Like Train 👍
I would call long distance busses in Australia "Third World". However, the reality is that the third world actually provides a much more comfortable journey. This ride is worse than sitting in airline economy for 12 hours....
Third world? What are you comparing it to?
It was partially the driver's fault. You don't need to know who is on the bus, you do a head count before leaving. Simple. Him whining to the other passengers about one passenger was very unprofessional.
Good drivers and good scenery but always arse numbing.