Mccaffertys bus line
now Greyhound Au
comes highly recommnded.
Our pass cost us $740 Can. to travel 12000 km. We could hop on and off as we liked and we had a year to use the pass. The drivers were were always on best behaviour because the busses were filled with beautiful single girls dressed in bikini tops and sarongs.

Go Go GO to Coober Pedy!
This is a famous opal mining town in the outback on the way to Alice Springs. We were told by Australians NOT to go there, that it was a dump, ugly, hot, and full of yucky miners.

We went. We LOVED Coober Pedy.
Pipes sticking up from the sand indicate houses underneath. Though opal mining is not allowed right under the town, locals are allowed to keep the opals they find while they are tunneling their houses, so the story is that one man has twenty three rooms and counting.

Lots of movies have been filmed here, such as "Mad Max" and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". It's a town that was formed by men with no restrictions from the very few women who cared to stay, therefore unique and bizarre.
And it has the world's only oiled sand golf course, (because grass can't grow there).

The opal fields. Millions of 75 foot deep shafts with piles of potch beside them, one false move and your legs will end up coming through your shoulders. (sorry)

We took a 4 hour bus tour around Coober Pedy with "Radekas Downunder" Irreverent, hilarious, and not to be missed. We fossicked for opals; didn't find too much but others have! Look at lots of Opals while you are in Australia, so beautiful, and every one so different. The prices vary a lot, but you will be sure to find something just perfect. If you buy your opals in Coober Pedy you will be directly supporting the people who get down and dirty at the source. Why not? See where the opals come from and meet the people who live and work there. What a bunch of characters!

With no advance reservations we stayed in hotels and apartments. They were easy to find and cheap. We wanted privacy, cleanliness, private bathroom and a balcony and we ended up averaging about $70 Can. per night. The best thing to do is this: As soon as you arrive in a new place put your luggage in a locker in the bus depot. Then go exploring for a hotel.

If you take your luggage along you will be inclined to grab the first place - don't! Leave the load and go get a wonderful place, then come back and get your stuff.

It's not called "Ayers Rock" anymore,
"Uluru" is the sacred rock of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara aborigines and was returned to their care and ownership in 1985. The area contains carvings and paintings by Aboriginal people and is also the location of a number of sacred sites which are closed to the public.

Our two days at Uluru cost us $100. for both of us and that includes lodging and food and drink!
Included in our bus pass was the 3 hour bus trip to Uluru and back from Alice, the narrated bus tour around the rock in the afternoon, the return to climb the rock or hike around it the next morning and then a trip out to the Olgas. So the only expense was the sleepover and food.

See the park entry ticket on the left? Notice the fine print at the bottom that requests that tourists do not climb Uluru.

There is only one area of hotels near Uluru, and it is called Yulara. There are Hiltons and Sheratons there. However, hidden away across a treed knoll....
We stayed at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. A really wonderful place for the budget traveller. You spend one fraction of what the people on the other side of the resort pay, and you all get the same sunset on the Rock.