Greyhound bus from Cairns to Brisbane
In May and June, I slowly made my way down the Queensland coast in Australia. Because I’m a big coward and didn’t fancy hiring a car, I used Greyhound buses all the way down from Cairns to Brisbane.
It’s arguably the cheapest way to get down the coast if you’re wanting to make a good few stops en route, but the journeys don’t half take longer than they should do.
Mandatory rest breaks for bus drivers
Part of this is due to drivers having mandatory rest breaks every couple of hours. This is perfectly understandable, and I don’t have a problem with that. I also accept that there are a few detours off the main highway in order to service destinations that are on the route.
Greyhound roadhouse stops
What I can’t quite understand is why those driver rest breaks have to be in such god-awful places. The general rule of thumb is that they’ll come half an hour to 45 minutes after you’ve left a major city. The bus will pull up at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere where the only things on offer will be a heart attack-inducing (and grizzly looking) steak sandwich, some giant bottles of Coca-Cola and a splendid array of low quality pornography in the magazine racks.
City breaks instead?
So why not stop in the cities instead? If you’re going to stop for 45 minutes, why not do so where passengers have a few different eateries to choose from, or could perhaps briefly nip into a museum or internet café?
Surely it would benefit the drivers too. The poor bloke driving the same route every other day must shiver at the thought of eating at the same grotty roadhouse all the time. It must be miserable for them having to choose between the same two or three fat-drizzled options every rest break.
Reasons for roadhouse stops
I suspect there are a few reasons for choosing to stop at so many roadhouses. First is the fuel – the bus can be refuelled at the same time. Second may well be some kind of deal between Greyhound and the individual roadhouses.
But I really can’t see why having the breaks in spots with more variety would make a major difference to timings or cost. And it would make the journey far more pleasant for all concerned.
Have you travelled on Greyhound buses in Australia? Share your thoughts below.
Tags: Australia, budget travel, bus travel, greyhound, Queensland
As the song goes … it’s the same the whole world over, whether you’re on a coach tour or a regular long-distance bus.
However, it would seem that our National Express are slowly addressing the problem; the southbound rest-stop on the 335 service is now Marlborough; a nice place where you can get something to eat, used to be the rather squalid Swindon bus station, where everything’s closed.
As to the fuel … as you know, in Oz, it’s cheaper in the cities than out in the sticks.