Bus packages
Brisbane to Birdsville and back on a coach, with your tent already standing when you arrive. No driving, no packing the car, no outback road to worry about.
Buy tickets →Dates and price
Someone else
does the driving
The Rock n' Roll Road Trip takes the hardest part of the Bash off your hands. You travel from Brisbane to Birdsville and back on a luxury 65-seat coach, hosted the whole way by outback specialists Kangaroo Bus Lines.
It suits people who don't want to drive 1,600km each way, who don't own a camping setup, or who are coming on their own and would rather arrive with a busload than alone. Plenty of Bashers have made the trip more than once, and the bus camp has its own community by the second night.
Your ride, and the crew who look after you the whole way
What it's like, from
people who've done it
A busload of people who stop being strangers somewhere around Charleville, and a driver who has done this run more times than anyone. Here are Bashers on the Rock n' Roll Road Trip, in their own words.
Filmed on the Rock n' Roll Road Trip · Big Red Bash
Coach and tent,
all sorted
Per person. Your festival ticket isn't included. It's bought separately.
- Return coach travel, Brisbane to Birdsville
- Twin share tent accommodation, already set up when you arrive
- Stretcher, mattress, lantern and camp chair each
- Available on Pay Over Time
Add to your package
Solo passengers share a tent with someone of the same gender they may not have met. The tents are roomy, with plenty of space for two. If you'd rather not, the single upgrade is $340 and it's worth booking early, because there are only so many.
What you get,
and what you don't
Included
- Return travel on a luxury 65-seat coach, hosted by the Kangaroo Bus Lines crew
- Your tent, pitched and waiting when you arrive. Four nights, from the Monday through to roll out on the Friday morning
- A camp stretcher and mattress each
- A lantern and a camp chair each
- Drinking water on site, supplied for bus passengers (general campers don't get it)
- Hot water in the bus camp. Bring your own mug, tea and coffee
- A daily shuttle into Birdsville for showers and supplies
- A communal campfire in the bus area
Not included
- Your festival ticket. Buy it separately
- Food and drink. All meals are at your own expense, on the road and at the Bash. There are no cooking facilities in the bus camp, but a large variety of food vendors is available to choose from
- Sleeping bag, pillow, blanket and camping table. BYO, or available as an add-on when you book
- Alcohol. It's BYO, and none is sold on site
Seven days,
two long drives
Out overnight with dinner at Charleville, a full Monday to settle in, three days at the Bash, then the same run home. All times are approximate. It's a long way.
You can join the coach at any town on the route, and the price is the same wherever you get on. If you live along the Warrego, or you'd rather drive the easy few hours to Toowoomba or Roma than the whole way to Birdsville, that works.
Sunday 4 July: Brisbane to Birdsville
Where the coach stops, and where you can board
- Kangaroo Bus Lines depotCheck in from 4:30am · some secure parking5:00am
- Ann Street, BrisbaneBus stop 7 · boarding from 5:45am6:00am
- Toowoomba8:00am
- Dalby10:00am
- Chinchilla11:00am
- Miles12:00pm
- Roma2:30pm
- Mitchell4:00pm
- Morven5:00pm
- Charleville6:00pm
Dinner at the Charleville RSL, then on through Quilpie and Windorah overnight. Arrive Birdsville Monday 5 July around 7:00am for breakfast, then showers, then out to Big Red. Your tent is yours from that night, so you have the whole of Monday to settle in before the music starts on Tuesday.
Friday 9 July: Birdsville to Brisbane
The run home, calling at the same towns
- BirdsvilleDeparts 9:00am sharp9:00am
- Charleville7:00pm
- Morven8:00pm
- Mitchell9:00pm
- Roma10:30pm
- MilesSat 1:00am
- ChinchillaSat 2:00am
- DalbySat 3:00am
- ToowoombaSat 5:00am
- BrisbaneSat 7:00am
Lunch at Windorah, then Quilpie, and into Charleville by evening. Overnight on the coach across the Darling Downs, back in Brisbane Saturday 10 July around 7:00am.
The run passes through a string of small outback communities, and the stops are long enough to buy something. Spending a few dollars in Toowoomba, Roma, Charleville, Quilpie or Windorah matters more out here than it does at home, and it's half the point of going by road.
What comes
with you
Under the coach
- One bag, 20kg maximum
- Your sleeping bag
- A small esky
- One case of beer or the same volume in something else. No glass: cans, casks, or decant your wine before you leave
On the coach with you
- A small travel bag
- A water bottle
- A pillow
- Something to read
- A travel blanket, if you feel the cold
- Snacks are fine
If you bought a festival ticket as an add-on to your bus package, your driver will issue you your wristband at check-in. If you bought your festival ticket separately, you’ll have time to exchange your e-ticket for your wristband at the Ticket Office in Birdsville before heading to the festival site. Download or print your e-ticket before you arrive, as reception in Birdsville can be limited.
Pay over time
You can pay for your bus package in full, or spread it across instalments. It applies to the transport and tent package and to the single tent upgrade. Pay an initial amount when you buy, then three instalments on 23 March, 20 April and 18 May 2027.
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
The initial payment is taken when you buy and includes an additional Pay Over Time administration fee, charged by Oztix.
Ticket types with an upfront price under $100 aren’t offered on a Pay Over Time plan, and are paid in full with your initial payment. How Pay Over Time works.
Life in the
bus camp
You camp together, in your own corner of Bashville, with a few things the rest of the campground doesn't have.
Your tent
Standing and ready when you arrive, with a stretcher, a mattress, a lantern and a chair for each person. If you added the sleeping bag pack, it's already inside.
Water
Drinking water is supplied for bus passengers, which is not the case for general campers. Bring extra anyway, along with whatever else you like to drink. There's hot water in the bus camp too, so bring your own mug, tea and coffee.
The daily shuttle
There are no showers at the festival site, so a bus runs into Birdsville every day for showers, and to buy water, food and anything else you've run out of. Expect a queue for the showers.
Toilets
Composting toilets throughout the campground, stocked with paper. The furthest you'd walk from a campsite is about 150 metres, and most people are closer. Bigger banks of them sit near the Concert Area.
Food
There are no cooking facilities in the bus camp, so you buy your meals. Around 20 food vendors in the Plaza: breakfasts, dumplings, pizza, curries, burgers, Mexican, coffee, ice cream. All meals across the whole trip are at your own expense.
Cash
Most food vendors take cards, but bring cash as well. There's no mobile reception out here, so terminals lean on other connections and they don't always hold. There are no ATMs, but the merchandise tent has EFTPOS and offers cash out.
Power and phone
There is no power and no phone reception at the site. Put your phone on flight mode to make the battery last and bring a power bank. In Birdsville itself, only Telstra and Optus get coverage.
Light
Your tent has a lantern, but bring a handheld torch or a head torch as well. It's about 200 metres from the Concert Area back to camp and none of it is lit.
The fire
There's a communal campfire in the bus area, which is where most of the trip's friendships get made. A communal esky is available too, though space in it is limited.
July in Birdsville is usually lovely by day (low twenties) and cold at night, averaging around 6°C and occasionally dropping to zero. Bring layers, a warm jacket, warm shoes and socks, a scarf and a beanie. The hire sleeping bag is rated to −5°C, but if you feel the cold, add a blanket.
The ones we
get asked most
Please read the Big Red Bash ticket purchase Terms & Conditions. The travel component of the Rock n' Roll Road Trip is non-refundable. Any other questions, go through the contact form and we'll come back to you.
Where to next
Turn up, and
it's all done
The last Big Red Bash, without the 1,600km each way. Your tent is already up when the coach pulls in.