Did you know that each Australian state has its own transport system?

Getting around Australia can be quite an adventure if you want to get to know the country, generally the big cities have good connections, however, I will tell you a little about my experience.

When I arrived in Melbourne, they recommended that I buy a pass that lasts one month for public transportation. The card is called Myki. I think I paid about 150 dollars. However, thinking about it, it was not a very wise decision because it was in the middle of the city, so I It had free transportation and I didn't really use it much, I walked a lot in the city and some days I escaped to the beach.

Melbourne has a “Tram” train system that is present in the CBD, which is the center of the city, these mini trains run on the surface and have a range in which people can use them without paying.

If I wanted to go to another area, I needed to pay my fare, yes or yes, to avoid fines, since there are inspectors who get on the bus, tram at certain stations and scan the cards or you have to show the ticket.

What impressed me the most was that the buses - trams do not have turnstiles, coming from Santiago in Chile, some buses have huge turnstiles, nothing was WOW, I really am in a developed country, if they do it in Chile, no one would pay, everything would be scratched and dirty, we are still a long way from getting there.

I was only in Melbourne for a few months so it was time to move to another city.

Two months later I changed places and I realized that each state has its own public transportation system, each state works as an independent state, therefore if I wanted to get around I needed another card.

When I arrived in Cairns I bought a new card, Translink, I don't remember very well where I bought it, however in this link you can check your location and it will give you the alternatives you have. go card retailer locations | Translink card to go to Palm Cove and other places, however, I didn't use it enough because we rented a car so it was easier to get around.

After the adventure through Queensland, I spent a few days in Sydney, as expected, another card, in this case Opal to be able to get around the city, I also discovered that you can create your account so you can manage how much money you have and if you lose your card You can block it and transfer the money so as not to lose it.

In Sydney I bought my first car so I stopped using public transport cards, however, my backpacking adventure was soon to end, and I still didn't know where I was going to live when I was a student.

In the last few months, I decided that I would study in Western Australia. Upon arriving in Perth, I requested my transport card at the school, because I wanted to qualify for the discount benefit as a student, the school did the entire process for me, they took a photo and we filled out a document with my information, I think 3 years ago I paid about 10 dollars to manage the card.

As a recommendation, if you are going to come to Australia it is important to check which city you want to come to and how public transport works, this will help you move quickly and also save when you can, sometimes small details make a difference.