Our Western Australia holiday has come to an end with the last three days experiencing the epic Indian Pacific train journey from the Indian Ocean (Perth) to the Pacific Ocean (Sydney).
During this three week holiday I have ticked off some boxes on my "Bucket List"which is always a good thing to do.
I loved the city of Perth, Mandurah, Albany, the Margaret River region of Bunker Bay, The Vines and our train journey home finished the trip off nicely. We were lucky enough to have perfect weather the whole time we were away - experiencing the Freemantle Doctor on the day we visited the WACA.
The train trip was a very interesting experience in particular the crossing of the Nullarbor Plains. There had been a lot of rain in the weeks before we crossed and there was a lot of vegetation and even some wildflowers which was a nice surprise. I was ready for miles and miles of red dirt and little else.
We caught the train at East Perth Railway station and it was a huge train with about 29 carriages (the train had to be broken into two pieces the let the passengers off at Central Station.
Our carriages were very well organised with a comfortable bench lounge during the day that converted to double bunks at night. I was the one who got the short straw & had to go on the top bunk (not at all recommended for anyone who does not have good balance or is frightened of height). The staff would convert the cabin while we were at dinner each night & then tidy it back to a lounge while we were at breakfast in the mornings. The shower was quite an experience - but it worked. The area was not as small as it looks but a large person would find it rather squeezy. The toilet & wash basin fold down from the wall which really was not that much of an inconvenience. The dining carriage was very nice & sociable and the food was exceptional. We were not offered the same meals twice during the whole journey and the choices and quality were very good. I was not all that impressed with the lounge area. It was a bit restricted if you were a party of more than four and we could not find a comfortable place to play cards as the tables and floor space was too small. Apart from that everything was good and I found that the train movement made me sleepy and it was easy to doze off while watching the scenery.
The scenery was something else, changing as we moved through the different areas.
Sunday 10th April 2011.
Our first stop was Kalgoorlie and we arrived there at 10.00 o'çlock at night. We went on an organised bus tour that took us to see the Super Pit which was an amazing place. We could look right down into the pit & see the workers doing their shifts right through the night. The big trucks looked like matchbox toys. We also toured through Kalgoorlie town checking out the historical places and the famous brothels in the area.
Monday 11th April 2011
We continued on to Adelaide SA stopping at the little Ghost Town of Cook SA where there are only four permanent residents. It is a changeover of staff for the railway workers and they are building some accommodation for them there.
Tuesday 12th April 2011 we arrived in Adelaide at 7.00 am. There was a two hour stopover so we hired a cab and toured the city stopping at Glenelg for a coffee and breakfast. We were back at the railway by 9 o'clock so we did not have time to see a whole lot of Adelaide. We headed from Adelaide to Broken Hill during the day. Unfortunately we were held up with track repairs etc so we could not leave the railway station to have a look at Broken Hill as the train was well behind schedule.
Wednesday 13th April 2011 I woke up just before we got to Lithgow and was able to get a few photos before we got to the Blue Mountains and then into Sydney - two hours later that scheduled. That did not worry us too much as we only had to move along a couple of platforms to catch the country train to Gosford which we did with good timing arriving home about 3.30pm.
I was happy to have done the whole trip just to be able to say that I had done it, however if I planned this trip again I would have got off the train at Adelaide, had a few days there and a couple of games of golf and then flown home to Sydney. The Nullarbor Plains was the big attraction for me and the best part of the trip I thought.
Now it is back to reality, catching up with everything that has happened at home while we have been away. We are all on diets as we put on so much weight from all the good food and not a lot of excercise.
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