Riding the rails in Australia
Justine Tyerman has been riding the rails across Outback Australia on two very different train journeys. There was plenty to see and experience on a fourday trip from Perth to Sydney.
The sleek, silver Indian Pacific took up the entire platform at East Perth Station, its powerful diesel electric locomotive throbbing in anticipation of the epic fourday, three-night journey across the vast Australian continent from Perth on the Indian Ocean to Sydney on the Pacific Ocean.
Tingling with excitement, I walked the length of the 28-carriage, 700-metre, 1300-tonne train before boarding.
As the impressive entourage pulled smoothly away from the station, the sound of Champagne corks confirmed I was indeed embarking on one of the world’s greatest and longest train journeys.
In the days that followed, I was wined, dined, entertained, and waited on in style.
The 4352-kilometre, 65-hour trip traverses three states, time zones and capital cities, and offers myriad contrasting landscapes – from the undulating hills of the green Avon Valley and the vast Western Australian wheat-lands, to the immense, other-worldly, dead-flat, treeless Nullarbor Plain; from the graceful garden city of Adelaide, population 1.7 million, to the remote ghost town of Cook, population four; from the strange rock formations of the South Australian desert to the staggeringly-high sandstone escarpments and waterfalls of the Blue Mountains.
The stops along the way competed for superlatives. One of the biggest gold rushes in Australian history took place in 1893 at Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia. Here we viewed the massive
3.6km-wide, 512m-deep Super Pit gold mine, the world’s largest single open-cut mining operation and one of the richest gold deposits on the planet.
Rawlinna is home to the largest sheep station in Australia, the one-million-hectare Rawlinna Station. An al fresco breakfast awaited us at sunrise, while Perth-bound passengers dine there under the stars.
Broken Hill, Australia’s oldest mining town, is the site of the world’s richest lead-zinc ore deposit. We watched a highly-entertaining live show at the Palace Hotel called The Main Drag in honour of the
1994 hit movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which was filmed at Broken Hill.
Depending on direction, Adelaide excursions include tours of the city and region’s world-class wineries, dinner at a vineyard in the Barossa Valley, and breakfast at the Adelaide Oval.
In the Blue Mountains, a Unesco World Heritage site, I took a guided walk on the Prince Henry Cliff track and viewed the famous Three Sisters rock formation, while others opted for the thrilling Scenic World attractions at Katoomba.
I relished every moment of the journey but the Nullarbor was a highlight. I was mesmerised by the shadow of the train on the terracotta earth; the stubbly, low vegetation the colour of dried sage leaves; the occasional kangaroo, emu or camel startled by the long, silver snake of a train; eagles soaring high above the desert; and dazzling sunsets that lit the horizon. A wisp of dust or the glint of sun on a vehicle were the only suggestions of human habitation. During the longest stretch of straight train track in the world, there are no corners for a mind-boggling 478km.
Wi-fi was only available intermittently so passengers played card- and board games, read books, day-dreamed, dozed, and engaged with each other rather than their iPhones.
I found the nothing-to-do-ness deeply restful, a welcome respite from a hectic life. The rocking motion lulled me into a state of reverie I have rarely experienced in my adult life. It seemed to lower my heart rate, quieten the activity in my head and allow me to drift.
The journey was four days of sublime relaxation – I never picked up the book I brought with me, in case of boredom.