That's all folks.

To finish up the photos from my train trip, hope you enjoy them.

 Remembering the era of Steam at the Kalgoorlie station.

Lovely wide shady veranda's on the Kalgoorlie shops.

There are many lovely old building here denoting the wealth in gold taken from mines on The Golden Mile.



Also despite the fact that all the towns water comes via that pipeline they manage to keep it looking good.

One of the great train staff from Perth to Adelaide putting the portable steps into position at Cook.

 The rail way lines from Adelaide and Perth met here in 1917.

 I don't know whether they were his and hers jail cells, but there was 2 of them!!!

 In 1982 the "Men of the Trees" planted 500 trees around the township of Cook.

 Some of the trees and a sign to prove you can't escape salesmanship it reads "The Gift Shop Is Now Behind You"

The now defunct Cook School 

 Taking on fresh linen and supplies in Adelaide.

 The emblem on the Indian Pacific is the Wedge Tailed Eagle the worlds largest Eagle with a wingspan of just over 2 metres,

The sun was in the wrong place but I wanted at least one shot of the train on a bend.

Coming into the Blue Mountains in NSW.

Sydney Central Station.

A suburban double Decker train at one of Centrals 24 platforms.

This is The Country Link train I took from Sydney to Brisbane.

Very green and lush as we traveled through NSW.

The Indian Pacific rail trip

Where better to start than at the finish!!!! I'm home at Gympie and have slept in my own comfortable bed (for about12 hours!!!) the whole train experience was great but sleeping on moving objects isn't something I do well so it is good to be home for that reason.
Now let me see... I believe I was in Sydney when I last posted, I'm afraid I fell for the three card trick here "Country Link" with whom I'm traveling, have a nice comfortable waiting room at Central Station so rather than get clipped $150 plus for a night in a city hotel I decided to spend the night there as we had a 7AM start the next day...... WRONG.
Sydney, like many other cities throughout the world, has a homeless people problem and the fact that shortly after dark they descend on public buildings and sheltered places to spend the night.... No I didn't share my Waiting Room with them the Station staff locked the door not long after dark.... So I shared their drafty park style benches with them, I counted 29 bodies spread around the Station and counted myself very lucky that I only had one night there.
Bright???? and early next morning I boarded the train to Casino NSW and because by now I had had 4 nights of fitful sleep I started to question my decision to wait over for the daylight train/bus trip to Brisbane, the journey was comfortable fast and through some of Australia's most beautiful rural country.... BUT it rained most of the time and wasn't the best day for photos.
I got into Brisbane at about 10PM and caught a taxi to Warren's, incidentally the 800 Klm trip from Sydney to Brisbane cost $90... the 8 klm trip to Warren's cost $30??????????
Next morning we found the battery in my car was DEAD FLAT, we called on the RACQ to come and help us start it, turned out the boot hadn't closed properly when I took my luggage out at the airport 2 weeks earlier, so without switching the engine off I set sail for home, the trip home has recharged the battery so once more all is well with the world.

 Alan & Lyn the delivery team to East Perth Station

My Cubby Hole by day on the other side there is a foot rest and a fold-up wash basin

Leaving Perth the countryside was still quite green.

Then on into the WA wheat-belt where harvest had started already. 

 The club lounge where the Sittin, Talkin, N Drinkin happens

The Perth to Kalgoorlie pipe-line for the water supply to this arid area.

Nearly at the end of the wheat-belt but still got that pipe-line.

 Next comes the Low Mallee Scrub country, it goes on for hundreds of Klm.

Converted from day sitter to night toss and turner, the bed base folds up against the wall behind the pillow by day.

Just about every where you looked there were wildflowers thanks to a very good season.

This is the gradual transformation of the landscape into the plains country.

This is the Nullabhor Plain, and yes there are no trees, but for the first time in decades there are cattle grazing what is usually bone dry sand.

More of the exceptional growth this year has produced.

The metropolis of Forrest... population 2.

Upon reflection this has been a very eventful trip so I am looking forward to lots of peace and quiet for a while now... But I must ring Bruce and Paula tonight to find out if the car is fixed!!!!   

There are just too many photos for 1 post... stay tuned lots more to come.

All Aboard!!!!

I am still in Perth, its Saturday and I'm Due to train out at 11-50 AM tomorrow, the reversal of my plan to fly home came as a result of Alan's ability to unravel the rail site on the internet so the fare dropped from $2300 to $1400 and I can accept that... so we are of on an adventure tomorrow.... I expect this to be a photo extravaganza so look forward to lots of pics!!!!!

Train Travel, the ultimate way to traverse this large continent.

First up a few facts and figures…

Our journey is Perth WA (west coast, Indian Ocean) to Sydney NSW (east coast, Pacific Ocean) Via Adelaide SA a distance of 4352 klm, this takes almost 3 days and nights (65 hrs) through some of the most remote parts of Australia.

Our train has 16 carriages pulled by a single engine is 476 Metres long and weighs in at about 796 tonnes, when its busy they couple 2 engines together and put 25 carriages behind them it then comes in at 711 Metres and weighs about 1,375 Tonnes                   

I have a COMPACT but comfortable cabin, excellent meals and the train staff  are very friendly and efficient group of people.

Because there is a single track with lots of sidings to allow oncoming trains to pass there are many brief stops along the way, most of the rail traffic is freight trains but we did pass the other “Indian Pacific” on its way to Perth from Sydney,

Our first official stop was at Kalgoorlie where there was a moonlight tour of the city know as the “Golden Mile” because of the staggering amount of gold that has been taken from this area, having on a recent trip done a similar tour in daylight hours I didn’t bother with this one.

Our next stop was at Cook a thriving community, population 5, which while it doesn’t sound all that impressive it dwarfs its nearest neighbour Forrest , which has a population of 2, their responsibility is to maintain a civil airstrip which rivals the length of some city airstrips, Cook on the other hand was built to house railway workers back in the early 1900s when the rail link was being built, it still serves as a refuelling and water take on point.

As previously mentioned I am writing this as it happens as I can’t post it until we get to a more civilised part of the country so for now that’s all there is!!!

We are now stopped at Adelaide (capitol city of SA) where the time is 10AM there has been a complete change over of the train staff (they also seem to be quite nice so no problems there) last night I slept a little better than on the first night, I’m guessing that the body gradually gets used to the constant movements and sounds, it is a very quiet train helped no doubt by double glazed windows.

Favourite daughter is often in Adelaide but no such luck this time when I rang her, never mind she was at the wedding so its not long since I’ve seen her.

Have had 2 nights and almost 2 days on board the Indian Pacific and have loved it, plenty of new people to meet and chat with great meals and a very relaxing way to cross the country.

Its now Wednesday evening and I’m in Sydney NSW, the last day on the Indian Pacific was not as good as the first 2 mainly because we seemed to rock and roll most of the day, the track needs some maintenance and this added to the fact that the new train crew were not as good as the first lot, I think we got the very best first and there wasn’t anywhere for the others to go but down.

Now I have to wait until the morning to take the final leg home, well to Brisbane anyway as that’s where my car is, having decided on a train trip I figured I’d go the whole hog and finish by rail, the direct trip travelled all night… no scenery… So I’m going in daylight as far as Casino in NSW then by bus to Brisbane (about 150 klms).

So while I have good internet access I’ll post this lot and finish up later with the last bit of the trip and some photos.

Visiting Family and Friends

Click on photos to enbiggen

Merle and I... and she calls me little brother!!!

Some bloggers will recognize Jan.

My wee friends Keith and Anne.

Cousin Gordon is the oldest living member of my dads family line.

A tourist paddle wheeler on Lake Mulwalla on the NSW/ Vic. border.

The trip continues

Click photos to enbiggen.

An interesting cloud formation that adorned our sky today.



The trip is still on schedule and we are now at my sister Merle's at Shepparton, for those who read Merle's Blog will know that she has not been well lately, but I am pleased to report that she is much better than she was a few weeks ago... still has plenty of aches and pains and very limited energy but the fighting spirit seems to be coming back.
By comparison to sunny Queensland its a bit bleak here in Victoria, but spring is in the air so we are looking forward to some improvement in the near future.

I made mention of the fact that Bourke was located in our OUTBACK, this was our accommodation at the Kidman Camp... it began its life as a shipping container thus its width was only 8 feet to allow for road transport, the veranda attachment added to its visual appeal.

While the interior was pretty basic and a bit cramped it provided the needed place to sleep if not much else!!!!

The Outback!!!!

On this trip we have intentionally gone "off the beaten track" a little so after our visit to the "Gully Pub" we headed for a town known throughout Australia as the start of the true outback, the town is Bourke NSW which boasts the saying "back of Bourke" which translates to Beyond the Black Stump or WAY OUTBACK.
Apart from being a long way from most of the rest of Australia Bourke was "the end of the line" for the paddle steamers which carried the huge wool clip down the Darling River to the rail line at Echuca Vic. The Darling has always been a river that has  been very much affected by the seasons often drying up into a series of billabong's before the next good rains brought the water level up to navigable levels.
These good rains have already fallen in 2010 so while the paddle wheelers no longer ply the river there is a substantial amount of water in the Darling, in fact in all the rivers and creeks throughout the area, in turn this has given the surrounding country a green gloss that has been missing for the last decade

The "Outback" is looking great with the coming of Spring there are Wattles in bloom everywhere

The 3 level wharf at Bourke allowed loading of the paddle wheelers regardless of the river height

The fields of brilliant Yellow denote a bumper season in the making for Canola Crops

A sight to gladden the heart of an old river man... The Darling running a banker!!!

Tripping with Wazza and Frank (Sonata)

Day one saw us at our pre-chosen destination "The Nindigully Pub" in outback Queensland, the town of Nindigully (population 9) is home to the Gully Pub this pub holds the oldest liquor license in Queensland.

This pub is the epitome of Australian humor and the elevated position we gladly bestow on our pubs, the meals here are legendary  as some of the photos will show, the specialty hamburgers are a trademark of the Gully Pub and are designed to feed between 4 and 14... dependent on appetite.

For those of you who are not familiar with the State of Queensland's shape the first large hamburger is presented in a bread roll in the shape of  the State.

This is the "Queenslander Burger" which seemed quite capable of feeding about 10!!! there was a story attached to this particular burger which we knew nothing of until the next morning.... the couple pictured cutting the burger had been married at the pub some hours earlier and had been presented with the Queenslander as a wedding present by the publican... A wedding to remember!!!

This was one of a pair that fed a table of 10 people.

The humor extended to the toilet block where this sign adorned one end of the urinal!!!

Among the variety of "decorations"there is an enviable collection of  Bushmans Hats, as well as a bar towel that try's to decide just what is Man's best friend, his dog or a Fourex  Gold Beer???

This couple chose to order two "Mixed Grills" there were 2 of each component ie 2 chops, 2 sausages, 2 steaks, 2 fried eggs, 2 rashers of bacon as well as vegetables... me-thinks they should have ordered ONE!!!

Here is the Nindigully Pub, a touch over 140 years old and still licensed to sell liquor.

Warren chose an eye-fillet steak with mushroom sauce, another sizable serve!!!

Warren is seen here waiting for the "Free Beer" which was served "Yesterday"

I wish Wazza had warned me he was about to shoot... perhaps I would have smiled, my meal was "Gully Spare Ribs on Potato bake.. very tasty..