A few months ago we were looking forward to an upcoming visit of Hugh and Peggy, David's father and step-mother. They had a fabulous trip planned; a few days in Perth, meeting
quokkas, a ride on the Indian-Pacific (IP) railway to Adelaide, a week exploring Adelaide and South Australia's wine country, back on the train to Sydney, a few days in Sydney, off to New Zealand and then up to Brisbane before heading home. However, as Coronavirus started ramping up, Hugh and Peggy made the extremely difficult decision to cancel their whole trip. Understandably, their real fear was being stuck somewhere in quarantine. A fear that now rings with incredible foresight. New Zealand would not be very pretty from the inside of a hotel room. We were and are saddened that they were not able to visit, but are quite happy that they remain safe at home and healthy.
There was a hiccup though, the trip on the IP was non-refundable. Rather than letting the railroad have the money, and make some more, H&P suggested that we take their place. Somehow, their travel agency worked some magic and transferred the trip into David and my names. Suddenly, we were were booking flights to Perth in a week and a half time and knowing very little about what to expect.
Flying from Brisbane to Perth is a shockingly long flight, approximately 5.5 hours. The first half of the flight was clear while clouds obscured the ground for the second half. However, that was enough time for us to watch as Brisbane faded into rural bush, then to scrub land, and finally into the renowned red dusty desert that spans the middle of the country. This is aptly known as The GAFA or Great Australian ___ All. It was incredible to see a massive swath of land with zero sign of human modification.
After a pleasant flight with a few bumps we landed in Perth. After arriving at our Art Series hotel, we hotly debated going to Rottnest Island to meet the ever so famous quokkas, or to move at our own pace through the city. We opted for the latter and strolled through the CBD, up to and through beautiful Kings Park and ended up at the Old Brewery. After a few schooners (a small beer), we walked back along the Swan River to the Paper Clip / CBD area. For those living in states where weed is legalised, CBD refers to Central Business District (ie downtown) here in Australia. Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon and after a long day of travel the chance to stretch our legs was welcome. We will definitely return to Perth.
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| Art Hotel in Perth, by Adnate (Melbourne street artist) |
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View of Perth's CBD via Kings Park
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View of the Old Brewery from Kings Park. Our destination for the arvo
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The Perth Paper Clip
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At 8 am the next morning we made our way to the East Perth Train Station. We successfully checked in for the train and enjoyed complimentary coffee, juice, and pastries, and live music as we waited to board our car. When we made it to D8, we found ourselves in a tiny cubby which was charming and efficient. Our cabin was a double with a top and bottom bunk that would fold out. We had an ensuite bathroom which meant that you showered over the toilet. When the bunks were away we had a charming cushioned bench with a small side table. However, we were strongly encouraged to meet and mingle with our fellow travellers in the lounge car (conveniently one car beyond ours). As I was settling in, David quickly found said lounge car and procured some champagne to kick off our journey.
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Our ride
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Settling in
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Cozy.
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:)
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| One of the dinners |
Leaving Perth the landscape was very reminiscent of parts of California: golden grasses and sporadic eucalyptus. From here, life settled into a pattern: we ate, we drank, we socialised, we napped, we read. And of course, we watched the scenery pass.
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Lounge Car
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| Western Australia or California? |
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Western Australia
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After our first three-course dinner the train stopped in the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, WA. Passengers were encouraged to partake in the first excursion of the trip. We all boarded onto coaches which proceeded to slowly drive us through the small city (population: 29,000). The driver pointed out the dutch-english architecture, introduced us to Paddy Hannan, the man who first found gold in the area at the turn of the last century, and drove us past (twice) the single room buildings of the red-light district. We disembarked from the coach at the "Tourist Mine" also known as a museum. Though it was 9pm, we were treated to a 20 min, 2 person play highlighting some of the historic facts, purposely mixed with various anachronisms. David and I, being quite full and up past our bedtime, were slightly perturbed with being in a hot room and waiting for the program to begin. The highlight for both of us was climbing on and in the giant mining equipment outside. The tour was supposed to include a visit to an observation tower, however this was canceled due to lightening in the area. The mine is the second largest pit mine in Australia and is over 700 meters deep (23,000 ft).
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I drive mine equipment at night. And in a dress.
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Our first night was bumpy and noisy with little sleep. Despite, or perhaps because of our intake in the included alcohol, we were both awake on and off throughout the night. David graciously gave me the bottom bunch which meant I could look out the window. He was up high and enjoyed the phenomenon of heat rising.
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Tucked in. Almost.
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The next morning we had brekky in Rawlinna- a train stop on the Nullarbor. Aside from the tables laid out for brekky, there was approximately five outbuildings/ abandoned looking homes. Here, the Indian Pacific track borders Rawlinna Station, a 2.5 million acre sheep station. Brekky is a generous term for our stop. When we left the train we were instantly assaulted by flies and it was not long before we opted to rebound the train. From here we were on the train till about 5pm when we stopped at Cook for water. The town once had a population of 200, but currently possessed a population of 4. We had a bit of a walk about, but again we were constantly waving our arms to fend off the flies. However, at this point we were able to walk the full length of the 730 meter train.
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| Post Brekky in Rawlinna |
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Melons in Rawlinna?
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Brekky walk
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Nullarbor
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| Cook |
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| Pulling into Cook |
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| The sign that greeted us in Cook |
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What was once the Cook Hospital.
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Front of the train in Cook.
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| Still on the Nullarbor |
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It is flat so it is straight
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Tuesday morning we made it to Adelaide. Feeling the lack of exercise and the continuous three course meals and flowing alcohol, we opted for the walking tour. The train was running a tad behind schedule so our tour was a brisk walk around Government House. Adelaide is a very beautiful city with a proud history. At the end we were treated to champagne and very tasty ham and cheese croissants. We had our second excursion of the day that evening at Broken Hill- a silver, lead, and zinc mining town. Broken Hill was also featured in a lil film, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Thus we opted for the Main Drag show at the Palace Hotel. The Palace Hotel is quite the spot, nearly every inch of the interior is covered in murals featuring waterfalls. When the show was over, we had enough time to wander the streets of the town, once again facing off against the flies.
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Look at that cool bridge! (just kidding, he's handsome too)
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Adelaide CBD
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Western New South Wales
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If you've seen the movie, you know.
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The Main Drag in Broken Hill
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Palace Hotel in Broken Hill
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The following morning we woke to a misty morning in the Blue Mountains. Around ten we disembarked from the Indian Pacific for our last excursion. Once again we opted for the walk. Despite being relative small mountains, the topography was stunning with many exposed cliff faces. This is also an area that was badly burned in the recent fires. However, the regrowth was remarkable. On our walk we reputedly saw a helicopter carrying a bucket, much like one would expect for battling blazes. It wasn't until we were home we saw this
article which explained it all.
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| Burn in the Blue Mountains |
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Blue Mountain Burn
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Tourist spot with some beautiful trails
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Blue Mountain topography
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Oh that's pretty. Blue Mountains
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Blue Mountains
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Our fellow travellers were great company, but generally came from a limited demographic; older and from english speaking countries. However, there were a few exceptions. From Perth to Adelaide there was Joe. Joe was 22 and from Cairns (northern Queensland) and drove sugar cane trains for a living. He was quite the train enthusiast as well as a hit with the older patrons. He loudly lost at chess four times in row and excitedly explained cane trains to anyone who would listen. In Adelaide Joe was replaced by 18 yo Linus from Germany on a gap year. As Dave and I are clearly so hip and cool, these young folks seemed to gravitate to us and kept us company throughout the journey. Nonetheless, we got to know a n
umber of the other riders. There was the veterinarian from the UK who was considering staying in Oz through the ever evolving quarantine restrictions. We enjoyed many conversations with the couple who had lived in DC: he was a defence attache at the British Embassy and she was born in Baltimore ( they knew about the closure of the Uptown Theater which had happened only a few days prior- a sad sad day for locals). There was John from the Gold Coast could regularly be found on his favourite seat next to the bar- we bonded over good drinks and naps. There was a lovely a couple from New Zealand who had picked grapes for one of the preeminent wineries. Their travel plans were all askew as they were supposed to board a cruise up the east coast in Sydney- that was canceled. We met a brother and sister duo from Sydney / Portugal with a great knowledge of fruits. And then there was David from New Zealand who was supposed to travel to China and Italy after the train ride. That plan was clearly replaced by a 14 day quarantine at home in NZ. All in all, great people with whom we were happy to share time and space. Who knows what germs we shared. After all they took away our games halfway through the journey since the virus lives on surfaces.
After arriving in Sydney we headed straight to the airport for a flight home in a few hours. Aside from a few masks, it was an uneventful trip and we were very thankful to collapse into our own, non-moving bed. The next day brought the joy of buying food for the house. With the uncertainty of COVID-19 our local store has imposed restrictions on purchases. Still, a number of the shelves were bare. As a couple who likes to cook and eat fresh food, we didn't want for anything we needed.
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Restrictions
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You didn't want a snag did you?
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You didn't want pasta did you?
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Flying from Brisbane to Perth is a shockingly long flight, approximately 5.5 hours. The first half of the flight was clear while clouds obscured the ground for the second half. However, that was enough time for us to watch as Brisbane faded into rural bush, then to scrub land, and finally into the renowned red dusty desert that spans the middle of the country. This is aptly known as The GAFA or Great Australian ___ All. It was incredible to see a massive swath of land with zero sign of human modification.
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