The Indian Pacific: Sydney to Adelaide

For most of the group, the trip really began 4 days earlier when they made the long haul from the USA to Sydney. After recovering from jet-lag, they spent the next few days getting out and about exploring the sights of Sydney, including the fabulous Harbour area, Darling Harbour, and the Blue Mountains. I hoped one of the highlights would be the lovely Spit Bridge to Manly Walk, but since it was 35^o C on the day we did it, it came to be known as "Stuart's Death March". I prefer to think of it as "Outback Fitness and Survival Training, Day 1". Here, Dave and Carolyn Moser seem to have recovered from the experience, as they prepare to board the Indian Pacific for its twice-weekly journey across the country, from Sydney all the way to Perth. We were only taking it as far as Adelaide, a journey of just 25 hours.

One of the personal highlights for me was being able to get my parents along for once. For so long, they've heard about all the strange places I've been to (and the even stranger people who go with me...), so this was their chance to find out what all the fuss was about. Now that they're both eligible for senior citizen's discounts, I wasn't sure if they'd be prepared to "rough it" too much, so to lull them into an early sense of luxury, we travelled Gold Kangaroo class, with full sleeper cabins, lounge car, and excellent dining.

In the tradition of the Trans-Siberian experience during my Mongolian eclipse adventure, here is the obligatory "train going around a bend" shot, as we wind our way through the spectacular Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

Among the few eclipse "virgins" in our group was my good friend (and fellow Kiwi) Vince McIntyre. Although it looks like he's indulging in some karaoke, this is part of the "Gold Kangaroo Service Reception" social hour in the lounge car, during which we encountered a few other folk (mostly from Germany and Japan) also on their way to the eclipse centreline.

As we sat down to dinner, the first order of business was spotting a live kangaroo, as most visitor's first encounter with one tends to be in the form of roadkill. Here, Helen Mahoney, her husband Doug Millar, Dave, and Carolyn all have their eyes peeled as the Indian Pacific rolls on into country New South Wales. The second order of business is trying some of the red wines that Australia is justly famous for (and South Australia in particular).

In addition to the Yanks and Kiwis on this trip, we had 2 "Poms" along as well - Richard and Annette Knox, who had been with Mervyn and I on the (unsuccessful) Mongolian eclipse chase. For the February 1998 eclipse, they chose to stay on land, and had a good view from Venezuala. As the August 1999 eclipse went right through their backyard in Cornwall, they stayed put for that one, but were clouded out. They were again successful in Africa in June 2001, but this pattern of alternating success and failure didn't bode well for Australia. Fortunately, they were up against Dave's 100% successful record for eclipse trips he has organised. If they appear a little glum, it's probably because the English cricket team had just been humbled for the umpteenth time by the Aussies... Contrast this picture with a similar one taken five years earlier while dining on the Trans-Siberian.

Part of the post-dinner entertainment included this keen gentleman and his bagpipes. Given the lounge car had a special smoking section, perhaps they should have one for piping as well?

Friday 29 November

I must admit I didn't sleep too well the first night in the train. The track crews in New South Wales could learn a thing or two from their Siberian counterparts, and we spent most of the night pitching and shimmying. Plus I found the single-berth cabins a bit constricting in the upper body area. But I felt rejuvenated after an early breakfast, and the views began to become a little more interesting. About an hour before reaching Broken Hill, we passed their primary water supply, the Menindee Lakes.

We rolled in to Broken Hill almost an hour late, owing to speed restrictions during the night. Sadly, this meant the cancellation of the city tour option, so we had to settle for the virtual version. It was a fairly muggy, overcast day, which was probably just as well as it can easily get up to the mid-to-high 30s (a century on the Fahrenheit scale) here in summer. Fortunately, as we crossed the border into South Australia, and set our watches back by half an hour, the cloud began to thin out.

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