The Indian Pacific

This trip was always going to be a highlight. The Indian Pacific and The Ghan are the two iconic trains of Australia – The Ghan crossing the continent from North to South (Darwin to Adelaide) and the IP from East to West (Sydney to Perth). On previous holidays we had travelled the entire length of The Ghan route, and the Indian Pacific from Adelaide to Perth, across the Nullarbor Plain. Both journeys took 2 days and 2 nights. On this occasion we filled in the missing part – Sydney to Adelaide, travelling through the beautiful Blue Mountains at sunset. They really do live up to their name – the blue haze surrounding them is produced by the thousands of eucalyptus trees covering the region.

The train stopped early in the morning at the outback silver mining town of Broken Hill. There was time for a brief tour of the town and a hilltop memorial to the more than 800 miners who have lost their lives there since the nineteenth century.

These trains are a real experience, especially travelling in Gold Kangaroo class which isn’t cheap but we believe worth every dollar. In your own private compartment, with a very cleverly designed en-suite loo and shower, you pass through some spectacular scenery. There’s a lounge bar carriage for when you are feeling sociable, and a restaurant car serving excellent breakfast, lunch and dinner. While you are having dinner, your compartment is converted into two sleeping berths with crisp white sheets. The rocking motion of the train at night is a lovely sensation, and peeping through the blinds to watch the sun rise over the outback is a memorable experience (especially for someone like me for whom sunrises are not a common sight).

One of the joys of the train is that you meet so many people. Sitting with a different Aussie couple for each meal of the 24 hour journey, we met some lovely, and well-travelled, people and picked up lots of tips for future Australian holidays, especially in the more remote areas which we love.

On both our previous trips the Hospitality Manager on the train had been Catherine, with whom we had struck up a good relationship and spent some time chatting in the bar late at night (as you do). That in itself had been a coincidence, as there are at least 8 train crews, so we were amazed to find that once again Catherine was our hostess. She greeted us like old friends so we felt immediately at home.

I could have happily stayed on the train all the way to Perth, but there was a big incentive to get off at Adelaide – we were being met by our friends Gene and Julian and were so much looking forward to seeing them.