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The Indian Pacific
by MagdaDH Great Southern Rail (GSR) is probably the best known if possibly the least used by the Aussies of the Australian train companies, and it runs three long-distance interstate services, of which the longest is the Indian-Pacific, crossing the country (and the continent) between Sydney on the east coast and Perth on the west. The ... train runs once a week (twice a week in season, which is approximately between October and April) and covers over 4,000km between Sydney and Perth in about 65 hours. We travelled from Adelaide to Sydney, leaving at 10am on Friday and arriving around 11am the same time on Saturday. ** We booked the tickets over the phone two days before we left (you have to buy at least a week in advance to purchase online, for reasons that completely elude me), and we were instructed to be at the terminal at least half an hour before the train's departure. We paid 142 AUD for the adults and 130 AUD for children. The adults tickets were purchased as so-called "backpacker" fare, available to holders of several cards, in our case Hostelling International, though to be honest nobody ever checked our cards, while the saving was substantial - a regular ticket costs over 300 AUD. These are, of course, basic fares for seats (let's call them coach although officially I think they are called red kangaroo daynighter seats). A basic sleeper cabin is around 400 AUD for children, backpackers and other concessions, and 500 AUD for adults. The full fare from Perth to Sydney is over 700 AUD (adult ticket) and around 300 AUD for all concessions. A sleeper cabin costs around 1,000 AUD for concessions and 1,400 AUD for a regular adult ticket. Considering that the membership of HI is around 40 AUD, I can't imagine anybody actually choosing to pay the regular adult fare. In fact, I sincerely doubt anybody on our train did, but not because of backpacker discounts: arriving at the terminal was quite disconcerting, with the waiting room very full of people, and pretty much everybody there apart from three young(ish) backpackers was well past retirement age. We are both in our forties, but apart from the aforementioned trio of backpackers everybody in the room was from our parents' generation, or older. The average age has lowered a bit when the group touring Adelaide returned, but still, the preponderance of elderly OAPs was rather surprising, especially as travelling by train in Queensland we saw people of all ages, and so we did in Canada, where pretty much every demographic was represented on their equivalent trans-continental flagship train The Canadian. The train terminal (located about a mile outside Adelaide's CBD) did not look like a train station, it looked like a tour company office: there was a large gift shop with "Great Southern Journeys" merchandise, particularly Indian-Pacific and The Ghan, and the whole thing really did look like a tour, not a train journey. I suspect, in fact, that for a lot of people who did the trip this is exactly what it was - a railway excursion rather than (or as much as) a journey from A to B. Excursion or a normal train journey, the train was being readied and after checking in our rucksacks we were called onto the platform to board. We were told that there is no blankets nor pillows provided in the "daynighter" seats so we board carrying our sleeping bags and daypacks with cameras, lego, MP3 player, DS, laptop and other entertainment supplies for children who find only limited joy in scenery. We find our seats in one of the carriages at the end of the train. ** The seats are pretty good: wide and with reasonable leg room, and although by default they airplane-like all face the same way, you can actually swivel them and thus obtain a space for four people (2+2 facing each other). The recline is pretty good, and thanks goodness, there is no permanent arm-rest between seats. This might sound like a petty thing, but it's hard to think of a worse (and more pointless) object on a long-distance trip that a fixed arm-rest which makes it impossible to stretch across two seats even if the one next to you is unoccupied (by the way, no arm-rest at all - as it's the case on some buses - is no good either, as it means that if the seat next to you is occupied by a stranger you have no way of separating yourself). We are told, however, that the previous carriage (there were some changes between Perth and Adelaide) had such fixed arm-rests, so beware. There is also a table that can be fixed between the seats: a simple chipboard affair, but a table nevertheless and thus a very good thing. The window panes are large, panoramic and reasonably clean, with blinds against the lights at night and sun in the day: mercifully none of that grey mesh that Greyhound buses and some trams in Australia have on their windows which might be good for stopping the sun, but makes photos impossible and scenery watching hard. The carriage has two lavatories, marked as male and female (I have not seen such a thing on a train before) plus a shower room, and although there is no pillows or blankets provided, there are towels. Clearly, even the rabble travelling coach is expected to be clean (though not warm: we will find the night rather cold and be grateful for our sleeping bags). There is also a drinking water fountain. The train carries a restaurant car as well as a buffet one, but the coach passengers are not allowed in the restaurant car at all: this is rather surprising and smacks of elitist (classist, excuse the pun) attitude. On the Canadian trains, although the coach passengers did not get their food included in the price, they could purchase the meals in the restaurant car on extra payment and we did make use of that service. Here, however, the restaurant car is only for the sleeper passengers. But all these are, really, details. We are, after all, comfortably seated and as the train pulls out of the Adelaide station, we can feel the excitement of a journey about to begin. The railway between Adelaide and Sydney doesn't, as it's often the case, run in close parallel to the highway, but significantly further north, with the only scheduled stop on the whole route being the mining town of Broken Hill. We are on our way. ** Shortly after the train leaves Adelaide, the suburbs give way to an agricultural plain. At first, some vineyards, an overspill from Adelaide Hills, and even an olive grove, but soon a vast, grain growing plain eerily reminiscent of the prairies of central Canada which we crossed a few months earlier (it was also spring: a third one we experience this year). The fields are beautifully green, with rolling hills in the distance. And yet, it's an unsettling landscape, hedges with those unmistakable inverted-triangles of parasol-like eucalyptus, the unrelenting redness of the soil marking it as essentially alien. Less than two hundred years ago it was completely different: the cultivation came with the European colonists and I can't help but think that, in some way, it's against the spirit of this land that had remained inhabited but uncultivated for thousands of years before. But maybe it's simply the newness of it all, and in five hundred years the fields and pastures will appear as natural here as they do now in England, Italy or China. Our train turns sharply east in Crystal Brook, to rejoin the Perth-Sydney line from which it diverted to stop at Adelaide. We pass Peterborough: a small country town that seems dusty even at this time of the year, and beyond that the fields of green are replaced by scrubby pasture, the gum trees more stunted; the"red dirt" becomes more apparent as we travel along low, dry, rocky Barrier Range. An hour more, and we are in the true, iconic outback: packed red earth, dry stream beds interspersed with silvery green of small bushes and sharp looking grass; old looking hills flanking the railway. There are still well windmills, what for? Surely they don't let cattle loose on this dry land? Actually, it's sheep (as well as several groups of emus) that we see occasionally scurrying about in the bush. Parched, flat expanse of scrub is occasionally cut by deep ridges, mini-gorges eroded in the soil by wind and presumably water, but there is hardly any moisture in them now. The day is drawing to a close as we get near Broken Hill, its approach signaled by rockier and higher landscape, and later by high piles which must be slag-heaps or their local equivalent. Broken Hill is technically in New South Wales, but as it's near to Adelaide (near being a rather loose term here, as it's over 500km from Adelaide anyway) than Sydney (a whooping 1,100km) it actually runs on South Australia time. A mining town grown literally on the back of a massive lode of silver-lead-zinc deposits, it's a bizarre place, incredibly isolated and with a strong industrial-frontier character and yet with quite a prosperous feel: a bit of an oasis (if a place surrounded by mountains of mining rubble and with buildings made of corrugated iron can be ever considered an oasis) in the surrounding almost-desert. The Indian-Pacific offers an hour tour during its Broken Hill stop, including mining heritage and a visit to the Flying Doctor centre, but as this works out quite expensively for a family, we decide to stroll through the town and have a meal that is not a train fast food (as we are not allowed the restaurant). The streets in Broken Hill all bear chemical names, not just Argent, but also Chloride and (my personal favourite) Bromide streets catch our eye. After what was probably the most expensive fish, chips (and roast vegetables for children) meal we ever had in our lives (but included rather wonderful cakes we take back onto the train) it's time to go back. Time for a few moody pictures of our rather magnificent eagle-emblazoned locomotive and we get ready to leave Broken Hill. The darkness has fallen and the lights in the carriage get dimmed. There is plenty of free spaces; we end up with two seats per person and after some clever seat turning and pillow-building we settle down reasonably well. In the morning, the outback scrub is gone. We are back in hilly farmland, and just before we start descending towards the outer suburbs of Sydney, we pass through the Blue Mountains and get a decent glimpse of the landscape there. A glimpse it is, though, and only thanks to good weather and ability to move quickly from side to side of the train we get a series of fleeting views. Blue Mountains are not really mountains at all, but a sandstone plateau cut by deep gorges and to traverse it you need to be on top rather than below them: opportunities from viewing from a train are thus limited (and thick foliage next to the track doesn't help). After the Blue Mountains, it's the outer and then inner suburbs of Sydney, and then the slow chug through town to arrive at the central station in the Harbour City. ** We did less train travel in Australia that we expected to, and less than we wanted. This was for many reasons, the least of them the actual distances involved, and the main probably the pitiful frequency of the services. We did several stretches in Queensland and this one section of the Indian-Pacific, and the Indian-Pacific journey was better (mostly due to the size of the seats and carriage arrangements). It is not a particularly scenic journey in the normal sense of the word, but it allowed us our only proper look at the outback and went some way to fulfilling our desire (rather laughable to most Aussies) to see "the red dirt" (without going the whole hog to the Red Centre). The backpacker/child fares for coach class are reasonable value and easily compete with airfares (especially on a short notice). The seats are comfortable and unless the train is packed you are likely to be able to get some sleep, especially if you remember to take a blanket/sleeping bag, earplugs and some form of pillow. There were some nice touches: a bit but not too much of information via the loudspeakers about what we were passing on the way, the seats that swivelled, the showers with towels provided. There were things that could have made a difference but were missing, like pillows and/or blankets, access to proper food in the restaurant car, some form of children's souvenir/information pack (like many airlines and at least some other long distance train operators provide). The biggest problem with the Indian-Pacific service is probably its ridiculously low frequency, especially out of the high season (but even then it only runs twice a week). The initial geriatric impression improved later on, but at first impression felt rather off-putting too. The service was indistinct. Some people were friendly (probably because they were friendly anyway), some were a bit officious and this conflict between more old-fashioned train-conductor-as-a-public-functionary and an artificial mateyness of a tour guide was noticeable in the whole operation. I don't really want to keep making comparisons with the journey on The Canadian, but I can't help thinking that the Canadian ViaRail staff had pride in the service they provided (despite the fact that it was only a skeleton one in comparison to the frequency of trains and number of routes of the bygone days) which the GSR staff did not. This is perhaps understandable as Australia, after all, was not colonised by railways the way that the North America was. The Indian-Pacific route was only completed in 1970, while the other GSR flagship train, The Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide, was only finalised in 2005. In the final account, I am very glad we did that stretch of Indian-Pacific, and I am glad we did it in coach rather than being confined to incredibly poky-looking standard sleepers in the company of people with the average age of about 85. I somehow can't imagine that GSR can provide the levels of service that justify the price premium. I would probably take the train was I ever to travel from the eastern to the western Australia and I would seriously consider using The Ghan if I was ever travelling to the Red Centre. ** I have a problem rating this item. I liked the journey, and it worked out well for us, but I can easily imagine hating it (for example if our carriage was full or if we didn't manage to eat at Broken Hill). I would recommend it, but only if you can really afford it in sleepers (go for Gold then) or in economy seats (with a backpacker discount). And finally, enjoy the ride but don't expect more than adequate service. Read the complete review |
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Calypso Reef Cruises (Port Douglas, Australia)
by mizzy Calypso Cruises run from the marina in Port Douglas, Northern Queensland. A lot of people wanting to visit the great barrier reef go from Cairns, where there are more boats leaving and they all go to the same places so your diving or snorkelling experience can be crowded. The reefs that Calypso go to are remote, there are no other boats ... around so you really feel like you are on the reef. The boat is very nicely done, there are wet weather floors inside, although they ask you to take off your wetsuit when you go inside which can be annoying when its break time or lunchtime as you have to put a cold wetsuit back on. Theres a great sundeck out the front which was nice as the journey to the reef is about an hour and a half. Not the best place to sit if you get sea sick though. Luckily I dont after working on a boat. The boat holds around 50 people but it wasnt full when I went so it didnt feel at all crowded. There are plenty of refreshments to keep you going through the day, the best thing to drink is water and not too much cake as a lot of people tucked into the cake and there were obviously sick as soon as we set off. The staff on the boat are very friendly and helpful. As I was diving with an instructor for my advanced diving they remembered my name and were excellent in recording all my dive times for my log book. Im not sure how much it costs for a day as I booked my advanced course and the boat was included in it. I had a great day on Calypso, the reefs were great, the staff were excellent and it was a very professionally run boat. I felt very safe and the weather was sunny which made everything great. Read the complete review |
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Mini Moke Hire (Magnetic Island, Australia)
by mizzy Moke Magnetic is the place to hire an old style Moke. These cars are open top, no sides and a minimal windscreen. You can really feel the wind in your hair tearing round the corners of magnetic island. You also get a great view. The hire centre is just to the left of the ferry port, you can hire pink ones, yellow ones, small ... or large. They arent very fast, they struggle on the hills and they can be a bit dangerous with the odd idiot doing some odd maneovers on the corners of the island roads. However, when driven safely they are a fun way to get to either end of the island. The one draw back is that your not allowed to take them on the road that leads to florence/radical/arthur bays as the road isnt good quality. In my opinion these are the best beaches to go to, so maybe hire a 4x4 if you are more interested in snorkelling. The company requires you to be over 21, have a credit card to leave as a deposit. Then you can drive off to see what the island has to offer. They cost between $80 - $100 to hire for the day or 24hours, but you can hire them for a week if you like. I can recommend this company to people who dont have long to explore the island, and who just want to visit beaches that are for sunbathing or restaurants. Not for people who want to see a bit of the reef or snorkel. Read the complete review |
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