Crossing Australia in style aboard the Indian Pacific
There are faster ways to cross Australia – and definitely cheaper ones.
But for sheer indulgent grandeur, nothing matches the Indian Pacific.
It's one of the world's great train journeys, and the mere mention of it can jolt even the most jaded rail commuter out of their daily lament.
This isn't a train trip – it's five-star luxury on rails. The destination is largely incidental because it's the journey that really matters.
The Indian Pacific is about seeing the best of this great big, sunburnt land with a nod to the romance of a by-gone era.
But the comfortably-appointed Gold Kangaroo class cabins, the lounge car and dining car are really just the supporting act to the scenery – relentless, vast, inspiring and calming all at the same time.
The colours of the land, the sky, the wildlife and the random signs of man are hypnotic. Throughout the miles and miles of gently changing scenery the fear of missing something is constant.
The verdant ranges of the Blue Mountains give way to the vivid reds of the outback, and even the harsh dryness of South Australia has its own special beauty.
The Nullarbor Plain enthrals with its oversized scale, the run into Kalgoorlie sees the return of trees to the landscape and then, on waking on the last morning, it's time to wind through the undulating hills leading to Perth through the Avon Valley.
Visitors to Australia often comment on the sky here, and anyone making the trip from Sydney to Perth on this train will likely feel moved to do the same.
In the dry heat of Broken Hill the sky was cloudless, and the most beautiful blue, while it was grey, brooding and threatening to pour on the stormy humidity of Adelaide.
Across the Nullarbor, the sky and land meet in an almost perfectly horizontal line, although the shimmer of the heat haze can confuse the eye.
Emus and kangaroos seem to have grown accustomed to the 30 or so sleek, silver carriages rolling by periodically and they were therefore less interested in us than we were in them.
The mark of man on the landscape varies wildly from the urbanisation of Sydney and Perth to the lonely length of outback fence, where it's hard to see what purpose it serves.
And then there are the places – like the Nullarbor – where the land seems entirely devoid of human touch as far as the eye can see.
Dallas Kilponen, a fellow passenger and veteran of six trips on the Indian Pacific, likened the Nullarbor to a campfire. It's a good analogy because of the way the bush draws you in.
The plain makes you wonder who or what survives out there. At the point you are thinking there can't be anything in the vast expanse, another wedge tail eagle swoops into view in breath taking fashion.
The Nullarbor also surprised – it is less desert like than I had imagined, though it's a long way from lush. Low growing shrubs and grasses break through the hard-baked earth all along the track.
The scenery is a major selling point for the route's operators, Great Southern Railways, but it is much more than eye candy for passing tourists.
The sparsity of human landmarks can fool you into thinking the bush is a wasteland, but there are people making a go of it, even if they are far apart from each other.
All have chosen to remain in or move to the outback for their own reasons, much like 18-year-old jackaroo Cori Powell, who I spoke to on a brief stop at Rawlinna on the western fringe of the Nullarbor.
"I moved over to WA, and I was living in Bunbury, and you know, I'm from a small country town, and it wasn't going too well for me in the city," he said.
"I was working in an abattoir, and I just thought I've got to get out of here, I've got to do something different, otherwise I'm going to end up getting in trouble.
"I came back to the country because it's a great lifestyle and it just feels right."
The Indian Pacific features two classes – Red Kangaroo, beloved by backpackers and those too frightened to fly, and Gold Kangaroo, which delivers a luxurious experience for those a bit more flush.
The Gold Kangaroo cabins sleep two people in comfortable single beds, and each has its own ingenious en suite bathroom. The fold out toilet and hand basin don't take much getting used to, while train staff deal with the beds.
Choosing a meal always proved hard because of the variety of options, including vegetarian and lactose free.
The food, drink and comfortable surroundings go a long way towards ensuring guests don't suffer cabin fever. So engaging was the effortless progress of the landscape that I didn't even open the books I brought.
GSR Guest Services Manager Ewald Eisele said: "Typically we get people who want a different, a unique holiday experience. We don't hare along at a million miles an hour. The trip is not about getting from A to B, it's about the whole experience of travelling by train and capturing some of the romance of a bygone era."
Australia is such a huge country it is sometimes hard to grasp the scale, but after this journey I feel I know my home a little better, and that I have a little more pride in it.
The feeling of wonderful surrender that comes from putting yourself in the hands of a dedicated bunch of people onboard a train like the Indian Pacific is quite rare.
Add to that the unpredictability of mobile phone reception and the mateship of your travelling companions to make this the most Australian of experiences.
Have you ever caught the Indian Pacific? Perhaps you’ve tried one of Australia’s other great train journeys, or one of the train experiences in Europe?
Share your story in the comments below.
First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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