Saturday, June 27, 2015

Indian Pacific train from Adelaide to Perth

I rode the Indian Pacific train heading West to Perth. I boarded Thursday and got no sleep that night but I did not expect to get any. I will be alright. So far that morning we saw a herd of emus and a few scattered roos with a few wallabies thrown in the mix. There was still a lot of scrub bush around so we were not in the actual desert quite yet. We could still see camels and various birds on Friday or Saturday. The people on the train are all very friendly and we have been chatting over beers at night and coffee in the morning. At the moment we are just passing the turnoff that goes up to Darwin on the train called The Ghan. The town is Tarcoola.

I made pb&j sandwiches for my breakfast and guzzled a couple cups of coffee from the cafe car. We are getting water for the train here but it is only a short stop so the smokers onboard are moaning about not being able to get off for a smoke. They make me laugh with their desperation. Such is life, more later.

We have now gone past the largest parking lot in the world that holds a million cars and it is in the middle of nowhere. Then there is the world’s longest golf course called the Nullarbor Links along this corridor where you play a hole then drive to the next town and play the next one and so on. Again almost no sleep at night.

On Saturday we saw some wild camels with a few fox and roos along the way and lots of birds. The nullarbor ended for us on Friday and today we were back in scenery with trees and some rural farmlands before we arrived at Perth. I was pretty tired by the time we arrived in Perth after three days with almost no sleep.

I took a taxi to the hostel from the train station and now after a shower I am catching up on my wifi and then taking an allergy pill to help me get some sleep tonight. I enjoyed my train ride but I am dead tired right now. In a few days I will start riding the West coast of Australia. Here are some pics taken from the moving train through its dirty windows or from some of the stops along the way.