Melbourne - Adelaide - Alice Springs

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Tuesday 4th January

Well hopefully I can keep this installment of the blog short and sweet after the rather long Sydney episode!

We have travelled for two days from Sydney to Melbourne. We had a over night stop in Canberra where we did nothing apart from being overcharged by a Pakistani Taxi driver who drove us the long way around to our hostel. We only knew this when we got our taxi back in the morning which took half the time and four streets less.

So we arrive Melbourne after an all day monster bus journey and then walked about a mile to our hostel which wasn't ideal at 11pm but we fired on.
Our accommodation The Vic Halls is in the CBD of Melbourne city. We feared the worse as we approached the entrance to the hostel at around midnight as the windows were boarded up and no sign of life. It turned out that they are in the middle of being refurbished and we are pleased to find our double room was completed and of a very high standard so we plonked ourselves down on a much needed bed for the night.

Wednesday 5th January

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia with a population of 4 million.
Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities.
Today, it is a centre for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism.
The metropolis is also home to the world's largest tram network.

We wasted no time and walked into the central Business district for a wander around the shops and stuff to see what was happening.
There's the usual high rise skyscrapers towering above us with the busy hussle and bussle you would expect from a big city. There's a lot of traffic with trams, buses and horse drawn carriages moving people around. We walked around the Mall area and grabbed a bite to eat before heading towards Federation Square which is home to the Melbourne Visitor centre. Federation square is a vibrant precinct which has some very distinct buildings such as Flinders street Station which is quite grand and St Pauls Cathedral.

After a short visit to the post office near the square we found a bus stop which was running a free bus tour service around Melbourne. Perfect! On we hop.

The guided tour bus took us around the Sports complex where we saw the Melbourne Cricket ground before heading back towards the street our hostel was. Here we drove past Chinatown and onto the impressive Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens. The weathers very hot again and its actually fine to be sitting on the bus being given a narrative tour of the city without having to walk great distances in the heat.
After shuttling down Queen Victoria Street we ended up at the Docklands and Waterfront City where the buildings we impressive with their colourful designs.
We drove back towards the CBD and got held up in traffic on the very busy William Street. We got off at the Royal Botanic Gardens stop and walked around St Kilda road and through the parks towards the Shrine of rememberance. There are some nice views here and we took a quick look around the Shrine before heading back to the bus stop where we caught the last bus back to the final stop at the Arts Precinct.

Because the bus terminated here we were left with a two mile hike home through town so we took our time and took in the city's rush hour as we crossed over the Yarra River and into the heart of the city.

Back at the hostel we ate well and then headed back over to the Carlton Gardens where we went to the Imax cinema to watch a movie as a treat as we did our usual and bought lots of sweets and popcorn. A wee bit of Jill and Leon quality time to take our mind off backpacking for a night.

Thursday 6th January

We checked out the Hostel and made our way to the bus station where we locked up our backs in the security lockers which cost us very little. Our bus doesn't leave until 8pm tonight and its an overnighter to Adelaide. We went to a good few travel agents to try and sus out what we're doing in Asia as we havent really put a great deal of thought into it yet. Once we had milked as much free information from the various travel agencies we spent the rest of the day walking about the streets and buying little bits and pieces for our Ayres Rock camping trip.

Friday 7th January

We've arrived in Adelaide at around six thirty in the morning and we are feeling not to shabby as we managed to sleep on the bus for most of the eleven hour journey.
We got lucky as our room was ready for us to get straight into which is unusual as you usually have to wait for previous occupants to check out at 10am. We head straight to bed for a few hours sleep and we spent the rest of day relaxing and catching up on laundry and internet stuff.

Saturday 8th January

I've arranged to meet an old friend from Elgin today whom i've not seen in about 18 years! David moved over here from Edinburgh about eight years ago, married an Aussie and has two kids.
We arrange to be picked up by David at our hostel and he kindly takes us on a tour of the city for a couple of hours showing us the rivers, parks and nice neighbourhoods before we stopped for lunch in the Chinese food mall in the Central Market.
David and I talked for ages about various stuff and it was good to catch up!
We said our goodbyes to David and headed off for our appointment with the doctors as we have to get a consultation on Malaria and various diseases associated with the areas we are heading for in Asia.
We left the clinic with our tablets happy as we should have been double the price if it weren't for the doctor telling the cashier to pretend I didn't exist! The nice doctor had worked in Kirkcaldy for a few years when he was younger and he was a great laugh during our appointment.

We walked around the Adelaide city centre and it sure is lovely compared to the over busy cities of Melbourne and Brisbane. We walked the full length of Rundle Street and Hindley Street which are both free of cars and pollution due to the pedestrian only areas.
There's hardly any high rises here and theres a lot more historical feel about the structures here as we walk homewards down Wakefield Road.

Sorry for lack of Photos of Adelaide, this is due to me forgetting to take my camera which is not like me! Its a shame to be passing through great cities like Adelaide and Melbourne without actually seeing much at all but its the way it has turned out. Things are expensive and we are tired and needed to have a chilled couple of weeks to restock and get ready for Asia.

We're booked onto the overnight train to Alice Srings tomorrow. We will be doing a three day hike in the outback to visit Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park where we visit Ayres rock, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. We are really looking forward to it now!

Sunday 9th January

Im busy in the morning getting a rather large selection of sandwiches made for our long train journey and take advantage of the free breakfast before we set off.
We arrived at the Train station and eagerly awaited our departure to Alice Springs on the famous Ghan Train.

The Ghan Train travels back and fore from Adelaide and Darwin. The Ghan normally runs twice-weekly from Adelaide through to Darwin and the total length of journey is 48 hours. Our travel time is 24 hours as we jump off halfway at Alice Springs which is more manageable.

The Ghans symbol is a camel and its handler in recognition of the pioneering Afghan cameleers whose efforts opened up the inhospitable interior to the rest of Australia. The first train left for Alice springs in 1929 and the train track was totally rebuilt in 1980 to allow for bigger and a more reliable train service.
In 1929 the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway was completed from Darwin as far as Birdum, while the Great Northern Railway had been completed in 1891 from Port Augusta as far as Oodnadatta, South Australia, 700 kilometres (430 mi) south of Alice Springs. The lines were not connected until 2003. On 4 February 2004, the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.

We waited on the platform and admired the train waiting for us as its that long you cant see either end from where we were standing. Its length is 710 metres long and includes two locomotives and a Motorail. Its 1344 tonnes in weight and travel at an average speed of 85kmh.

Its quite a sight to behold standing on the platform and its not long before the boarding call goes out at 1pm and we shuffle onto the train in the red section which is the cheaper carriages. Gold carriages, at twice the cost , , offer your own cabin with electric plus use of the restaurants and TV room. We're happy enough slumming it in red section as the seats are big and comfortable with ample legroom. The seat reclines to almost vertical and we have manual blinds on the window if needed. We do have our own cafe in the next carriage which sells a wide range of stuff aswell as beer. 😊

We set off in the searing heat of the sun but its not long before the air conditioning kicks in and we're happy as fluffy ducks!
The journey takes us north towards Alice Springs passing through some pretty scenery consisting of Mountains and Salt lakes which were impressive. The train stopped a few times at various stations picking up passengers and you wonder how many people are on this thing!
Theres not much more in the outback to look at so we settle ourselves down for a feast of sandwiches and watched a couple of films on the laptop which helped pass the time.

Later on in the evening we were treated to a lovely sunset which produced some wonderful colours across the Desert like plains. Then as quick as that it was dark and we pulled our blinds down and fell fast asleep to the gentle sounds of the train noise.

Jill woke up at around 7am whereas i managed to stay sleeping till about 10am. We managed to mooch a pint of milk from the cafe and treated ourselves to cereal for breakfast. Not long to go. ETA 2pm.

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