Indian Pacific 1

---

I'm nowback in Manly Vale having been without WiFi for four days, so I will try to atch up on the train journey now:

Sunday 16th Dec. Up early and a taxi to East Perth Station for check-in on the Indian Pacific: the train that will take 3 nights and 4 days to get back to Sydney. I'm in a very compact but comfortable solo cabin, in a very recently refurbished car.. All very smart but it is tight. I and other solo travellers soon made our way to the lounge bar which is offers great views. All food and drink included and we were soon into the bubbly and chatting away. Unsurprisingly there are several old fogeys like me on the trip. More surprising there are quite few solo ladies travelling, all of whom seem to enjoy the trains. These include two sef-confessed "merry widows", both very well travelled. On Our first evening we stopped at Kalgoorlie, for a visit to the worlds largest hole in the ground.. A open cast gold mine that apparently one can see from space - it is 3.5 kms long. Unfortunately an untimely large thunderstorm meant that the pit was closed for safety reasons. While it was understandable it was VERY disappointing. We all had to content ourselves with a look at some retired heavy mining equipment - interesting. see pix. I'm writing this as we travel across the nulaboor plane on the world's long piece of straight railway tracks > 400 kms of dead straight track and also visible from space. Words cannot describe the vast endless emptiness...it's why many of us are here. Back on board the food is very good and the drinks flow..it's all very convivial and enjoyable. The train crew convert each cabin to sleeper configuration (and back again) and I did manage some decent sleep on the moving train. Then, early this morning (Monday at 6:30am) we all trooped off the train for an early coffee and bacon rolls in the wilderness. Certainly different. TBC...

---