As the train meandered through the Blue Mountains the vast landscape shimmering, radiant and brought alive by the rays of sunshine touching and mingling among the tree canopies giving off the famed blue haze. Along the mountain passage I imagine peoples lives on top of this beautiful yet forbidding place, I love being in the mountains but have no longing to live here, perhaps it is too far from the hustle of suburban living that I am used too, perhaps it is the memory of the village life as a teenager and the frustration of being in between towns.
This is simply the longest train, stopping at the longest platform (Broken Hill), on the longest journey (65hrs) I have, and probably, will ever take. This experience had a dizzying effect, after 24hrs we arrived in Adelaide I stood in the waiting area swaying slightly. This was not from any particular beer, at $7 a beer I drank mainly tap water (the tap was next to the toilet and shower that made me wonder), but from the motion of life on board the train (It was like standing on a pontoon at Queen Mary's sailing club). The other queer affect of this was that I saw the lever in the carriage to make an emergency stop….I have seen it pulled in the movies… what if I just?…. I think it was similar to an urge my sister Sara Jane has to open the emergency exit door when she flies! Apart from that I was fine!
The train announcer reminded me of the 80’s TV comedy ‘Heidi Hi’, the xylophonic tune introduced her joyful (but not always appreciated) announcements and sometimes a bit of local history thrown in… ‘prior to arriving in Adelaide we will be serving lunch in Matilda Café, the café will be closed 30 minutes prior to our arrival at Adelaide’ (KJ did a great impersonation by holding her nose). Just to ammuse myself I got the lady to announce Hayleys' birthday. 'We would like to wish Hayley in Red Service (the cheap seats) a happy birthday, Hayley if you visit the Matilda Cafe you will get a complimentary muffin'.
We met more strange and wonderful people on our journey. We sat and had a brief encounter with a man from Alaska who spent his younger years doing professional Rodeo, because of the distances involved in travelling around Canada he took up flying small aircraft to get to the Rodeo. He was on his way to help a friend in the North of Australia (he flies the float planes). We also stopped at some strange and wonderful places. Cook is a settlement on the Nullarbor Plain its inhabited by 4 people and a million flies, I met two of the people who ran the tourist shop and a million flies…the girls lasted about two minutes before running back to the train.
There is something beautiful about Australia, we ate our evening meals whilst the sunset on this vast and boundless landscape considering these new experiences travelling across a continent.
KJ 'I spy something beginning with T'
Yas 'Tree'
Yas 'I spy something beginning with T'
Asia 'Tree'
Asia 'I spy something beginning with T'Dad 'Tree'
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