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Our first day on the Indian Pacific dawned rainy and windy - not a good start to a scenic train ride! So we got on the train and found our 1st class sleeper cabin. The first thing that struck me was how old fashioned everything was - and I say that in the nicest possible way. They have totally preserved the 50’s style of the train so that your experience is exactly how it would have been back then, but with a few modern conveniences thrown in to make it more comfortable. Honestly, when I first entered the dining carriage I expected Hercule Poirot to wander in!

Anyway, after we acquainted ourselves with our cabin and the little gifts left for us by Indian Pacific staff, we explored the rest of the public areas. The lounge carriage was quite comfortable, with a bar and huge windows to watch the view from. By the way, we weren’t the youngest people there either, as there was a family with 2 teenagers, and a really obnoxious guy travelling with what looked like some elderly relatives - if you want to meet lots of young people, go in 2nd class is all I’m saying!!!

Fortunately the rain subsided as we moved away from Perth, and it opened up into some gorgeous mountain scenery. We arrived late in the evening at Kalgoorlie, where some people took a night tour of the town - we declined as we didn’t think there would be much to see at night, later confirmed by others who took the tour. The scenery soon changed to farmland, which soon changed to desert, and the familiar “red dust and saltbush” of the Nullarbor took over the view from our window. Animal sightings were of the wedge-tail eagle swooping gloriously in the distance, as well as kangaroos and some random stands of camels.

We had a couple of other stops, one being at a veritible ghost town called Cook which had about 4 permanent residents. Quite eerie

I have to say we ate well. Three course meals every time, and the food was delish. It got to the stage where I longed to have the feeling of being hungry. The worst part of the journey was the jolting - for something that boasts having the longest straight stretch of railway in the world, it certainly didn’t feel so straight or smooth!

As we neared Adelaide I had this strange sad sensation that our little “bubble-world” would soon end. Sometimes I feel like “this is what my whole life is” when going on particularly epic journeys and it feels like you are emerging from a cocoon when it ends. That’s what it was like.

ADELAIDE
I have never been to Adelaide before and we spent the time wandering around the city centre and just generally checking the place out. We also took a tram down to Glenelg which was quite fun, it’s a bustling little seaside town with lots of shops and cafes etc. and a pretty good waterfront that’s obviously had a recent and rather expensive facelift!

Well, that’s it for now - we will take the Overlander to Melbourne tomorrow, and begin the adventure of life in a new city for us both. So the holiday must end, and we must be all grown up and find jobs and a place to live