January 26/27 – The Indian Pacific to Adelaide

On Sunday morning we boarded the Indian Pacific for a (partial) transcontinental train ride to Adelaide.  The train has 29 carriages (cars), including 4 lounges, 4 dining cars, a car carrier, and baggage car, and is carrying about 290 passengers.  

We have a nice, roomy cabin…bunk beds, en suite bath and two nice loungy chairs. 

The train gets it’s name because it connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans and has a distance of 4352 km (2,704 miles) from Perth to Sydney (we are only going to Adelaide..2669 km (1658 miles).  Shortly after departure we had lunch in the dining car…very good food…and then we hung out in the lounge car for a while to enjoy the scenery before heading back to the room.  Along the way we saw a large flock of emus, probably 15 or 20.  However, the train was moving to fast to get any pictures. 

We have been along much of this first section of the route on our trip from Perth to Kalgoorlie.  In fact, shortly after dark we arrived in Kalgoorlie.  Turns out the train station is right across the street from the hotel that we stayed at while in Kalgoorlie.  the tour took us by the Mt Charlotte Mine...

and to the overlook of the Super Pit.  It looks a bit different after dark.  Moderately lit (mainly from the lights from the vehicles and the buildings) so you could at least see a bit of it.

Then we went to Hannan’s North Mine Museum (we had been here as well) where we saw a small skit about Paddy Hannan’s gold discovery.  A bit cheesy but actually sort of fun.

We were back on the train about 12:30 am…way too late.  Neither of us slept very well.  The beds were quite comfortable, but the train was really jerky.  It had been a fairly smooth ride until it was time to sleep.

We were up very early on Monday morning to enjoy a light brunch at the picnic tables at our stop at the tiny station of Rawlinna...

with entertainment provided by the train's on board singer.

Rawlinna is a siding next to the largest sheep station in the Southern Hemisphere, the Rawlinna Station, 2.5 million acres.  It holds 70,000 sheep and one paddock alone takes up to 8 hours to clear using planes. 

The old post office is abandoned and the train station seems to be used but looks rather derelict.

Then it was back on the train where shortly after leaving Rawlinna we hit the longest dead straight stretch of rail in the world, (478 kms/297 miles).  

The trip is through the Nullarbor Desert, (Latin for No Trees)…and there really are no trees.  An occasional shrub and lots of low growing plants but no trees.  It is really flat and really barren.  

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Video of the Nullarbor Deseert from train.
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Paul saw one emu and a few people saw a couple of kangaroos just before Rawlinna but all we have really seen are a few cattle.  There really isn’t anything here but it is an amazing experience.

Late afternoon we arrived in Cook, a fueling and water station.  Population 4.  Most of us got out to take a few pictures.  It was pretty warm but not unbearable.  The main building was the old Post Office, General Store and a Repeater Station (for the old telegraph line).  

For many decades the community was serviced by weekly visits by the Tea and Sugar train that brought in just about everything they needed and even provided banking services and a dental clinic.  The train stopped running in 1996.  Even with the small population there were a few well kept buildings.  They are used by railroad personnel who sometimes stay in Cook for rest.

The buildings included the old jail...with his and hers cells.

There used to be small hospitals in many of the communities along the route.  The Cook hospital building closed in 1998 and the health services are now provided by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  This sign in front of the old hospital serviced as recruiting for patients...

and an information and mileage sign post 

The main street of Cook looked like it might also be a landing strip…there was a windsock just beside it. 

The trees in town came from an effort in 1982 to "green" the Nullarbor by planting 600 trees.  Only a few have survived and they are probably the tallest trees in all of the Nullarbor Plain.  

That really seemed to be all the excitement for the trip.  Very leisurely and picturesque.  Glad we did it.