This was an amazing trip, 3 days and nights in a tiny cabin travelling through some of the most desolute and unpopulated areas of Australia. We met some very interesting people from all over the world as we sat and drank G&T in the lounge before dinner, or whilst eating breakfast, lunch or dinner in the dining car. The food was delicious and we feel very full!!! There is not much room to move, so we took walks up and down the train. There were however, opportunities to get off the train to explore some of the remotest settlements in Australia. Broken Hill has been a familiar name to us for many years through friends who worked there and it was great to see this very singular town and learn about its mining history. Cook was a busy railway town until privatisation. Now just 4 people live there and it is a rest area for train drivers and crew. Last night we had a moonlight tour of Kalgoorlie and its historic buildings, brothels and the largest gold mine in the world, the Super Pit!!!!
The scenery was stunning, the colours almost indescribable although I am sure that Fogg will have a go. Disappointed to only see one grey kangaroo, but did spot two dingoes, many magnificent wedge tailed eagles, galahs and cockatoos. The gum trees are of course my favourite, brilliant trees that can survive the most extreme conditions.
Over to Fogg now, best wishes from me Phileas.
Hi folks
A wonderful journey. Broken Hill was fascinating although its future seems to be fragile. There is a little mining done here but this is rapidly coming to an end and about 12000 people have left the town in the last ten years. The youth tend to leave for the big cities and old folks homes are springing up which is in itself pushing house prices up . It is hoped to make Broken Hill a heritage site and it will become a tourist destination although the disused and broken down mines will probably have limited appeal. But I did learn about '2Up' a gambling game which is illegal in Australia except on ANZAC day, but Broken Hill which seems to a law unto itself play it on a regular basis legally on a Friday night although our coach driver pointed out that nobody checked.
Cook is an extra ordinary place. The remotest place I had ever been to. It had its own unique beauty. It did have a population of 300 but almost depleted now. It did have a hospital, golf course and school once and those buildings are still there but are slowly being eroded away by the wind, occasional rain and blistering heat in the summer. A ghost town.
The views from the train were fantastic. Whilst it seemed to be endless it was in fact fascinating to see the subtle changes as we travelled. (The light brought the rocks into sharp relief and accentuated the colours) Phileases words!!
Some of the people we met were very interesting and were travelling to Perth for a variety of reasons one of which was to compete in or support competitors in the 'Masters' swimming event. One of our travelling companions who was involved is a 74 year old back stroke specialist and the American couple we met from Connecticut were supporting their 40 year old daughter in the 200 metres freestyle. Others were there for holiday or big family reunions . It was so interesting to meet so many types of people and hear their stories.
So this is Fogg signing off. Best wishes to you all.
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