{"id":1342,"date":"2012-08-13T09:18:39","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2012-08-27T18:49:34","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T01:49:34","slug":"coast-to-coast-aboard-australias-indian-pacific-rail-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/1342\/coast-to-coast-aboard-australias-indian-pacific-rail-line","title":{"rendered":"COAST-TO-COAST ABOARD AUSTRALIA’S INDIAN PACIFIC RAIL LINE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A kangaroo watches the Indian Pacific Train go clickety-clack across Australia's Outback. Photo Courtesy of Great Southern Rail.<\/p><\/div>\n

ADELAIDE, South Australia \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>I write this column as I am rolling across the Australian Outback aboard the Indian Pacific Train on a rail line which stretches 4,352 kilometers from Perth, along the Indian Ocean in the far west, to Sydney, near the Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef, in the east. In between typing sentences from a small desk in my private sleeper cabin, I glance out the windows to catch glimpses of a vast sky which meets a horizon of deep red soil, thatched dry grass, the occasional brave tree, and distant, rising buttes. Kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, dingo, emus and wallabies are at home out there, despite\u00a0Darwin\u2019s claim that the Land Down Under is \u201cunfit for man or beast.\u201d The soft rumble and clack of the track make for nice company, too, and are especially soothing when it comes time to pull down the berth and snooze. Under dark of night a crescent moon and star show is visible from my bunk, with morning announced by a fiery orange cloud bank and pink, smoldering sky.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In the snazzy lounge car, the bespectacled train manager is a caricature of his position\u00a0– stopwatch, handlebar mustache and all. He introduced me to an 84-year-old Australian woman namedVictoria\u00a0who made for fine dinner company, recalling\u00a0the “American boys” during the war\u00a0before the festive \u201cWaltzing Matilda\u201d sing-along, of course, with an oil can of Fosters Lager for inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perth to Sydney is a three-night trip, but you may also board in picturesque Adelaide \u2013 near Australia\u2019s wine country – which would give you just under 24 hours aboard this charming timepiece after perhaps a visit to the famous wineries of the Barossa Valley such as Jacob\u2019s Creek and Penfold\u2019s. You may tote your car aboard the train, if you wish. Between\u00a0Adelaide\u00a0and\u00a0Sydney\u00a0there is a happy hour stop in the arid mining town of Broken Hill. Take a two-hour stroll or shop in the town so remote scenes for post-apocalyptic film \u201cMad Max\u201d were shot here.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Arrival in Sydney and the sight of the iconic opera house. The architect never lived to see it finished.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pulling into Sydney Central Station in midmorning was bittersweet. Like a child, I wanted more of the train, but then, wide-eyed, I spotted the stark, white billowing peaks of the world famousSydney\u00a0Opera House and the iconic\u00a0Harbor\u00a0Bridge, and the thrill of\u00a0Sydney\u00a0took over.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To make the Indian Pacific Rail part of your adventure to\u00a0Australia, log on to\u00a0<\/span>www.GreatSouthernRail.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0InviteYourself@aol.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or via\u00a0www.TravelTattler.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ADELAIDE, South Australia \u2013\u00a0I write this column as I am rolling across the Australian Outback aboard the Indian Pacific Train… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[581039,581208,6807,6809,581449,581660,266,580096,580312,580709],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","tag-perth","tag-adelaide","tag-sydney","tag-opera-house","tag-train-travel","tag-kangaroo","tag-australia","tag-outback","tag-indian-pacific","tag-great-southern-rail"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2012\/08\/ShielsatSydney.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1342"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1364,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1342\/revisions\/1364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}