We would have liked more time in Perth, but work schedules prevented us from departing home earlier, and train schedules prevent us from departing Perth later, that’s if we’re going to catch the ship anyway. So we’re settled that one day we will be back for a re-match, yesterday’s taster is enough for now. The city is very walkable which is ironic since it has free transport - one can just jump on a bus anytime. Clearly it’s affluent, pretty much every car is a new SUV. Clearly the population have a very pleasant life of barbies on the beach, extensive shopping and cultural opportunities. And quite apart from the excellent JoJo’s we’ve also found countless very smart looking restaurants. Yes we have definitely got to return.
It’s not coming up roses for everyone though, vagrancy is notable in the city centre - nothing like what we see in Leeds and London but there are some poor souls in need here too.
They say tide and time waits for no man, and train timetables are also in that category, unless of course one is a Northern Rail customer. Indeed we have a train to catch so we’re up as though it’s a day in the office even though it’s actually a Sunday. Whilst we’re performing morning routines something incredible happens - we get a voice mail telling us our baggage is on its way - hoorah - we don’t really know how this has happened because everyone has told us we won’t get them, but we’re very pleased. In fact they arrive with 10 minutes to spare, just enough for us to swap a few essentials into our “train bag” and then we’re off to Perth East, the station from which the train departs.
Although check in is 09:00 clearly that’s plenty of time so we wander along the station, marvelling at this half-mile long train with 29 carriages, four restaurants, four lounges and the remainder for accommodation. We get into our extremely modest cabin, struggling to unpack in the tiny space, but hey-ho this is only for three days and we will cope even though we’re not naturally light travellers. Before long the manager of our section, Cameron, comes to introduce himself and explaining a few things, and then René our steward arrives to tell us some more. After this we change into shorts and different shoes (a luxury we never thought we would have!) and head off four carriages forwards to the lounge and out first glass of champagne (well, Adelaide sparkling) to enjoy our 10:00 departure from Perth.
We manage to stay in the lounge until lunch time just watching the scenery go by, the occasional trip to the bar for a top-up and a biscuit to match. The atmosphere is vaguely surreal, with all these travellers drinking together, meeting for the first time on the journey. We chat with one or two, but mostly keep our own counsel, it will change as the days pass by, I know from experience. most intriguing is the proportion of Brits, yet to be completely assessed, but it’s high.
At 12:00 prompt the restaurant manager takes us through to the dining car, and we have a very agreeable lunch sat with Pammie and Stephen from Crawley which sets the barre for the next few days. It’s far too early for us but hopefully we’ll be able to manage our requirements for the next meal. After lunch we repair to the lounge for digestif and writing a bit more blog.
It’s quite fascinating watching the world go by - over the 65 hour journey we average 85 km/h so nothing like a hurried journey but the track is quite bumpy so anything faster would not be comfortable. At first it’s a verdant landscape which then changes to a more barren vista not unlike the South African plains. Occasionally there is a small settlement but mostly there are great open spaces with miles between.
An interesting thing is our cabins don’t lock, so I just accidentally burst in on our neighbour, but happily the lady was very calm and understanding. I’m not sure I would be in the circumstances. I guess that’s one of the consequences of being all inclusive - getting carried away! A good point is that we’ve negotiated a later dinner so we’re on the 19:30 now.
Dinner with Jackie and husband from Bournemouth was fairly good, not really fine dining but pleasant enough and the company made up for the culinary deficiency. During dinner we arrived into Kalgoorlie the infamous mining town of these parts. It’s odd to do an evening tour but everything is dictated by the train timetable.
We visit the 24/7 SuperPit mine, which is an open cast gold mine of epic proportions that are essentially indescribable, it’s only when we stand next to a retired dumper truck, replacement cost $5m, that the size comes to life. Each tyre, twice the size of an adult, costs $44k. Obviously I get to scrabble all over this enormous dumper. Our tour takes us around the sleepy town (well it is after 23:00) so there’s not much to report apart from a few shops, one church and a lot of brothels and topless bars (apparently.)
We return to our cabin to find it converted into bunk beds so we retire, finally happy that we’re repatriated with our bags. The train doesn’t depart until 01:20 so I suspect we sleep well for a while but once the motion starts it’s a fitful sleep!
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