A more leisurely start today, we don’t get up until 06:40 what a lie.in! Except we accidentally set it an hour earlier ha ha - time for the coffee and pastries in the lounge car we’d already decided we could miss. We breakfast with Jim and Elsie from Dulwich.
The train arrives at 07:20 and we’re straight off, our first obstacle is incorrectly guessing which station we’d arrive into, so we have to taxi into the city first, it’s only two miles but time is tight. We alight at the central market, an enormous closed market hall with hundreds of stalls and eateries, then head North into town. We’ve always known we have a short turnaround, so we’re aiming just for the Botanical Gardens and the river, two of the highlights of the city.
The BGs are just beautiful and we love wandering round embracing the serene tranquility, and we seamlessly connect with the river and walk alongside for a mile or so, before heading back South toward the train. Now we have the topology conquered we know walking back is attainable so don’t bother with looking for alternative methods.
By 09:30 we’re sat in the station as directed, waiting to get back on, which is annoying as all the passengers on the organised tours don’t arrive until 10:00 but we didn’t waste our time, we have two glasses of champagne and some savoury muffins to while away the time.
On re-embarking we head to the lounge car and hold court with two Ripponden couples who are also doing the same journey as us, whiling away the morning towards lunch. As locals they’re more chatty than some Brits and before long we’re comparing cabins on the ship I can feel a party coming on!
Lunch is served at 13:15 for us and we’re joined by Helen and Paul from Cheltenham, yet another couple we learn are doing the same journey. The vegetarian musakka is pretty good, hubby’s grape picker’s (ploughman’s) is also good.
After lunch we retire to our cupboard for a couple of hours watching the world go by, before heading back to the lounge carriage for a drink and in anticipation of alighting at Broken Hill for a another short stop. The temperature is 39 degrees.
Anyone who’s seen the wonderfully / appallingly camp film Priscilla Queen of the Desert will know Broken Hill is where the outrageous three spend some time, and later we find the hotel where they filmed, but there’s serious stuff first if you follow stocks you’ll know BHP Billiton is the world’s largest mining company, and the first two characters? Yes, Broken Hill - there are huge mines in the area and the entire town is pretty much mining centric so our first task is to climb the scree slope adjacent to the railway to visit the Miners Memorial even though it’s closed we still wanted to do the walk, before returning to town and wandering round.
It’s like a roughneck’s Napier, with, we are told, 138 historical buildings, many of them Art Deco, even though mostly repurposed nowadays. Despite the heat we manage to cover a good cross-section, have a great chat with a local lady in the street, and walk past the iconic Grand Hotel that featured in the aforementioned film.
All aboard is 19:00 but we’re still stood standing in the station at 19:30. It’s the first time we’ve had anything better than 2G so I fix a little problem and get this blog updated whilst I can, the photos will just have to wait until Sydney. We have a late sitting tonight so time tor a quick shower and dress for drinkies.
A few champagnes and canapés later we totter into dinner and join Val and Michael from Cambridge. Tonight’s menu is clearly la piece de resistance, and we all four choose kangaroo loin followed by beef rib. The kangaroo is rare, tender and a taste halfway between venison and beef fillet. The rib eye was still pink and very good indeed. These are both the best plates by a long margin and put some of the other offerings into perspective. We enjoy Wirra Wirra Shiraz with the main. Then it’s pudding and we go for tarte tatin which is not bad.
Meanwhile we’re not moving, an announcement is made telling of a derailment on our route. Later in the dinner we’re told there is no damage to either person or track, so it’s only a minor delay although they are not sure what the time implications are.
The train moves a while then stops again, so maybe it’s time for bed, said Zebedee?
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