In which we make the first of our long-distance overland journeys in Australia (though our only one by train) from Sydney, New South Wales to Juli's aunt Connie in Worongary, Queensland.
We were in no hurry to check out of our hotel with every reason to get as much sleep as possible, as we guessed we probably wouldn’t get much in our economy seats on the over night train to Brisbane. So, after a bit of a lie-in, we had a late breakfast before completing our packing. Check-out was straight forward and we managed to hail a cab to take us plus all our luggage (just) almost immediately.
First stop was Wanderers Travel, where Juli had negotiated a discount rate for three months storage of our cruise clothes and souvee bag. Next, the taxi driver took us to the station, which is only just round the corner, but seemed to require a circuitous route, which still didn’t quite get us to the entrance.
Country link, who operate the express passenger trains (XPTs) between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (plus the Tilt Train up to Cairns) operate a luggage check-in service, which meant that we didn’t have the bothered of dragging our bags around all day. That meant that we were free to do as we pleased with the rest of the day until needing to get back to the station to board our train at around 4.00 pm, knowing that our luggage would be a) safe and b) put on board for us.
One of the things we wanted to do was look into Yellow Fever vaccinations. We didn’t get these before leaving the UK, as we didn’t think they were necessary for the places in South America we’re visiting on the cruise home. However, something I read while on the road lead me to think it might be required by some of the Caribbean countries we go to after South America. I did a bit more research on-line while we were in Sydney which suggested that this might be the case, so, rather than risk being denied entry to these islands and having to stay on board, we decided to look in to having the jabs while in Australia.
We’d notice a health clinic on George Street on one of our trips up and down it, but when we asked, we discovered that they don’t do travel medicine. However, they were able to point us in the right direction to a clinic a bit further down the street in the Dymocks building – another famous Sydney landmark. Unfortunately, when we enquired there, we learnt that a) it was going to cost us AU$300 and b) they couldn’t do it then anyway. One to hold over until we hit Melbourne, perhaps.
Next stop was lunch, which was found in a food court under a branch of Myres, Australia’s largest chain of department stores. That was a bit too noisy to enjoy a quiet drink though and Juli wasn’t hungry then any how, so we moved back up George street to the currently being refurbished Town Hall, which has some seats outside it. Unfortunately that was too hot, so we moved on again back to the Queen Victoria Building, which was too busy. Next, since we still had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to see what was playing at the cinema. However, none of the films interested us and they all finished too late anyhow. By now Juli was hungry, so she had a wrap from Pie Face: another great Australian institution and source of cheap eats (now in New York too, I see).
After all that fruitless and frustrating wandering around trying to fill the day, and still with lots of time to spare, we decided to head back to the station and just sit it out in the waiting room. Soon enough, our train was announced, so we boarded it, just, as it happens, as our bags were being loaded, so that was a comfort.
We had no trouble finding our seats, which, we were pleased to discover, reclined and had plenty of leg room; quite the most leg room of any economy seat – be it train, coach or plane – that I’ve ever enjoyed.
The train was super smooth and passed through some stunning scenery on its way. We saw lots of trees and many lakes and rivers with holiday homes and sailing boats along their banks. We were amused to pass through several towns with very familiar names, for example Newcastle and Gosforth, Lewisham and Croydon. Dinner was an excellent curry (Butter Chicken) with rice, accompanied by a glass of light beer. As the light faded, we glimpsed our first real live wild marsupials, though I’m not sure if they were Wallabies or small Kangaroos.
Even as I write this account of arriving at Connie’s, we are preparing to leave it. We’ve had a wonderful stay, during which time, we’ve been royally entertained, met more of the family and have been shown lots of top sights and attractions, both by Connie and her children, Juli’s cousins. We’ve celebrated Christmas and New Year, driven or been driven thousands of kilometres and crossed the state line I don’t know how many times as we’ve explored this beautiful part of Australia. However, all that – all jam-packed, fun-filled, no time to blog, 25 days of it – will have to wait for another post.
TTFN - N
Day 180 (leaving Sydney)
We were in no hurry to check out of our hotel with every reason to get as much sleep as possible, as we guessed we probably wouldn’t get much in our economy seats on the over night train to Brisbane. So, after a bit of a lie-in, we had a late breakfast before completing our packing. Check-out was straight forward and we managed to hail a cab to take us plus all our luggage (just) almost immediately.First stop was Wanderers Travel, where Juli had negotiated a discount rate for three months storage of our cruise clothes and souvee bag. Next, the taxi driver took us to the station, which is only just round the corner, but seemed to require a circuitous route, which still didn’t quite get us to the entrance.
Country link, who operate the express passenger trains (XPTs) between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (plus the Tilt Train up to Cairns) operate a luggage check-in service, which meant that we didn’t have the bothered of dragging our bags around all day. That meant that we were free to do as we pleased with the rest of the day until needing to get back to the station to board our train at around 4.00 pm, knowing that our luggage would be a) safe and b) put on board for us.
One of the things we wanted to do was look into Yellow Fever vaccinations. We didn’t get these before leaving the UK, as we didn’t think they were necessary for the places in South America we’re visiting on the cruise home. However, something I read while on the road lead me to think it might be required by some of the Caribbean countries we go to after South America. I did a bit more research on-line while we were in Sydney which suggested that this might be the case, so, rather than risk being denied entry to these islands and having to stay on board, we decided to look in to having the jabs while in Australia.
We’d notice a health clinic on George Street on one of our trips up and down it, but when we asked, we discovered that they don’t do travel medicine. However, they were able to point us in the right direction to a clinic a bit further down the street in the Dymocks building – another famous Sydney landmark. Unfortunately, when we enquired there, we learnt that a) it was going to cost us AU$300 and b) they couldn’t do it then anyway. One to hold over until we hit Melbourne, perhaps.
Next stop was lunch, which was found in a food court under a branch of Myres, Australia’s largest chain of department stores. That was a bit too noisy to enjoy a quiet drink though and Juli wasn’t hungry then any how, so we moved back up George street to the currently being refurbished Town Hall, which has some seats outside it. Unfortunately that was too hot, so we moved on again back to the Queen Victoria Building, which was too busy. Next, since we still had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to see what was playing at the cinema. However, none of the films interested us and they all finished too late anyhow. By now Juli was hungry, so she had a wrap from Pie Face: another great Australian institution and source of cheap eats (now in New York too, I see).
After all that fruitless and frustrating wandering around trying to fill the day, and still with lots of time to spare, we decided to head back to the station and just sit it out in the waiting room. Soon enough, our train was announced, so we boarded it, just, as it happens, as our bags were being loaded, so that was a comfort.
We had no trouble finding our seats, which, we were pleased to discover, reclined and had plenty of leg room; quite the most leg room of any economy seat – be it train, coach or plane – that I’ve ever enjoyed.
The train was super smooth and passed through some stunning scenery on its way. We saw lots of trees and many lakes and rivers with holiday homes and sailing boats along their banks. We were amused to pass through several towns with very familiar names, for example Newcastle and Gosforth, Lewisham and Croydon. Dinner was an excellent curry (Butter Chicken) with rice, accompanied by a glass of light beer. As the light faded, we glimpsed our first real live wild marsupials, though I’m not sure if they were Wallabies or small Kangaroos.
That night, as our train trundled over the tracks, we crossed not only the New South Wales / Queensland border, but also the purely symbolic half-way point through our 360 days. I’d previously blogged that we’d passed that milestone the day before, but I realise now that I made a mistake with the day numbers in my diary. Turns out I am human after all.
Day 181 (arriving in Brisbane)
Despite the comfort of our seats, we didn’t get a great deal of rest that night owing to a) the chattiest man on the train seeking out and finding (just across the aisle from us) the chattiest woman on the train, and b) the train staff seeking out but not finding whoever was responsible for setting off the smoke detectors by having an illicit fag in the loo (just along the carriage from us). Add to that several stops during the night with quite a bit of coming and going and you have a fairly fool proof recipe for somnus interruptus.
However, we must have got some sleep, as I woke to a new landscape of rolling farmland, all green and grassy with a partial covering of morning mist in the dips and hollows. It was lovely to see the cattle and sheep having their breakfast just as we were contemplating ours, in a scene that reminded me very much of parts of rural England we’ve lived in.
We rolled into Brisbane’s Roma Street station bang on time at 06:30 New South Wales, Daylight Saving Time (7 October 2012 to 7 April 2013) which was 05:30 Queensland time. Fortunately there were plenty of trolleys to help us with our luggage and we managed, without too much difficulty, to find our way down in the lift to the ticket concourse, where a grumpy woman – well, it was half-past five in the morning – sold us two tickets to Robina.
We had a bit of time before our next train, so, what with it being far too early to think about calling Juli’s aunt Connie, we found some breakfast and waited a while.
An hour after boarding our south-bound suburban service, we were in Robina, and a few minutes after that we were collected by Connie, who droves us the 10 or so kilometres to Worongary, where we arrived at almost exactly 8.00am.
Connie’s home – a typical Queenslander, single storey house, surrounded by verandas – is set in a 2 acre plot with a few other houses around it. Mind you, when Connie (and her recently deceased husband Bob) built their home there – some twenty or so years ago – they were surrounded by tree-filled vacant plots. It’s an idyllic spot with a stream running through it, which they’ve dammed to form a natural pond that attracts native Swamp Hens, which are actually rather more attractive than their name might suggest.
Today would have been Juli’s uncle Bob’s birthday, and Connie had a number of visitors including a friend of theirs who shared Bob’s birthday and arrived with Champagne and cake. Apparently, Bob and this lady would sometime combine their birthday celebrations, and, although she was having a party today, Connie, quite understandably, felt unable to attend it on this occasion. So the party, or rather a deputation from it, came to her, which I think was a very nice gesture and much appreciated by Connie (and the rest of us, who enjoyed the cake and ‘Bubbles’ as Connie calls it).
Later, following lots of chat and a delicious, home-cooked supper of fishcakes (plus more Bubbles) we had a excellent night’s sleep in a very comfortable bed after drifting off to the sounds of Kookaburras and Asian Geckos, which, for their size, make a hell of a racket.
Even as I write this account of arriving at Connie’s, we are preparing to leave it. We’ve had a wonderful stay, during which time, we’ve been royally entertained, met more of the family and have been shown lots of top sights and attractions, both by Connie and her children, Juli’s cousins. We’ve celebrated Christmas and New Year, driven or been driven thousands of kilometres and crossed the state line I don’t know how many times as we’ve explored this beautiful part of Australia. However, all that – all jam-packed, fun-filled, no time to blog, 25 days of it – will have to wait for another post.
TTFN - N
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