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Post by enigmas on Aug 2, 2018 17:00:50 GMT
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Post by enigmas on Aug 3, 2018 13:12:33 GMT
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Post by enigmas on Aug 5, 2018 1:02:12 GMT
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Post by jj2106 on Aug 7, 2018 16:19:12 GMT
What' s the temperature now in Perth? Looks a bit cold. Cheers, J-J
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Post by Warwick on Aug 7, 2018 22:41:48 GMT
Nice photos Vince. I always wanted to do that rail trip. That and the Ghan. I notice in the train's information booklet (last photo) that they no longer serve drinks on board, and like the rest of the country in the last couple of years, they've switched to serving beverages.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 9, 2018 11:06:36 GMT
Nice photos Vince. I always wanted to do that rail trip. That and the Ghan. I notice in the train's information booklet (last photo) that they no longer serve drinks on board, and like the rest of the country in the last couple of years, they've switched to serving beverages. I wouldn't say they don't serve 'drinks' anymore on the Indian Pacific Warwick, as they certainly have a very broad selection of alcoholic beverages as far as spirits, wine and beer on display both in the Bar and the Restaurant Car. Perhaps the reference is not made with regard to alcohol! J-J said. "What' s the temperature now in Perth? Looks a bit cold. Cheers, J-J." Well J-J...it's pretty close to being on the same latitude as Victoria (where I'm from) so the temperature is quite similar currently...perhaps 2° warmer in WA. Most of Melbourne's weather is blown over from the west. We should have taken our galoshes as it was unseasonably wet according to the locals we spoke to...around 17°C on average during the day and close to 0°C some nights. There were also gales but fortunately most of these occurred whilst we were sleeping.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 9, 2018 12:23:42 GMT
During our travels on the Indian Pacific there were 3 excursion/tours (and I use the term very much "tongue in cheek") on our rail journey to Adelaide in South Australia. Kalgoorlie-Boulder is a Western Australian city located 595 kms east-northeast of Perth located in the Eastern Goldfields.The city was founded in 1893 during the Yilgarn-Goldfields gold rush, and is located close to the so-called "Golden Mile". In true Aussie style the tour by coach took place around 9.30 pm in virtual total darkness. Fortunately the driver and tour guide regaled the passengers on board with many interesting facts and anecdotal stories of the city harking back to his school boy days in the region. Many interesting sights were pointed out such as the Chinese Gardens and the historic waterpipe that has transported water to the region for over 150 years (behind the trees and just glimpsed if you happened to be in the front seat.) Given that most of the passengers had reached senior citizen status we were truly fortunate if we could see the back of the head of the person sitting directly in front of us! See picture below. (If you close your eyes you'll see what we saw!) Below is a pic of the Chinese Gardens. The tour then moved on to a concrete bunker style theatrette (no heating and 0°C that night) where two young actors admirably performed a play, wholly spoken in the first person, about a notable historic character, Paddy Hannan. From there after sipping complimentary port from well worn miniature steel tea cups and viewing 2 giantic earth moving trucks outside the complex (a fellow passenger who was Spanish asked me with a worried expression on her face..."what is this we're drinking?") From the bunker we were bussed a short distance to an huge open cut mine that appeared through the darkness and lit from kms below like the Grand Canyon but tiered for the dump trucks to haul their loads of ore to upper ground levels. That truly was a great sight but something that needed to be seen in the full light of day. Due to the limitations of the "night" tour of Kalgoorlie I've borrowed these pix below. Kalgoorlie Court House. The Super Pit. (Care of Alan Bond) The Super Pit is an open-cut gold mine approximately 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long, 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) wide and 512 metres (1,680 ft) deep. Kalgoorlie Dump trunks. The mine operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a visitor centre overlooks it. The mine blasts at 1:00 pm every day, unless winds would carry dust over the town. Each of the massive trucks carries 225 tonnes of rock and the round trip takes about 35 minutes
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Post by Warwick on Aug 9, 2018 12:27:46 GMT
I wouldn't say they don't serve 'drinks' anymore on the Indian Pacific Warwick, as they certainly have a very broad selection of alcoholic beverages as far as spirits, wine and beer on display both in the Bar and the Restaurant Car. Perhaps the reference is not made with regard to alcohol! I was being facetious, Vince. I was making reference to the tendency in sales and marketing these days to replace common words with others with more syllables. There's a factory in Laverton called a dairy beverage centre. Can you guess what it is? Looking forward to the next batch of photos.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 9, 2018 13:11:07 GMT
After reboarding the Indian Pacific that night at 11.30 pm we retired to our sleeper and awoke the following morning at 5.30 am at Rawlinna railway station/Post Office with the slight smell of smoke in our sleeper. Initially disconcerting but fortunately nothing to be alarmed over as the smoke was merely the scent of open braziers outside of the train being drawn in by the aircon. Breakfast at the station comprised tea/coffee/juice with a bacon 'n' egg slider (small roll) and a vegemite scroll (a first for me) was served outside on large tressel tables. The temperature was about 1°C although it was a clear skyed morning. 'Rawlina Station' not 'railway' station. (Station...Aussie term for a large farm equivalent to an American ranch) occupies an area of about 10,117 square kilometres (3,906 sq mi) or 2.5 million acres in the remote south east of Western Australia, making it the largest sheep station in Australia. It is currently owned by the Jumbuck Pastoral Company.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 10, 2018 1:54:21 GMT
Our next and final stop before arriving at Adelaide railway station the following morning was 'Cook!' Cook is a desolate ghost town with a current population of 4 due to the privatisation of the rail line and now only exists to service the needs of the Indian Pacific. From the Indian Pacific literature Cook is described. "A small outback town located on the longest straight stretch of track in the world that spans a distance of 478 kms from Ooldea to Loongana. The desert stretches as far as the eye can see in any direction, giving the town an almost eerie sense of isolation." We arrived at Cook just after midday. Here are a few pix. Outback 'Dunny' (toilet) Don't get lost.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 11, 2018 0:44:58 GMT
Our next and final stop by rail was Adelaide. We arrived about 7 am and departed the train for the terminus 20 mins later where we chatted with some fellow travellers whilst having complimentary coffee and waited for our car to be unloaded. About 3/4 of an hour later we were back on the road heading towards Horsham in Victoria. That day we drove approx 430 kms with brief stops at Coonalpyn (painted silo), Bordertown and Nhill. We arrived in Horsham at 2.40 pm and booked into a motel. Below are a few pix from the day's travel. and just a bit further down the road...
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Post by enigmas on Aug 11, 2018 12:17:19 GMT
By 11.40am on the Tuesday we'd reached Border Town where we refueled the car (47 litres. $69) bought a light snack and then continued on to Nhill where we decided to have a travel break, stretch our legs and check out some of the local buildings in the township. Below are a few of the local buildings. This building was a Garage/Mechanics workshop...the doors either side were for entry and exit of vehicles. Makes you wonder as to what types and vintage of vehicles were repaired in this once busy but now forlorn building. The local Newsagency From Nhill we drove to Horsham for our last over night stay at a motel in the heart of town. We departed Horsham the following morning at 9 am...our last day's drive before arriving back home in Melbourne. There was one final stop at a Bakery in Ararat and a quick look around the Town. Interestingly many migrants (including my parents and relatives) who came out from Europe were billeted in corrugated iron Nissen huts in rural towns such as Ararat after WW2 seeking to make a new life. Here are some local pix of Ararat. ...and then back to the open road...with Melbourne in our sights. For those interested in a brief outline of these rural towns. * Nhill is located 376 km NW of Melbourne, halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide on the Western Highway. It is 352 km SE of Adelaide and is an important rural centre surrounded by merino grazing and the Wimmera wheatbelt. * Horsham is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately 300 kilometres northwest of the state capital Melbourne * Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about 198 kilometres west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera.
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Post by enigmas on Aug 11, 2018 12:47:40 GMT
The last section of the drive home was along the Midland highway which greeted us with both a clear road and expansive skies. Eventually the city skyline of Melbourne appeared and as with all cities so did the congestion of traffic as we approached the West Gate bridge. We then made our way home via St Kilda and Beach road. The city of Melbourne viewed through the barrier screens of the West Gate Bridge. ...and descending the West Gate Bridge Entering St Kilda. ...and a view of Luna Park from Beach Rd St Kilda Finally arriving home by 1.30pm. ...and that's the end of the 'Road Trip West' folks.
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