I’m a train junky. If it moves on rails, I’ll make tracks for it.

I was definitely long overdue to sample one of Australia’s Great Southern Rail offerings. But how to choose between the Ghan, which travels from south (Adelaide) to North (Darwin), or The Indiann Pacific, slicing its way across the continent from Perth in Western Australia to Sydney in New South Wales? It was wine that helped my partner, David, and me make the decision.

We would board at Perth, a very pretty city on the Swan River and the hub of one of Australia’s many outstanding grape-growing areas, revered for its Chenin Blancs, Verdelhos and Rosés. I had discovered the perfect way to try them: on board Captain Cook Cruises’ River Lady in Perth, an excursion that featured winery visits, a 3-course gourmet lunch with entertainment, on-board wine tastings, and music, music, music. And then, of course, Sydney is within sipping distance of the famous Hunter Valley. We would definitely get there for a sip or two, but first we’d disembark at Adelaide, a journey of some 44 hours. Plans were to cycle a little of the Riesling Trail and sample some of those prize winning Clare Valley Rieslings, before re-boarding the train to Sydney a few days later.

The plan was perfect, and the Swan River Cruise sublime. There’s nothing better than a indolent day on a idyllic river sampling wines, followed the next day by a leisurely train journey stretching over several days, with hours of chatting with interesting fellow travelers over gourmet meals, while an outback panorama unreels beyond the window. Now, if I could just spot a kangaroo, what could be more perfect?

Forty years ago, in February, the Indian Pacific made its first trip – rolling 4352 kilometers from Perth to Sydney. It’s been pretty much chugging along, 4 days a week from either direction, ever since. Now, however, it’s got me aboard, and I’m eager for lunch. Although it’s the shoulder season in late February, the train is bustling with travelers, and I’m looking forward to chatting with some. In the meanwhile, outside our window the Avon valley undulates.

“Canadians are so friendly,” comments our first luncheon companion an hour later, an ex-army man from Perth traveling with his youngest daughter. “It’s not that we’re so friendly”, I counter. “It’s you Aussies who are so friendly. What’s a reserved Canadian going to do when met with a big smile and a friendly, ‘How ya going?’

Next, we start in on politics, helped by another glass of verdehlo, a wine worth discovering: spicy and fragrant, it turns out to be a deceptive little siren; its pleasant light taste concealing its punch. It slipped down like silk alongside the sea trout with hollandaise sauce and asparagus, and even stayed for dessert. If you don’t think a pudding made of bananas and macadamia nuts warmed with a caramel sauce is worth the calories, you’d be wrong.

We finish coffee and politics as the valley terrain falls away to flat wheat fields and eventually to mallee scrub, an environment found only ‘down under’, comprised of stunted looking mallee trees, a type of eucalpyt, sheltering small plants swarmed by bees in the flowering season. Our companion points out the beehives we hadn’t noticed before and tells us much of Australia’s wonderful honey comes from here, interrupting to point: “Those roos are everywhere. Damn pests.” “Where, where?” I follow his finger. “Just gone behind them rocks.” I feign nonchalance.

Back in our compartment, eyes drilling through the window, I spot a white cloud in a yew tree that suddenly explodes as snow white birds shoot away from the train. As they wheel and turn they reveal bright peach colored breasts. It was my first glimpse of a widespread and noisy bird, we never tired of looking at - the pink Galah cockatoo.

The afternoon was spent in roo watching and listening to our own sound system: poetry, history, songs, stories, interviews, natural history and local music all helped to set the stage, entertaining while educating.

Soon a friendly voice is inviting us to the lounge car for a glass of bubbly, an information session, and a meet and greet. We sit alongside Sarah and Kevin. This is their first trip. Kevin has just landed a job working on one of the oilrigs, now becoming a common sight in resource-rich, booming Perth. Her one concern, Sarah tells me, is the city’s remoteness. (It’s actually 2000 km. away from any other major Australian city.)

“There’s a roo”, Kevin interrupts. I turn to look, but there’s someone in the way and by the time I shift, we’ve scooted past. “Never mind, you’ll see lots. They’re everywhere.”

The sun is down by the time we return from dinner. No point roo watching now. With the time change, our first stop won’t be until nearly midnight, at the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, where we’ve booked a ‘whistle stop’ tour. Sure enough, close to midnight we’re blearily awoken, escorted into a bus and soon swept up into the night and the wind to stare at the immense Super Pit, 3.6 km long and 512 meters deep and still operating 24/7.

The town itself, with a current population near 30,000, is near what many describe as the ‘richest square mile on earth’ – the Golden Mile. Unlike most of the world’s gold mines, the Super Pit and surrounding mines are still producing gold a century later, as well as other minerals like nickel, and are the town’s major employers. At midnight, however, shivering and slapped by wind-driven debris, I can’t get enthused over the isolated town’s prosperity. Perhaps tomorrow, visiting heritage buildings in the sun? But the Indian Pacific has other ideas and is soon transporting us once again across the outback. I fall asleep dreaming of kangaroos trapped in endless pits.

We awake to an endless flat expanse of rust limestone – the Nullarbor Plain, the world’s largest single piece of limestone and also one of the world’s most isolated areas. This section is also the longest straight stretch of railway in the world, at 478 km.

We’ll soon be in the ghost town of Cook, in the middle of this lonely outback. It’s located 1100 km from Adelaide and 1500 km from Perth, and is without roads, a lonely place indeed. Once a hospital stood here, serviced by Australia’s flying doctors, who provided emergency health service to Aussies in the outback. There was a school, a post office, stores, a hotel, and a ‘standing room only’ jail. Now 3 people live here in a home restored from one of the many abandoned buildings, their employer, Great Southern Rail. The company refuels here, and allows passengers a second opportunity to stretch their legs and soak up a little history while swatting flies.

Back on the train, we turn on our audio and listen to the couple from Cook, Ivor and Jan, tell us how they came to be in this ghost town and why they stay. Jan can remember how it used to be, and her voice is dreamy and ambivalent.

Actually, there’s a lot of really interesting information coming over that sound system. We’re told about the 10,000 camels that were brought in from Arabia in the 1860s to transport goods. Once the railway came through they were made redundant and retired to the outback. Apparently feral camels now number 500,000, but they must be conferencing somewhere else today, with the kangaroos probably.

The train has now entered a more verdant area, red sand dunes are popping up, bedecked with green shrubs that our lunch companion, Allan, a retired electrician traveling with wife, Eva, tells us is saltbush. “It’s a kind of short red gum. Farmers discovered that if they let their sheep feed on it, it made for very tasty meat. Actually restaurants now advertise if their lamb is saltbush fed. The meat is really sought after. It’s on the menu here; you should have it.”

So we munch on a warm salad of roasted eggplant, zucchini, and baby carrot with sticky balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and eventually go on to a main course of lamb and pumpkin pie with sweet potato puree and crisp greens.

“You seen a roo yet?” Allan asks. “There’s one there under the gums.”

I drop my fork and splatter my pants. “Which gum?”

“Ooops. No worries, you’ll see plenty.” A freight train is now passing us on the other track.

But time for roo spotting is running out. Early tomorrow we’ll be in Adelaide. Soon I’m sitting with my face squished against the window in our compartment, there until the twilight turns thick and sooty. Time to give up and go for an evening cuppa.

The next morning, after a breakfast brought to our room, we step reluctantly off the train, in agreement that there is no better way to experience the vastness and remoteness of the Aussie outback. The Indian Pacific combines stress free travel with great food, and wonderful opportunities to interact with the locals. Its audio program also helps to create a journey that’s an experience instead of just a trip. It’s not their fault that the roos laid low.

Off the train and into the presence of Jeff Easley, from Tourabout Adelaide, our driver and guide for the day, a day replete with cycling the Riesling trail and tasting wines in the Clare Valley. We luck out. It turns out he’s an optimal opimian, tactfully guiding us through a day sparkling with Riesling and sunshine, another ‘down under’ experience. With so much magic here, does it really matter that I’m rooless in Oz?



Sidebar:

Websites:

Going down under? Flying
• From Canada. www.aircanada.com. (It’s the only non stop service from Vancouver to Sydney)
• From The United States, and within Australia.
www.quantas.com. (Great food and service.)
• Many other airlines also service these routes, but these are my choice.

Great Southern Rail. www.greatsouthernrail.com.au
Click on the Indian Pacific link.

Tourism Australia. A great extensive, interactive website covering all areas. www.australia.com

Tourism South Australia. You can download a pdf file with a description and map of the Riesling Trail. Click on regions. You want Clare Valley. www.southaustralia.com

Perth site. www.experienceperth.com.
Adelaide site. www.southoz.com


In Perth.
• Lodging. The Richardson. Small inn to die for. There is nothing this intimate and elegant boutique hotel hasn’t thought of. A tiny, classy art gallery with gracious staff. High end, but worth it; check for specials on line. www.therichardson.com.au
• Attraction. The Swan River wine cruise with Captain Cook Cruises. You don’t want to miss this if you like to party, or even if you hate partying but love wine. A unique experience that will have you dancing on water. www.captaincookcruises.com.au

In Adelaide.
• Lodging. The Majestic Roof Garden Hotel. Perfect downtown location, spacious rooms, great breakfasts.
www.majestichotels.com.au.
• Attraction. Wine tours through the Barossa and Clare Valleys. Don’t miss out family owned Paulett Wines. (Incredible Clare Valley Rieslings, and great views.) www.paulettwines.com.au
• Tourabout Adelaide. Knowledgeable guides who’ll meet you off the train and take you touring, no time wasted. If going on a wine tour, ask for Jeff Easley. www.touraboutadelaide.com.au
• Cycling the Riesling Trail. A 35-km walking/cycling trail that rolls past many wineries. Tourabout Adelaide will organize this for you. You choose how much of it you want to cycle. Or hire a car and drive there, about 90 min. from Adelaide. For bike hire check out www.cogwebs.com.au.