The Nullarbor

 

We’ve had a 2 ½ hour time change to bring us to the South Australia Daylight Savings time zone, and are now riding through the Nullarbor. Before brunch we were still in the woodland, but as we ate we could seen the size and number of trees reducing quickly. Now the tallest vegetation is no more than a 6 foot high bush.

We stopped briefly at Rawlinna where this was the only
building I could see. Not sure who lives there or
what it is used for.

We have also been served an afternoon tea buffet with a couple of small cakes and meat pies. Again, everything has been quite delicious!

There's even onboard entertainment! Guitarist/singer
Max traveled up and down the train, making
1/2 hour stops in each lounge carriage

Relaxing with a drink and some company
during the long straight run

All afternoon and evening we saw nothing but these tiny scrubby blue-grey bushes with the odd punch of bright green for miles and miles and more miles, but one could sit there absolutely mesmerized by the unchanging landscape under bright blue skies. The colour palette was actually very calming.

One of our mail stops, with the local resident here
to greet us.

We were surprised to see an aircraft hangar and a
plane out here, but this huge territory is serviced
by the Flying Doctor Service, based in
Kalgoorlie. This may be a fuel and service depot.

And every so often we would see large trucks,
tractors or other equipment just sitting near the
tracks with nobody around. That dirt strip
in front is what passes for a road out here.

We were on the lookout for emus and kangaroos, but saw nothing, barely even a bird. The train made a number of brief stops along the way, whenever there was any sign of human habitation. The Indian Pacific also delivers mail and packages on its weekly run through the desolate area.

We viewed a beautiful sunset around 9:00, and not long afterward pulled into the tiny community of Cook. Here they had set up a bonfire and numerous tables for everyone to enjoy an hour or so to stretch our legs and do a little stargazing in the clear night sky. They were also offering nightcaps of Port or Baileys for us to enjoy.

After doing a little experimenting with the camera settings on my phone, I did manage to get some really nice photos of the stars, even though the moon was full and washed out all of the Milky Way. It is really odd to see familiar constellations in strange orientations. Down here Orion is upside down.

Passengers gathered at the tables around the bonfire.
This stop has replaced the cookout
beside the train that they used to do in Rawlinna. 

My favourite photo of the train with the full moon above

After another high-speed run – the train can apparently do a maximum of about 110 km/hr – we woke to find more of the same Nullarbor vegetation. I haven’t taken photos of all of the food served on board, but it has been consistently very good and plentiful. Yes, we did even try a little cured kangaroo on a Ploughman’s Lunch plate. Very lean and actually quite tasty.

It was a day to just relax and socialize, as there was nothing in particular going on until we reached the disembarkation point for our evening tour at Seppeltsfield Winery in the Barossa Valley.

This salt sea is Lake Hart. It was previously the site of
a salt mine, and only gets a small amount of rain
each year.

We passed the town of Port Augusta which is in a bay on the Great Australian Bight. First water we've seen for quite some time! Next stop - the Barossa Valley.