Imagine crossing our vast, intimidating outback from ocean to ocean without raising a sweat or forgoing a fine meal. How? By riding the rails.
Our continent has many great journeys: the Stuart Highway, the Savannah Way, the whole circumnavigation around Highway 1 if you’re keen. Most involve windscreen glare, broken crank shafts and far too many pub schnitzels.
The Indian Pacific’s two blue locomotives and conga-line of silver carriages depart Sydney after lunch. It hardly matters that it’s raining. I’m not driving, I have no care for slippery roads or other dreary practicalities. What’s the rush? The hurried can fly to Perth. Train travel is a slow hypnosis of landscape, and I revel in having nothing to do but gaze out the window. How often in our busy lives do we have such a simple luxury?
By 10 am we’re skirting the southern Flinders Ranges in one of the loveliest parts of the journey. The view is like an Albert Namatjira watercolour of purple and rust-red hills above silvery plains streaked with orange. The landscape is a passing impressionist entertainment of orange earth and white gum trees and blue skies wheeling with annoyed cockatoos. Then we chug slowly into minimalism. Fewer trees, circles of spinifex, grey earth. The bold size of this emptiness is exhilarating.Next day we’re on the infamous, world-beating 478-kilometres stretch of straight train track across the Nullarbor. I stare out and urge my eyes to spot something.
The hypnotising peculiarity and wonder of Australia has me stuck to the windows for most of this journey. Behind a car wheel I’d never be this relaxed, nor as absorbed in the scenery. I’d be cramped and hot and sore-eyed.
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