6th - 12th December Perth to Adelaide, and Adelaide

My time in Perth has come to an end and I have decided to travel across to Melbourne by the train.. Booked onto the Indian Pacific train, which takes 3 days (2 nights).  I think this would be fun rather than jumping a plane and probably more relaxing given my fear of flying.

I got to the station early and checked my luggage in.  After check in I got chatting to a New Zealander by the name of Caroline and we had a good giggle as one of the passengers started arguing with the staff over how he should pack his sleeping bag onto his rucksack.  We unfortunately didn't get the ten rounds of battling we hoped for and so wondered off to inspect the train.  It was probably the longest train I have been travelling on, and on the platform we took some photos to mark our journeys.  We also debated why the Koreans do the victory sign when taking photos and couldn't work it out!! I think they are just big fans of Mr Churchill..

Settling into the seats I found that they were big recliners, which would be good for sleeping in overnight.  After an hour I paid the $15 dollars to get into the lounge car and the free tea and coffee, which I immediately drank until it was coming out of my ears.

We stopped a couple of times on route and Caroline and I ventured off the train for a couple of photos and explore the towns.  The first stop we came too was a bit of a wild west town.  We headed off into the town for an hour and a quick pint.  We got into the bar and started checking out the surrounding and at which point Caroline pointed the young ladies behind the bar were on an economy drive on clothing.  Ade - you really know how to impress a lady!!!!!!  After having a chat with one of the locals (a drunken rant on his part about what the government were doing to the minors) we retreated back to the train.  At the next notable stop we were advised not to go into any of the abandoned buildings in the ghost town!!!

I arrived in Adelaide early morning, and was still trying to hunt for accommodation and struggling with great aplomb as the cricket was on.  I had been searching for a cheap hostel or B&B for two weeks already.  The last resort was to check into some majorly plush hotels and so I plumped for the number 4 hotel in the world!!!!!  This was a massive improvement on the hostels and a real palace.

Adelaide is a pretty little city and although I could get tickets for the cricket I managed to get myself in with a crowd of "Poms" who were watching the cricket in a bar, the girls seemed more vociferous than the other lads in the pub.  I was then tagged as a flashpacker by one of them for staying in plush hotel.  I advised that I would attempt to continue living up to the title.  I had been to Adelaide before and enjoyed some of the sites again and went for a walk around the botanic gardens which was well worth while.

Well off on the next leg of my journey where I meet an old friend.