V&T Daily
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Southern Spirit
Published in the April-June 2010 issue.
A journey on The Southern Spirit is a rare pleasure, finds Tricia Welsh: just
once a year, this five-star train plies Australia’s dazzling coast and richly rewarding outback.
It is mid-afternoon and an unbelievable 56.8 degrees Celsius in the Australian outback. Our train has been held up while two freight trains negotiate a passing loop in the middle of nowhere. Well, actually, we are around 900 kilometres north of Adelaide, 700 kilometres south of Alice Springs, and some 40 kilometres west of Coober Pedy and the main road north to Darwin.
You would think we had been marooned, the way we 45 passengers eagerly leap out of our air-conditioned comfort on the The Southern Spirit into the dry, searing heat and pile into the 4WD vehicles that will ferry us to the ‘opal capital of the world’.
“It’s unusual to see three trains on one length of track,” comments driver Gordon Giles as we buckle up in the back of his desert-designed vehicle, which normally does the twice-weekly, 600-kilometre mail run from Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta and William Creek, dropping off groceries, newspapers and mail to cattle stations along the way.
Giles says they last had rain on Christmas Eve – but it looks as dry as a chip as we take off, over unsealed roads, following a plume of spiralling red dust stirred up by the vehicle in front. As we head for the Breakaways, we pass countless conical-shaped mullock heaps: worthless piles of earth left over after any precious stones have been extracted.
Chilled sparkling Australian wine quenches our thirst at the Desert Cave Hotel, Coober Pedy, before we are whisked off in a convoy to dine in the underground Opal Quest Mine. We enjoy terrific local tucker: grilled smoked camel, fillet of emu, and kangaroo with native bush tomato chutney. A troupe of Aboriginal women elders entertains us with a haunting chant; Barossa winemaker Chris Pfeiffer tells us a little about the excellent wines, and some of us don hard hats and, with pick-hammers, try our luck in the tunnels that emanate from this impressive dug-out dining venue.
It’s clear that this train trip is a tad different to most. It’s more like a rail cruise – getting off and on at interesting locations and venues along the way. Operated by Adelaide-based Great Southern Rail (GSR), this particular service has been two years in the planning. While it is already up and running on the east-west Indian Pacific service from Perth to Sydney and The Ghan north-south service between Adelaide and Darwin, GSR plans to operate its new Southern Spirit itinerary just once a year, in late January and early February, on a round-trip journey between Uluru (Alice Springs) and Brisbane – 14 days each way.
The harsh desert conditions are a far cry from the ease and comfort we’ve become used to aboard our 350-metre-long railway home for the past few days. As some of the first passengers to experience the new Platinum Class carriages, we have been cocooned in air-conditioned luxury as our leg of the journey – part of ‘The Coastal Epic’ tour – has taken us from Melbourne to Adelaide, with a two-day side-trip to the wildlife-laden wilderness of Kangaroo Island, then on to Alice Springs via Coober Pedy where half of the 3,500-strong population lives in dug-out underground homes.
The new Platinum carriages were refurbished in the Ballarat Railway Workshops at a cost of AU$13 million and are now among the most luxurious on wheels anywhere. With only five compartments per carriage, they feature full-size double beds that fold away into the walls by day to make way for twin lounge seats, leaving masses of space in each compact but roomy compartment. You’ll find a hanging wardrobe with luggage storage below on one side of the main wall; a series of drawers and compartments for smaller items on the other, as well as a room safe, overhead reading lights, a casual table with padded stools and a pull-down table beneath the window.
As we join our fellow guests after a night in the luxurious Crown Towers hotel, we hear others tell of earlier excursions: a visit to the Hunter Valley wine region, a cruise on Sydney Harbour, a lecture on 1969’s Apollo 11 moon landing from an on-board astronomer, then a visit to Parkes Observatory; an excursion to see the fairy penguins at Victoria’s Phillip Island.
By now, the 40 or so guests have met and mingled, and some know each other by name: there’s Roland and Kristina from Sweden, another couple from France, one from Holland and two from the UK – and train buff Peter Noble from England. The rest of us are Australians and come from all over the country. It seems all of us love rail travel and are impressed with The Southern Spirit service.
Departing Melbourne’s Southern Cross Railway Station, we pass through the western suburbs and soon spy the turreted tower of Geelong Grammar School above the tree-tops. Then it’s the wide open plains of Victoria’s Western District and the indigo-blue of the Grampians before we cross into South Australia and pull in to picturesque Mount Lofty Railway Station in the Adelaide Hills, where we tuck in for the night undisturbed.
Next morning, we take a bus, then a ferry from Adelaide to reach Kangaroo Island, where we get up close but not too personal with Australian sea-lions at Seal Bay and New Zealand fur seals at Admiral’s Arch, and ponder the architectural shapes of the Remarkable Rocks. We visit small producers’ farm gates and enjoy plump local oysters and excellent island wine before indulging in a five-course dégustation dinner at Penny’s Hill winery restaurant at McLaren Vale. Then, once again, we board our carriage home and head north for the outback.
The food on board is outstanding, considering the size of the galley kitchen and the fact that often, just two chefs are preparing up to 350 plated meals a day. Breakfast is a fully cooked affair – 30 dozen eggs and 30 kilograms of bacon are demolished on the two-week trip – though you can also have fresh fruit and pastries; lunch and dinner are generally three courses and include two choices of main. Pastries and many of the desserts come from Adelaide ‘bush tucker’ chef Andrew Fielke, who pioneered indigenous foods commercially in Australia.
The staff of 12 is friendly, professional and enjoys an easy rapport with guests. Larry Ierace started his rail career 38 years ago as a station cleaner in Port Augusta and worked his way up over 16 years on the trains to become a duty manager. “Passengers come on as strangers and say goodbye as friends. It can be quite emotional,” he says.
A few days later, as we near Alice Springs and toast a farewell drink in the Outback Explorer Lounge, there are indeed moist eyes all around, along with several promises to keep in contact with newly-made friends. •
Photography courtesy
Southern Spirit.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting around
- The Southern Spirit will operate just two exclusive journeys each year: ‘The Grand Tour’, from Alice Springs to Brisbane in January, followed by return trip ‘The Coastal Epic’, from the end of January to early February. For information, phone 1300 881 416 or visit www.thesouthernspirit.com.au
- The current fare in Platinum Service is AU$13,990 per person and in the refurbished Gold Service AU$10,590, but this might change for the 2011 journeys. Fares include all meals, excursions, entertainment, transfers and hotel accommodation along the way, as well as drinks with meals.
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