Diary of a man down under - Day 5

The road to Sydney!

Just boarded my rail replacement coach service for leg one of the journey to Sydney. Feels strangle like the UK! Departing in 20 minutes, but the first coach (the one I should have been on) has already broken down. They've moved us on to a different coach, so let's hope this one is more reliable. The coach part is just under 3.75 hours; the train part is about 8 or 9. It actually takes almost as long to get from Melbourne to Sydney by land as it did from the secret stopping off point to Melbourne by air. I'll do the maths at some point. Anyway, time to sit back and enjoy the Oz countryside; and hope the kids who just boarded stay quiet.

Update: 0750
I'm sure that was a pick-up truck with meat carcasses in the open back we just passed!

Update: 1125
Just arrived at Albury and transferred to the train. Scheduled to take just over 8 hours to Sydney. From what the road signs were saying it's only between 500 and 600km.

The train is basically a good old British Intercity 125, just with a lower top speed and slightly modified carriage interiors, aircon and doors. Plenty of legroom and the seats recline; and I'm only in economy class. Let's see if the punctuality is any better than the UK!

Update: 1805
Well we were 20 minutes late leaving. They had to wait for a disabled passenger from Melbourne to arrive in a taxi after the coach's disabled access failed to work.

So nearly 6 hours done with just under 2 to go. I can see why these things were re-geared with a lower speed than their British originals. We seem to have spent most of the journey snaking up hills and doubling back on ourselves at a fairly leisurely pace. There is the occasional straight with a burst of speed, but it doesn't tend to last long. Some lovely countryside to watch, but surprisingly little in the way of livestock. It's also started to cloud over. Why worked me is we've only just started heading downhill, but we only have less than 2 hours to cover the 6 hour climb!

CountryLink do need a lesson in preparing drinks. I was given a cup of hot water with separate tea bag! I thought only the Americans did that insult to tea. Oh, and the tea was Lipton's Yellow Label. Why is that stuff so popular all over the world??? The coffee was an interesting one. I got, again, a cup of hot water with a foil-packed coffee bag. The concept just seems so wrong, but it's probably better than British Rail instant coffee! Not drunk it yet so can't comment.

Update: 2300
Coffee in a bag gets a thumbs up! Made it into Sydney 5 mins early. Checked in to hotel and enjoyed a couple of beers and some beer-battered chips. Now time for bed!