Train Across Australia

E Elysee invites you to board. The Wedge Eagle is the train's
Mascot with a wingspan of nine feet
Very comfortable compartments

One of the advantages of staying for an extended time (in Australia we stayed for three months) is the ability to plan any excursions to meet your schedule, and design an itinerary to suit your interests. We planned and took a twelve-day journey across the continent from Sydney to Perth and back, with many stops along the way. I'm going to begin with our embarkation from the Sydney train station aboard the Indian Pacific. That train makes the three night, 2700 mile journey, stopping along the way at Adelaide, and crossing the 160,00 square mile Nullabor Plain, one of the most desolate places on earth. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We were ticketed for Gold Kangaroo service, a first class ride with sleeping compartments, a wonderful period dining car and a private lounge car with a full service bar and a smoking room for those who still do. All A'board. Come along with Elysee and I, and ask any questions you may have.

(There is more on my website http://www.marshallpublications.com/)

Shearing Sheep in Australia

My Bushlady wife Elysee getting ready to shear

Before and after

While staying at the Avalanche Homestead we learned the art of shearing the sheep, of which Frank Biddle has about 1500. A fellow named Jacky Howe, in 1892, hand sheared 321 sheep in 7 hours and forty minutes, a record. That's one sheep every 1.4 minutes. He must have had forearms like Popeye! Not a man to arm wrestle with! I would like to know if that record still stands for manual shearing.

Visit To The Blue Mountains-Part Three

F Family cabin built in 1887
Oberon, NSW train station now a museum

As I said, we took the long way,stopping at Oberon, and we were thankful for our decision. Oberon taught us a lot about Australian development. Mrs Laurie McMahon, a descendant of pioneers, runs the museum which is dedicated to life in Oberon in yesteryear's. Winter comes with a vengeance to Oberon, at 2000 feet above sea level and exposed to open plains. We were treated to a tour and viewed collected artifacts from the rough days of early settlement, through the advent of the railroad, radio days and up up present times. The farm cabin was in use for almost 100 years and is the real ting. No heat, no plumbing, no electricity even up to the end. It is decked out almost as though you had stopped by at the turn of the century. The railroad doesn't go anywhere. It was built in the early 20s to bring out copper from a local mine. Just as it was completed the copper ran out. And there is an 18 hole golf course that has a unique was of keeping the grass trimmed. Grazing kangaroos. No kidding.

I know this is really out of the way for most tourists, but for the adventurous, give it a try. Or read about it in my book, Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand.

VISIT TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS-PART TWO

Reading room. HYDRO MAJESTIC HOTEL

Near Katoomba, we found the Hydro Majestic Hotel, a massive resort built by Mark Foy in 1904. This is where prosperous Australians "summered" as was popular during that Golden Era. It had a casino, hugh ballroom, pool room, tea rooms for the ladies. therapeutic baths, and looking across the reading room the glass enclosed men's cigar room. There were cottages across the rail line for maids, chauffeurs, valets and governesses...a place they called Siberia.
During WWII it was converted to a convalescent hospital for American serviceman injured in the battle of the Coral Sea. You must stop by and take a walk through, and time permitting some lunch on the terrace overlooking the mountains.
Leaving the Majestic, rather than take to main road to our overnight destination, we drove a circuitous route of 40 miles through open country to Oberon, not something the average traveler would do. We were glad we did. There is more in my book Our Summer in Australia and New Zealand.

OUR GOLF IN AUSTRALIA

Golf was once in the middle of the outback. A $2 sand greens course.

Number 12 at Moore Park a muni with Sydney in the background

Our golfing experience was different from the United States. If you were a casual tourist and golfing as part of a package or a round or two over a several week vacation you might not notice. But over our thirty rounds of golf in Australia, plus another ten in New Zealand, one difference was that we always walked. Not that you couldn't rent a cart, but the culture did not promote riding. That was fine with us. The second big difference was the cost. The culture of golf in Australia is to make it affordable for everyone. Certainly at select clubs and courses one could spend $200-300 a round. But at Moore Park, a respectable municipal course within the Sydney limits and only a fifteen minute drive from our home in the suburb Coogee, the rate was $26 plus $5 for a pull cart if you did not have your own. At another muni., Kogarah, the cost was $23 and included a beer at the clubhouse after the round. At Moore Park a member has no initiation fee, annual dues are $2700 and as a member you only pay $5 a round. Unlimited golf. Part of the reason for golf's affordability is that the government contributes out of public recreation funds. Also there are slot machines at most clubhouses that also defray costs. Australians like to gamble, and "Pokey" machines are ubiquitous at golf courses. Not overdone, and often set aside, but they are there. One of our favorite courses in the Sydney vicinity was St. Michael's, that had 9 holes alongside the ocean...a mini Pebble Beach. Finally, golf is everywhere in Australia. Way out in the middle of the outback there is a now abandoned 9 hole sand greens golf course that cost $2 to play. The town closed down when the trains changed to just refueling on their way across country. Go golf Australia, its everywhere and you won't find better companions.

Visit to the Blue Mountains-Part 1.

Elysee gazing over the vast Blue Mountains.




The Three Sisters, Blue Mountains NSW Aust.

Our first excursion from Sydney during a three month stay was a three day exploration of the nearby Blue Mountains. These mountains, about a 2 1/2 hour drive west of our summer home near Sydney, offer numerous panoramic vistas, an interesting history, and presented a marked contrast to modern day Sydney.

The Blue Mountains are part of a two-thousand mile chain that sweeps along the east coast of Australia called the Great Dividing Range. So named because it divided the early settlements on Australia's east coast from the vast interior.West of Sydney they rise to an elevation of 3,000 feet. They are very rugged, oftentimes having shear drops of 500 feet or more, and in the late 18th and early 19th century provided a formidable barrier to westward expansion.

Several expeditions had been formed, all failing to find a suitable route through these mountains, until 1813, twenty-five years after the arrival of the First Fleet, Australia first convict settlement. The three adventurers Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth reported their finding to Governor Macquarie and by 1815 a road had been blazed and westward expansion began. Beyond the Blue Mountains the land opens to a vast level plain, fertile fields and an outlet for future expansion and development.

Elysee and I left Coogee about 9am on a Tuesday and followed the same pathway as the three explorers, now called the Great Western Highway, heading for Leura/Katoomba, the location of the Three Sisters and our first overnight stop.

HARBOR BRIDGE

A view of the Opera House and Sydney harbor from near the top of the bridge



Sydney Harbor Bridge, also named the Coat Hanger and the Iron Lung

Since 1998 anyone in good health and there have been many 90 year olds, can climb the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge. Yes, 1439 steeps steps up to the summit at 440 feet above the harbor. What a great expedience. You are suited up, given a safety lecture and when your groups time comes tethered to a cable to begin your climb. A group of about twenty leaves around every 20 minutes, and I hasten to add it is very safe. Over one-million people have made the climb, including a 100 year old women. The views from the top are unparalleled. Begun in 1924 and called a "giant coat hanger by Sydneysiders, since it also kept so many steel workers busy during the great depression they named it the Iron Lung. It was to be the largest steel arch bridge in the world but by the time it was opened on March 19, 1932 the Bayonne New Jersey bridge had been completed , coming in twenty-inches longer. This will take you about a half-day altogether, you must make an appointed time in advance, and it is a DON'T MISS on my list of things to do in Australia.