this expensive package.The train departed at about 1300 hours and a little late for lunch and so we waited for early afternoon tea of scones and cream and some very tasty sandwiches and a nice cup of English breakfast tea. What could be nicer as
The flat lands became more interesting as we passed through the suburbs and eventually left the big town behind. Just before dinner the entertainer arrived comprised of a pretty average piano player but with a nice glass of Chardonnay to hand it sounded great. Dinner was excellent and then to bed, both of us slept on the moving train reasonably well but we were up early for breakfast. Another passenger had mislaid his watch and woke up to daylight he thought and so got up and dressed only to find the daylight was caused by us parking in a well lit station at 03.30 in the morning.
Breakfast was fine but trying to have a shower in a moving train was quite an experience particularly on sharp bends.
And so as the morning drifted by and 1130 arrived I started thinking about whether to have the Chardonnay or the Sauvignon Blanc with lunch. Then came the unexpected announcement that the train would stop in 20 minutes in Townsville as overnight it had rained heavily and the track was flooded but never mind we have organised coaches for you for the next 250 miles or so. Lunch was effectively cancelled and so was the famous crab, Prawn and fish selection that was scheduled for 6.30 disappeared out the window. The transfer to the bus was ok but for the fact that we subsequently found the air conditioning in the bus was not working which is not good when the sun is shining at 30 degrees.
We thought at first that it was that the doors were open but after 25 minutes I challenged the driver who said his was working and so ours must be. I explained that the vents were pouring out nothing but hot air which he found quite difficult to understand as quote “if mine is working so must yours be.”
There were 14 of us downstairs and the remaining 30 upstairs and the air con was working fine up there but for 5 hours we had to endure heat which was most uncomfortable at about 32 degrees I guess. The journey passed through some very flooded areas but not enough to stop the traffic but as we could not see the Rail track we had to accept the reasons for our change of plan.
After about two hours there was a strong complaint to the driver to stop the bus for people to get some water which he originally rejected but finally succumbed to the pressure and stopped.
We finally arrived on a bloody bus at Cairns Station and very exhausted indeed. We took a cab to the Hotel and then found out that our first included trip leaves at 7.25 in the morning. We thought about this but finally decided to go.
From a beautiful start to a dismal end of the two days was not great and we keep on dreaming about what we missed. We now have to visit the station to get our money back for the portion of the journey we did not complete.
Tomorrow we go to
