Anyone on here done the Indian Pacific , considering doing Sydney to Perth ...... looks great but expensive. Looking at catching in January time .Any comments good or bad appreciated.
Done the trip a number of times and always found it a great time. Totally relaxing, great onboard service and some great scenery. Some people find the journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie boring but I love the outback and the Nullarbor Plain is about as outback as it gets. Heading westbound you get two decent stops - Broken Hill and Adelaide - when you can do off train excursions. There is the obligatory stop at Cook which in January would be very hot! Nothing much left at Cook nowadays as it is solely used as a crew change stop with drivers accommodation and to refuel the locomotives. Overall it is a great railway journey that any serious train enthusiast should do at least once.
I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.
I did the Ghan starting from Darwin in October 2015, it was an absolutely amazing experience. One of the main reasons I did that route was to minimise the time spent flying, I flew to Singapore and spent a few days there, and then travelled on to Darwin with SilkAir which only takes 4 Hours 40 Min, so if you don't like the idea of a prolonged flight you could always go that way.I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.
It's a bit different flying though, for one there's nothing really to look at out of the window which is what I always find makes the time drag. The Ghan and the IP isn't just a train journey, more like a cruise on land (except without the swimming pool!), and the trip includes scheduled stop offs and tours included in the price of the ticket. When I did my trip it included a Katherine gorge boat trip and walk, a tour of Alice Springs and a stop off in the middle of nowhere to have a talk from an astronomer and look at the stars.Like the irony that you really want to spend 4 days on a train, but not the spend 17hours on a plane to get there!
I would love to do the Indian Pacific and the Ghan too, trouble is I really don't like the thought of the very long flights needed to get to Australia from the UK.
I did the Ghan starting from Darwin in October 2015, it was an absolutely amazing experience. One of the main reasons I did that route was to minimise the time spent flying, I flew to Singapore and spent a few days there, and then travelled on to Darwin with SilkAir which only takes 4 Hours 40 Min, so if you don't like the idea of a prolonged flight you could always go that way.
It's a bit different flying though, for one there's nothing really to look at out of the window which is what I always find makes the time drag. The Ghan and the IP isn't just a train journey, more like a cruise on land (except without the swimming pool!), and the trip includes scheduled stop offs and tours included in the price of the ticket. When I did my trip it included a Katherine gorge boat trip and walk, a tour of Alice Springs and a stop off in the middle of nowhere to have a talk from an astronomer and look at the stars.
Re above comments. I like travelling by trains, but don't like flying, especially long flights. Yes flying into Darwin, doing the Ghan, to Adelaide, then by train to Melbourne, over to Sydney followed by IP to Perth and fly back from Perth to London or VV, could be a possibility with stops in Singapore / Sri Lanka / Middle East.