Interstate train journey offered the chance to spot kangaroos, the rocky landscape and even a World Cup-winning Wallaby
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t is 2.54pm and the interstate train from Melbourne to Sydney screeches to a halt. Sheep on the line. It is enough to jolt you forward and you fear for any British & Irish Lions fans who have not quite got out of their system the celebrations of the night before. We are five-and-a-half hours into a 12-hour journey, the road less travelled on this odyssey around Australia, navigating the rocky landscape around Cootamundra Creek and disaster is narrowly avoided.
The first thing to address is why. Why turn down a 90-minute flight in favour of a train journey eight times as long. Backtrack to the day before and the afternoon before the Lions’ second Test victory at the MCG. A colleague in the press pack has received some bad news and is seeking the soothing effects of perpetual motion, watching the world go by and some company while doing so. Sold on the promise of avoiding the airport and all associated ordeals, a journey through the Australian countryside and the guarantee of wild kangaroos, tickets are bought: A$99. Cheap. Too cheap?
Twelve hours in cattle class didn’t much appeal but maybe here was an opportunity to get a little closer to the essence of a Lions tour. Away from the airport transfers, check-in queues, luggage carousels and Ubers. Maybe that is the essence of a Lions tour. If so a 12-hour break would be welcome. The train could be a sea of red, perhaps just a puddle, but it was a pretty safe bet there would be no members of the 2013 squad punting an insurance brand on board.
