On the rails

This is our second day of train travel and today we have traversed some amazing country. We did enjoy our stay at Chillagoe, country people are so welcoming – maybe because we were originally country people ourselves, I don’t know, but we have found people we would chose as friends in every stop we have made on this trip!

The train trip is in quite long stretches and the Savannah country is very similar for much of the distance except for the occasional creek crossing or river bed. I have my camera set on a high shutter speed to enable me to capture the beauty within the river beds with little or (hopefully!) no blur to indicate that the picture was taken while on the move! Each of the creeks is different – some are dry and either rocky or else quite sandy or a few have remnants of water still in narrow bands within the wide river bed. The trees that grow in these river beds or along the sides are much healthier than their cousins on the open plains and there are a few different varieties that stand out.

For many miles we see no animals and we forget that we are traveling through huge cattle stations, then we find patches where the cattle are close to the train tracks. The cattle up here are all Brahman, floppy eared creatures with a pendulous dewlap.

They are a tough breed of cattle that are tick resistant, the traditional European breeds of cattle are completely unsuitable for either the ticks that suck the creatures blood and inject a poison or the extremes of temperature in this part of Australia. At one place where the track traveled between a high cutting and a steep drop-away, the cattle were all over the tracks and our train had to creep quite slowly to avoid hitting any - the noise and movement of the train did encourage them to get out of our way. The front seats of the first carriage were jammed with people with cameras set on “video” mode. The people in the second carriage could see nothing of the entertainment going on at the front of the train!

Another fun thing that happened today was the promise of a stop at a siding where the locals would be waiting at Bullock Creek Café with tea coffee and cakes and a souvenir mug that we could purchase. When we arrived at the Bullock Creek siding there was nothing to be seen except for old timber cattle yards and a tiny tin shed with the name “Bullock Creek” written on the top. “We shall have to make a phone call and hurry them up” said our driver over the PA and marched down to the back of the train. Within minutes the two drivers had put up a beach umbrella and set up tables on which were cakes and cups of tea and coffee. Sure enough the mugs were for sale! We shall make good use of ours!

If it were not for this tourist train chugging through this hungry country and stopping at the places it does the life would be drained from these tiny communities. Once a week the train and its load of tourist passengers pass through and then back again. Places like Einasleigh with its handful of houses and one large hotel would fade away if it were not for the Savannahlander.

I love the sign work on the front of the pub – a play on words!

This evening as we made our way to where we were to have our meal in Forsayth I realized that the sun was setting and so far I had not taken any pictures of an outback sunset. Leaving my exhausted husband to wait I trotted off to take my picture without road signs or power poles! It was a beautiful evening sky, not the most dramatic I have ever seen but beautiful all the same and the temperature was perfect. The heat of the day had dissipated and the flies had stopped being overly friendly. (where there are cattle there are flies) It was quiet and there was no wind at all.

I should have taken a photo of our meal – try as I could I could not eat more than half of it! I had forgotten that country people serve country sized meals! Colin even managed to have a dessert afterwards! I think I am letting the side down! And that was after I had piled my unwanted potatoes onto his plate too!

It’s another early start tomorrow. so I should end here. No internet or phone connections available in this part of the world so I will have to try to post this tomorrow night.

AJ