Our attendant surprised us with a "welcome aboard" snack pack that kept us going till dinner time. The meals were nothing like the standard of the Indian Pacific, but perfectly edible. The scenery was mostly suburban as we headed north from Sydney, past lakes and boats and expensive-looking houses, and graffiti-covered falling down buildings near the stations, and on into the countryside. The full moon looked amazing, but as usual the image doesn't do it justice.
The train was more modern and travelled much more smoothly on the lines. However the beds compensated for that - the mattresses bearing quite a resemblance to slabs of concrete. It was almost a relief when we heard the tap on the door at 4am, time to have a cup of tea and raisin toast before disembarking at Roma Street Station in Brisbane at 4.53am.
The two hours till our Greyhound bus at 7am seemed to go quite fast, assisted by moving around the transit centre and finding a good coffee. Murray's son arrived I to pick him up and we were on our own for the last part of our journey. The bus was very comfortable, complete with USB ports and wifi at every seat. Not bad for $16.50 each. After Caloundra we were the only passengers, something the driver said will change dramatically as the summer approaches.
Our rental car was waiting for us at the Noosa Junction station, and we made good use of it stocking up on supplies while we filled in the time before we could pick up the key to the apartment. It was our most efficient shopping ever, with a shopping list for Dan Murphy's, the Reject Shop, the supermarket and the butchers already prepared. Great to have the car to transport it all, and then the car was collected from the apartment the next morning.
Opening the door and looking through to the river brought a shared sigh of contentment. Now for some serious R&R.
Ann-a-Gram
😎
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