My Train Trip Across The Nullabor.
I arrived at East Perth train station with my car packed to the brim. The whole way I was thinking 'I wont drive down this street in a long time', 'I won't be going through the Graham Farmer Freeway in a long time'.
Dropped my car off in it's own special section and waited for Brett to come get me so we could grab some breakfast. He took me to his local where we got yummy bacon and egg sandwiches, but they came out on huuuge slabs of bread that wasn't even toasted! Weird.
He dropped me back later and I went to my designated carriage and waited. Walking up there a guy heading in the same direction started chatting to me. His voice and general demeanor reminded me of a friends husband and I secretly wondered if he were a long lost brother... this could be possible because the friends husband was adopted. Interesting.
At our carriage there were a few other people waiting. Chatty guy started talking to everyone. He was a bit full on and I figured that either he would become very irritating or very entertaining over the course of the next two days.
We waited around and finally were let on the train. At my seat I found a lil old lady sitting next to me. She was nice but my shoulders slumped at the thought of not have an extra seat to myself. Moments later I overheard one of the train staff mentioning they would move people to others spare seats shortly. My hopes rose dramatically.
We eventually pulled out of the station. My dreams came true when I saw the staff coming through the carriage asking if people wanted to move, before the girl could even ask, she looked my way and I nodded my head like a shaken baby.
I got 2 seats! I got 2 seats! I got 2 seats!
I was so excited.
Settled in and tried out my new wireless broadband on my laptop. It worked but cut out every now and then, probably because we were constantly moving. Spent the next few hours eating my snacks, playing Sudoku, playing around with laptop and starting on my book. Entertainment value dropped shortly after and I decided to check out the lounge car. Took my laptop to charge as well.
On the way I spotted Chatty Guy. Wondered if he'd follow.
Settled in at a table in the car and played on net some more. Took Chatty guy only about 5 minutes to follow. He took a seat at the next table and soon started chatting away to me. He was fine and provided some entertainment. 2 guys walked past to go to the diner car and he said Hi to them. I wondered if they knew each other. But judging on this guys willingness to talk to anybody and everybody, I guessed probably not.
Noticed one of the guys was kinda hot. This train was getting interesting. Chatty guy was alright too.
Went back to my carriage for a bit and checked out the bathrooms. The Hot guy was back in his seat with the other guy... hmm we'll call him Derro guy, he looked like one. Hot guy started asking me questions about the train, I answered as best I could with a smile then headed back to the lounge carriage.
Chatty guy and I ended up watching videos on my laptop. He got in the question of 'do you have a boyfriend?' subtle mate, real subtle haha.
The two other guys eventually headed down and joined us. From here on in we became a 'group'. Hot guy wandered in and out a bit. Derro guy liked watching dirty videos on my laptop, and we spent the night having a few drinks and talking crap. It was great.
Was starting to get along quite well with Chatty guy. He had a few annoying qualities of being stubborn and such, but hey, anything to pass the time!
We watched more movies, played cards and argued with the crazy, old man who was terrorising people at random.
We made friends with the night Manager, Gary. Poor Gary, he had to put up with a lot of crap from various people. I think he took relief from coming and hanging with us though. He let down his guard a bit. Was funny.
The three guys, plus old crazy man were all heavy smokers. There was no smoking on the train. They were rebels and went on a mission to find the best place to have a smoke. In between the carriages and in the shower with the water running seemed to be favourites. Train staff found out at one point though and a message came over the intercom telling them off. hahaha. They persisted though. Gary took a blind eye to it all.
Every so often the train would stop. Sometimes for up to an hour, to let a train pass up ahead. This was very annoying and led to many 'are we moving?' hallucinations.
Just before 11pm we rolled into Kalgoorlie. The place was dead. We went in search of some nightlife. Had a few hangers on and we decided to check out the Exchange Hotel, we heard there were skimpy's there. The hangers on went inside while our 'group' went to find the 24 hour food place. After stocking up we heard from the others that they'd nearly got into a fight and so the Exchange was skipped. BOOOOO.
Went back to the train and waited while the guys sucked down as many rollies as they could. Derro rang up his cousin who he hadn't seen in 4 years in the hope of scoring some weed. The cousin turned up to say Hi but was minus weed. Derro was devastated.
Back on the train, hung out in the lounge car a bit more and then went to 'bed'.
It was fortunate that I got the 2 seats, but that only made it about 50% more comfier. I experimented with a variety of sleeping positions before the sleeping tablets I took wore in and I slept nearly all the way through till about 7am. Woke up to a brilliant sunrise but was still so sleepy I couldn't be bothered getting up to look.
Finally sat up and slowly woke up. Hot guy came down and sat with me, we talked for a bit, then he asked if he could use my shoulder for a pillow... 'teehee sure!' So he slept on my shoulder for about an hour while I read my book. It was at this point my mind starting going 'ooh hellooo!'
He sat with me until we arrived at a dot of a place called Cook. It was a tiny, remote, cluster of small buildings. We bundled out and played tourist. I spotted a tumbleweed and we tried kicking it to make it tumble. Alas, it was a tumbleless weed and became an on-going joke for the rest of the trip (no idea why really).
I went for a run up to the end of the train to check my car. I needed to run, I just had to. All that isolated space on the train made me haha. Was good, until my thong fell off haha.
Spent the rest of the day hanging with the boys on the train. Watched a few movies while Hot guy laid on my lap. (teehee) Was so hoping for some between the carriages fun, but oh well. Needed more time.
Hot guy got off at Port Augustus that night. :( He got my email address though. Yay :D
The rest of us then played a game of cat and mouse trying to find the staff guy to let us off the train so the boys could have a smoke. We were running up and down the carriages looking to see where he went. Finally he let us off and they all sucked on their cancer sticks before we went back in and back to sleep.
Woke up about an hour out of Adelaide and had a quiet trip in. Said bye to the guys left and then grabbed some breakfast before collecting my car and using my GPS to find a hostel. Luckily they let me check in straight away so I got some sleep. Chatty guy happened to be at the same hostel so we see each other around. I think we're supposed to go grab some dinner soon.
Anyway, thats me up to date.
In short, train trip was much better than I first thought. Was almost like a Contiki tour. Strangers stuck in a confined space forced to get to know each other. You make groups, create bonds, let other people into the group but always stick with the originals. A bit of flirting, a bit of drinking, lots of fun. I liked it :D
Onto Melbourne early tomorrow morning for a nice 8 hour drive. But then I get to see Shaun!! yaaaay :D
Dropped my car off in it's own special section and waited for Brett to come get me so we could grab some breakfast. He took me to his local where we got yummy bacon and egg sandwiches, but they came out on huuuge slabs of bread that wasn't even toasted! Weird.
He dropped me back later and I went to my designated carriage and waited. Walking up there a guy heading in the same direction started chatting to me. His voice and general demeanor reminded me of a friends husband and I secretly wondered if he were a long lost brother... this could be possible because the friends husband was adopted. Interesting.
At our carriage there were a few other people waiting. Chatty guy started talking to everyone. He was a bit full on and I figured that either he would become very irritating or very entertaining over the course of the next two days.
We waited around and finally were let on the train. At my seat I found a lil old lady sitting next to me. She was nice but my shoulders slumped at the thought of not have an extra seat to myself. Moments later I overheard one of the train staff mentioning they would move people to others spare seats shortly. My hopes rose dramatically.
We eventually pulled out of the station. My dreams came true when I saw the staff coming through the carriage asking if people wanted to move, before the girl could even ask, she looked my way and I nodded my head like a shaken baby.
I got 2 seats! I got 2 seats! I got 2 seats!
I was so excited.
Settled in and tried out my new wireless broadband on my laptop. It worked but cut out every now and then, probably because we were constantly moving. Spent the next few hours eating my snacks, playing Sudoku, playing around with laptop and starting on my book. Entertainment value dropped shortly after and I decided to check out the lounge car. Took my laptop to charge as well.
On the way I spotted Chatty Guy. Wondered if he'd follow.
Settled in at a table in the car and played on net some more. Took Chatty guy only about 5 minutes to follow. He took a seat at the next table and soon started chatting away to me. He was fine and provided some entertainment. 2 guys walked past to go to the diner car and he said Hi to them. I wondered if they knew each other. But judging on this guys willingness to talk to anybody and everybody, I guessed probably not.
Noticed one of the guys was kinda hot. This train was getting interesting. Chatty guy was alright too.
Went back to my carriage for a bit and checked out the bathrooms. The Hot guy was back in his seat with the other guy... hmm we'll call him Derro guy, he looked like one. Hot guy started asking me questions about the train, I answered as best I could with a smile then headed back to the lounge carriage.
Chatty guy and I ended up watching videos on my laptop. He got in the question of 'do you have a boyfriend?' subtle mate, real subtle haha.
The two other guys eventually headed down and joined us. From here on in we became a 'group'. Hot guy wandered in and out a bit. Derro guy liked watching dirty videos on my laptop, and we spent the night having a few drinks and talking crap. It was great.
Was starting to get along quite well with Chatty guy. He had a few annoying qualities of being stubborn and such, but hey, anything to pass the time!
We watched more movies, played cards and argued with the crazy, old man who was terrorising people at random.
We made friends with the night Manager, Gary. Poor Gary, he had to put up with a lot of crap from various people. I think he took relief from coming and hanging with us though. He let down his guard a bit. Was funny.
The three guys, plus old crazy man were all heavy smokers. There was no smoking on the train. They were rebels and went on a mission to find the best place to have a smoke. In between the carriages and in the shower with the water running seemed to be favourites. Train staff found out at one point though and a message came over the intercom telling them off. hahaha. They persisted though. Gary took a blind eye to it all.
Every so often the train would stop. Sometimes for up to an hour, to let a train pass up ahead. This was very annoying and led to many 'are we moving?' hallucinations.
Just before 11pm we rolled into Kalgoorlie. The place was dead. We went in search of some nightlife. Had a few hangers on and we decided to check out the Exchange Hotel, we heard there were skimpy's there. The hangers on went inside while our 'group' went to find the 24 hour food place. After stocking up we heard from the others that they'd nearly got into a fight and so the Exchange was skipped. BOOOOO.
Went back to the train and waited while the guys sucked down as many rollies as they could. Derro rang up his cousin who he hadn't seen in 4 years in the hope of scoring some weed. The cousin turned up to say Hi but was minus weed. Derro was devastated.
Back on the train, hung out in the lounge car a bit more and then went to 'bed'.
It was fortunate that I got the 2 seats, but that only made it about 50% more comfier. I experimented with a variety of sleeping positions before the sleeping tablets I took wore in and I slept nearly all the way through till about 7am. Woke up to a brilliant sunrise but was still so sleepy I couldn't be bothered getting up to look.
Finally sat up and slowly woke up. Hot guy came down and sat with me, we talked for a bit, then he asked if he could use my shoulder for a pillow... 'teehee sure!' So he slept on my shoulder for about an hour while I read my book. It was at this point my mind starting going 'ooh hellooo!'
He sat with me until we arrived at a dot of a place called Cook. It was a tiny, remote, cluster of small buildings. We bundled out and played tourist. I spotted a tumbleweed and we tried kicking it to make it tumble. Alas, it was a tumbleless weed and became an on-going joke for the rest of the trip (no idea why really).
I went for a run up to the end of the train to check my car. I needed to run, I just had to. All that isolated space on the train made me haha. Was good, until my thong fell off haha.
Spent the rest of the day hanging with the boys on the train. Watched a few movies while Hot guy laid on my lap. (teehee) Was so hoping for some between the carriages fun, but oh well. Needed more time.
Hot guy got off at Port Augustus that night. :( He got my email address though. Yay :D
The rest of us then played a game of cat and mouse trying to find the staff guy to let us off the train so the boys could have a smoke. We were running up and down the carriages looking to see where he went. Finally he let us off and they all sucked on their cancer sticks before we went back in and back to sleep.
Woke up about an hour out of Adelaide and had a quiet trip in. Said bye to the guys left and then grabbed some breakfast before collecting my car and using my GPS to find a hostel. Luckily they let me check in straight away so I got some sleep. Chatty guy happened to be at the same hostel so we see each other around. I think we're supposed to go grab some dinner soon.
Anyway, thats me up to date.
In short, train trip was much better than I first thought. Was almost like a Contiki tour. Strangers stuck in a confined space forced to get to know each other. You make groups, create bonds, let other people into the group but always stick with the originals. A bit of flirting, a bit of drinking, lots of fun. I liked it :D
Onto Melbourne early tomorrow morning for a nice 8 hour drive. But then I get to see Shaun!! yaaaay :D