Line of luxury ... a Platinum compartment on the Southern Spirit.
Anthony Dennis joins a first-class journey that meanders from coastline to outback,via key towns and cities.
My first discovery on the first night of a luxury train cruise from Melbourne to Alice Springs is that my"compartment"is much bigger than I expected. In fact,it's the size of a five-star hotel suite with a king-size bed,a bedside iPod station and three remote-controlled plasma TVs (one of which is located above the tub in the marble bathroom). Not even the Orient Express is this posh.
My"compartment"is,of course,stationary and elevated some 21 storeys above track level. I'm staying at the Crown Towers hotel but it's all part of the deal,this being a scheduled stop on a newly devised Australian rail cruise. The trip,The Coastal Epic,began a week ago in Brisbane,concluding in a week in Alice Springs.
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I'm picking up the journey in Melbourne,a scheduled stop on the route,along with the rest of the passengers,who have also checked in. Our departure point tomorrow is Southern Cross Station. From here the Southern Spirit,a stainless-steel slither of a dozen or so carriages,will sweep across western Victoria to the Adelaide Hills,where we'll sleep on the train before heading off-train to Kangaroo Island for two days. Then it's back on the train (which averages 85km/h;maximum 115km/h),where we'll transfer to the infamous opal mining town of Coober Pedy with another night aboard and then on to Alice Springs.
The concept of the rail cruise,where getting from A to B is not the principal objective,isn't new. South Africa,for instance,has been running them for years with trains such as Rovos Rail. But for Australia this is,in effect,a new concept,though it's long been possible to create your own rail cruise on trains such as the Ghan and the Indian-Pacific,which,like the Southern Spirit,are operated by Great Southern Rail. GSR's plans to launch the Southern Spirit in 2008 were derailed by the global financial crisis but now it's back on track with two cruises this year and more planned for next year.
The next day,my on-board Platinum compartment with en suite bathroom and shower is,despite any fears,considerably larger than the wardrobe back at Crown Towers. You actually could swing a cat in here (but only just). In reality,by international long-distance train standards,my berth is generously proportioned and tastefully decorated,though a search fails to reveal a bathtub,TV or iPod.
In recent years,GSR has upgraded its passenger carriages and now they rank as among the best in the Western world. Some of the Platinum compartments even have double beds that fold away into plush seating.
Even though I've been catching long-distance trains both in Australia and overseas all my adult life,I still find myself one of the youngest passengers on the Southern Spirit. And what an incestuous bunch they are,having bonded the week before I boarded. Most of the 50 or so passengers are retirees,greyer than the average grey nomad,and are from Australia,though there are some from Europe and Britain. For most of the Australians,considering the cost,this is the veritable trip of a lifetime,the antipodean equivalent,more or less,of the Trans-Siberian;snow and ice for the most part exchanged for sand and dirt. In a week they've visited Brisbane,where they stayed at a luxury hotel,before heading to Sydney,then Parkes,Glenrowan and finally Melbourne.