Nullabor

The mighty engine which pulled us across the Nullabor

These short snippets were shot through the window of the Indian-Pacific train as it crossed the Nullabor. The line is not the smoothest and as the train rattled along at a steady 60 miles per hour my attempts at hand-holding the camera were anything but steady.

The second film begins before breakfast in the sandhills before you reach the Nullabor. The trees gradually become fewer and then disappear entirely. Watch out for the sign which marks the border betwen South Australia and West Australia and shortly thereafter the trees reappear.

A warning: if you attempt to book a seat on the Indian-Pacific via their website, and you happen to live outside Australia, you are doomed to disappointment. Repeated attempts to do so resulted in the message "Seat not available", no matter what combination of dates and class I selected. My e-mail to them via the contact form was totally ignored.

After several days of trying I spotted that one particular combination gave the message "Sold out", which made me wonder. I Skyped my sister in Australia and while she tried my preferred combination and was immediately welcomed, I simultaneously tried the same thing and got the usual "Seat not available" message. In addition, the price she was charged was significantly less than the price the website quoted for me.

In short, it would seem that the sons of unmarried mothers who run the Indian-Pacific are prejudiced against foreigners, so unless you have relatives in Australia or are willing to go through an (expensive) agent, your best bet will be to either try to book when you arrive in Australia or give up on the idea entirely. Of the two, I am inclined to recommend the latter. Driving across the Nullabor is much more interesting.