The Indian Pacific

I caught a train in Sydney called the Indian Pacific. Actually, the portion of it I took was called the Great Southern Railway. The Indian Pacific goes all the way from Sydney to Perth through Adelaide (being a 62 hour ride, blah). I got on in Sydney and took it to Adelaide. It was a 24 hour train ride but a spectacular one at that. We travelled across tons of country-side on our way to Adelaide and I got to see what the deserted, farming areas of Australia were like. We went through the Blue Mountains which are right outside of Sydney. They got their name from the oil in the Eucalyptus trees in the region that seeps out of them from the high temperature in the afternoon. It makes a magnificent blueish tint on the mountains. There were alot of shear cliffs and a couple times the train went right over them. We passed through a little mountain town called Katoomba. It looked so quaint and had a comfortable mix between a rural Australian town and something like Dahlonega. I really wish I could've gone through it. It was quite frustrating for some time of the journey beacuse there were times I could've gotten out of the train and ran faster than it was creeping along. I am pretty sure the 80 year old with the walker a row up could have done the same. It was like this for an excrutiatingly long time too. About two hours in to the trip I saw the most amazing thing I had seen yet. Something so exhilirating that I actually jumped to the other side of the train, screwed like a girl, and stared in amazement like a kid does on Christams morning. It was my very first pack of wild kangaroos that I have ever seen. Now this might not sound like much but there is a much different kind of thrill when you see your first kangaroos in Australia, especially in the wild and not in some zoo. They have such a graceful bounce to them when they run that looks so fluid and easy. It is alomst like it is their main means of transportation, oh wait... nevermind. Anyway, the train went on through the night as I made friends with a guy from England and a girl from Sydney moving out to Perth. They were very nice and it was good to have company on the train for that long. The next morning, after a very comfortable sleep in my chair, I awoke to a sunrise over the outback of Australia. It was spectacular and looked alot like I had imagined the outback to look like. There were little shrubs, few trees, and barely any signs of life besides the farm fences. We arrived about an hour later in a town called Broken Hill. This was a very small mining town that literally, and I do stress literally, had NO ONE in the streets; not even a car. It was 8 in the morning, but you would think maybe at least a car. We headed out to find some breakfast and after a long confusing walk past Broken Hill's finest closed establishments, stumbled upon a Mcdonalds. Now I made a promise to myself that I would avoid any fast food restraunts while I was away, but this was the only place open. We went inside and I realized that it was a McCafe. Somehow or another Mcdonalds tries to be classy in Australia and serve little pastries and the lot. I decided to get something not available in America, the Brekkie Roll, a hoagie with bacon, ham, eggs, and a spicy tomato sauce. If it weren't for my heart slowing a few paces I would say it was the most amazing Mcdonald's I have ever had. After our Mcdonald's experience we headed back to the train. It was another 6 or 7 hours to Adelaide. The rest of the ride was filled with packs of emus running through the bush, more kangaroos, and even more nothing. It was a fantastic ride, none the less, and I really felt like I got to see a lot of rural Australia, that being my whole intention for the train ride. We finally pulled into the station 24 hours later after we left Sydney to find ourselves in Adelaide.