Day 8 - Train from Sydney to Melbourne

 It was an early start as we had to check our luggage onto the train at least 30 minutes before it left at 7.40.  The station is not far away but it takes ages to get across the 2 main roads and then up and down in lifts to get to the platform. 

We had booked first class seats which were only about £20 more but found the seats in economy were exactly the same.  There was no WiFi and no charging points. There were no complimentary drinks either.  The seats were no better than those on the local Leicester to Birmingham line.

We left Sydney about 5 minutes late and it crawled for the next half hour stopping regularly before arriving at the next stop, Campbeltown on the outskirts of Sydney.  The train stopped there for ages and we were told there were issues on the network and the driver was waiting for a green light.  It finally moved when it was 1 hour 45 mins late.  The delay got worse over the next few hours until we were told that because it was so behind schedule, they were terminating it at a town called Albury which is 300km from Melbourne.  Buses were put on but we had to retrieve our bags and by the time we got on our bus there were no seats together. The journey took 3 and a half hours and was very uncomfortable.  We eventually arrived in Melbourne at 8 after passing through some odd town names like Harden and Wagga Wagga!






The train had also been a real bone-shaker and using the toilet was interesting.  One positive is that we did see 3 kangaroos. 

We arrived in Melbourne where it was raining hard and very cold.  We did get a train quickly and Lara met us at the station.  We had a hot drink and went to bed.


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