I was a nerdy kid. As a teenager already into classics and my dad loved Jules Verne. I remember reading Around the World in 80 Days and with my then untravelled mind’s eye imagining the journey. Trains, have always been an “obsession” and travelling in the 19th century by rail stopping at the beautiful, ornate railway stations of England and Europe must have been a grand experience. In my adult travelling life I have undertaken many of the world’s great rail journeys ranging from rough in places like India and parts of Africa through to luxurious. For me the journey is all the more auspicious if it leaves from one of the more beautiful, historic stations and Sydney’s Central station dating back over a hundred years certainly fits the bill.
The mid afternoon departure sees the 31 carriage long luxury train wend its way through the western suburbs of Sydney and up through the Blue Mountains.
Sadly there is nothing Blue about the skies today as they are choked with thick grey smoke from the massive bushfires north of here. It is not until we have crossed over the range and down to the western plains beyond Lithgow that the air clears and we are treated to a beautiful sunset sipping wine and enjoying our four course gourmet meal as the countryside slips silently past our window. The clackety clack of the train on tracks the only sound to break the silence.
