October 31-November 15, 2002
Land tour from $3999.00
Join us for spring in the southern hemisphere on our wonderful tour of Australia. Long-distance passenger train services "down under" have been upgraded and modernized. The famed "Indian Pacific" route west from Sydney now hosts the renowned GHAN as well as the INDIAN PACIFIC service, operated by the private Great Southern Railway. While taking the rails, we discover a continent most visitors scarcely see if they fly virtually everywhere. This is a guaranteed tour departure. With fewer than fifteen paying participants, the tour will include individually booked and prepaid hotel, sightseeing, meal, and transportation services provided through our Australian partners Beehive Australia Tours. With 16 or more participants the tour will be escorted by Rail Travel Center President Wil Doak, an experienced guide in Australia.
Our tour includes extensive sightseeing in Sydney, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra. One unique feature is dinner on a tram (trolley car) while exploring Melbourne's vast tramway (street railway) system. We also ride Victoria's "Puffing Billy" into the Dandenong Range east of Melbourne, taste the wines of the lovely vineyards east of Melbourne, marvel at sunset in the Olgas and dawn at Ayers Rock, and ride some of the finest trains in the world.
The INDIAN PACIFIC and GHAN trains have been upgraded to use identical modernized streamlined equipment with luxuries including in-room showers in all double bedrooms. We ride two different services on the GHAN, beginning with the new once-weekly GHAN west from Sydney. This train duplicates the most scenic portion of the route of the INDIAN PACIFIC from Sydney to Adelaide, then turns north into the vast interior to Alice Springs. After exploring the "Outback", we re-board the GHAN for its return journey to Adelaide. New this year is a daylight trip from Adelaide to Melbourne over rugged hills on the OVERLAND, a train that formerly ran by night. Later we ride the high speed XPT service from Melbourne over the Great Dividing Range enroute to Canberra and return to Sydney on the XPLORER rail car train. Fine hotels are used at all points. The tour includes many superb dining car meals on the long-distance trains and an extensive selection of other meals, including complete breakfasts throughout.
Best of all, this tour can be combined with our October 19-31 New Zealand By Rail tour, led by RTC Tour and Operations Manager Bill Watson. Passengers who take both tours will save $50 per person on the second program. It also is possible to combine this tour with our exciting NORWEGIAN STAR Hawaii Cruise/Rail Tour from November 15-24, saving $50 per person on that program as well. Passengers taking the Hawaii program would fly from Sydney to Honolulu on November 15. (Hawaii normally is allowed as a free stopover point on air tickets from the United States to Australia and New Zealand.) This makes it possible to take one, two or all three great trips on one air ticket! Complete details follow. ALL ABOARD!
Your Itinerary
Day 1:
Day One, Thursday, October 31
Arrive Sydney and overnight. Passengers joining us from the New Zealand By Rail tour fly from Christchurch to Sydney today. Passengers coming directly from the United States arrive in Sydney this morning. Transfers are provided to our hotel for three nights, the fine Furama Darling Harbour. No formal activities are scheduled, allowing participants to rest after the flight, explore or shop as they wish.
Day 2:
Day Two, Friday, November 1 (B)
Sydney tour, Featherdale Wildlife Park. We tour Sydney today. First we discover the animals of Australia at the Featherdale Wildlife Park, which has a collection of unique creatures such as wombats, wallabies, kangaroos and koalas. This afternoon we'll tour the city itself. The prospect of this great metropolis is truly spectacular, with the city is wrapped around its vast, sheltered harbor. We see the Opera House, famous Harbour Bridge, historic Paddington and the vibrant downtown area, then visit the Southern Beaches. Later this evening you may want to ride Sydney's new elevated monorail or the new center-city Light Rail (trolley car) line.
(B)
Day 3:
Day Three, Saturday, November 2 (B)
Unstructured day in Sydney. This is a free day to explore Sydney. A great optional day-trip is available for railfans. You board a City Rail electric train at Central Station for the beautiful ride west into the Blue Mountains, a deeply forested range marking the Continental Divide. Detrain at Zig Zag Station, located just before the long tunnel under the range. Before the completion of the tunnel, trains actually switch-backed and looped over the crest; and this pioneer line has been reopened as the Great Zig Zag Railway. Three-foot six-inch narrow gauge steam locomotives power the train on an ascent to the summit. The vistas from this line are really spectacular. Costs for this great "day away" should run under $50 US based on current rates of exchange.
(B)
Day 4:
Day Four, Sunday, November 3 (B,D)
Riding the GHAN into the interior. This afternoon we begin our journey over the legendary "Indian" route on the weekly Sydney service of the famed GHAN, which takes its unique name from the Afghan camels that roam the "Outback". This streamlined train is one of the world's most deluxe regularly scheduled services. There are three classes of service. We ride in the finest First Class sleepers, with accommodation in either single occupancy Roomettes or double occupancy "Twinette" Bedrooms. A shower is located in each Twinette room and in each Roomette car. The train includes an elegant dining car and private First Class lounge car. All meals are included (choice of the menu) on-board.
Our route crosses the Great Dividing Range/Blue Mountains, then turns into the deceptive emptiness of the "Outback". Watch for kangaroos and tiny "stations" during the ride. As the sun sets, the horizon seems limitless in the virtually tree-less desert interior of the continent.
A footnote for railfans: While this tour does not ride the INDIAN PACIFIC train as such, it does ride its route over the most beautiful section; and the two trains use identical equipment. Should you wish to take a trip to Perth on the INDIAN, this could be arranged independently either before or after the tour.
(B) (D)
Day 5:
Day Five, Monday, November 4 (B,L,D)
On the GHAN from Adelaide. All day the great train rolls west. Morning finds us pausing at the mining community of Broken Hill. The landscape grows more fertile as we near the coast. Wheat fields and vineyards appear before our evening stop at Adelaide. Here we turn north toward the "Red Center" of the Australian continent, enjoying a second night on the train.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 6:
Day Six, Tuesday, November 5 (B,L,D)
Arrive Alice Springs, fly to Ayers Rock. Dawn finds the GHAN in a roadless world of red-rock buttes and endless horizons. We reach the true end of the line at Alice Springs about 10:00 AM and transfer to the airport for a short flight to Ayers Rock. Here we enjoy a comfortable two-night stay at the Outback Pioneer Hotel. Lunch is served upon arrival, with the balance of the afternoon free to enjoy the facilities of the resort and National Park. The greatest rock-mass on earth, Ayers Rock, shimmers on the horizon.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 7:
Day Seven, Wednesday, November 6 (B,L,D)
Sightseeing at Ayers Rock and the Olgas. We enjoy a full day of sightseeing in the Ayers Rock area, beginning with a circuit of the rock itself. The rusty red colored monolith asserts an almost mystical power and is sacred to the native Aboriginal people of the region. In the afternoon we drive west into the strangely shaped domes of the Olgas. A highlight here is the sunset view back toward Ayers Rock, which seems to turn from red to purple in the refracted fading light.
(B) (L) (D)
Day 8:
Day Eight, Thursday, November 7 (B)
Return to Alice Springs. After a free morning, we motor north back to "A Town called Alice". Now we begin to understand the vastness of the "Outback/Red Center" region. We pass dry lakebeds which become inland seas after rainfall, then vanish again into the desert emptiness. We overnight at the Alice Pacific Resort.
(B)
Day 9:
Day Nine, Friday, November 8 (B, D)
Depart for Adelaide on the GHAN. We enjoy an unstructured morning in Alice Springs. Optional tours can be booked by the hotel to explore the area, including a visit to a camel farm (rides may be possible). We re-board our GHAN streamliner this afternoon for the return overnight journey to Adelaide. Once again, First Class Roomette and Twinette Bedroom sleepers provide accommodations with full dinner and breakfast included in the diner.
(B) (D)
Day 10:
Day Ten, Saturday, November 9 (B)
Visit Adelaide. The GHAN arrives in Adelaide, capital of Southern Australia, this morning. This afternoon we tour Adelaide, the handsome capital of the State of Southern Australia today. A stop is included at the historic German settler village Hahndorf. A free-time option is riding the historic 1930's trams on the Glenelg Tramway (trolley car) route. Total fare is about $5.00 US. We overnight in Adelaide at the Chifley Hotel.
(B)
Day 11:
Day Eleven, Sunday, November 10 (B)
Ride the OVERLAND to Melbourne. For decades "The Way to Go" from Adelaide to Melbourne was the overnight OVERLAND. Recently, this service was recast as the first-ever daylight train eastbound over the line. The route includes rugged hills and fertile farmlands. Later we pass the rich goldfields of western Victoria before an evening arrival into Melbourne, where we stay three nights at the Savoy Park Plaza International Hotel.
(B)
Day 12:
Day Twelve, Monday, November 11 (B,D)
Touring Melbourne; "Colonial Tram" dinner trolley. Melbourne, capital of the state of Victoria, is a very "English-feeling" city of beautiful parks and stately architecture. We see the Fitzroy Gardens and Captain Cook's Cottage on our morning tour. Tonight's dinner is enjoyed on the "Colonial Tram" dinner trolley while we continue our tour. Melbourne's tramway system is the most extensive in the southern hemisphere.
(B) (D)
Day 13:
Day Thirteen, Tuesday, November 12 (B,L)
"Puffing Billy" train through the countryside. We travel into the rolling eastern hills of the forested Dandenong Range. Here we board the beloved steam-powered narrow gauge "Puffing Billy" railway. This line has been rebuilt over its full route and uses the three-foot narrow gauge that was common in the American west. The line includes steep grades as it crosses wooden trestles and traverses a lovely forest with periodic vistas of open country, vineyards and orchards. We continue through the lush wine lands, visiting the Yarra Valley and Healesville. A delicious luncheon and winery visit is included in the hill country.
(B) (L)
Day 14:
Day Fourteen, Wednesday, November 13 (B)
XPT train to Canberra. This morning we board the high-speed XPT train headed north to New South Wales. We make a scenic crossing of the Great Dividing Range, during which the railway completes a loop and a series of horseshoe curves as it conquers the summit. At Yass Junction we board a coach for the short drive to Canberra, Australia's national capital. We overnight at the Canberra Rex Hotel.
(B)
Day 15:
Day Fifteen, Thursday, November 14 (B)
Canberra tour; ride XPLORER rail car to Sydney. We tour Canberra this morning, seeing the War Memorial, pretty Lake Burley and the magnificent new Parliament Buildings. This afternoon the XPLORER rail car takes us north, traversing rolling hills as we approach Sydney. Our final night of the tour is at Sydney's Furama Darling Harbour Hotel.
(B)
Day 16:
Day Sixteen, Friday, November 15 (B)
Tour ends. After breakfast, airport transfers complete this wonderful tour.
(B)
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
TOUR PRICES include all rail and coach fares; air fare from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock; all sightseeing; hotels; First Class sleepers on the GHAN; meals noted as included above; all station/airport/hotel transfers luggage handling; and full-time escort services with sixteen or more participants. With 15 or fewer participants, representatives of our Australian partners, Beehive Australia Tours, will prebook and prepay all arrangements. This program uses regularly scheduled trains and tours at most points. Great Southern Railways has not "blocked" space for our group due to the heavy demand for the GHAN. Accordingly, we must confirm reservations individually. We suggest early booking to be sure of rail availability. Airfares to/from Australia are not included in the tour price.
Also see tour packages in:
Australia and Oceania
Australia
Local Culture
Railway Trips
Archeology/History
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