Wanderung 20

Australian Walkabout

May - June 2009

Sunday, May 31st, 2009, Bus and Train Trip from Dubbo to Melbourne

Bob:

Our bus from Dubbo to Cootamundra didn't depart until 8:10 a.m., so fortunately we could have a good night's sleep and still get up by 6:15, which we figured would be plenty of time to have breakfast at Hungry Jacks, check out of the hotel, and roll our suitcases a couple of kilometers over to the bus station. I had pancakes while Monika had an egg-muffin thing for breakfast, and leaving at 7:10 we took about half an hour to roll over to the bus station despite stopping several times for pictures. Parrots squawked in the trees above us and a flock of cockatoos gave us one last fly-by to say farewell, I guess. I also thought the old-fashioned iron-truss railroad bridge across the river was quite photogenic in the morning sunlight.

Monika:

My trusty camera came on at 6:15 with its view screen shining bright, but no sound. I remembered that I had muted the sound at an earlier occasion. Note to self: when setting the alarm, unmute the camera. But I had been awake since 6 and was just waiting for the alarm. So there was no great harm done. We got dressed (we had showered the evening before), had breakfast at Hungry Jack, and trundled off. We took the more direct route along the highway rather than through the city and got to the station in plenty of time.

Bob:

The bus trip from Dubbo to Cootamundra took about 4 hours and covered about 350 kilometers, I would estimate. The landscape going South was quite different from the Outback landscape we had seen on our way out to Broken Hill. On the way to Cootamundra the landscape was much more rolling and the road much more curvy. Clearly the average rainfall was also increasing as the farms became smaller. Pastureland gave way to more cropland where wheat was predominant and we even saw one cornfield although I think it was irrigated. Around the town of Young there were quite a few orchards, and apparently the area is known for growing cherries and making jam. My kind of place!

The most exciting moment of the journey were when we ran into (literally) a herd of sheep. About 100 sheep were in a huge circular bunch covering both lanes of the two lane highway when we approached at 100 kilometers per hour. The sheepherders were trying to get them off the road, I think, but our bus driver was too impatient to wait and he started to edge directly through the flock, kind of nudging them aside with the bus. The sheep, of course, got frightened and started to bolt in all directions. The sheepherder, a woman, yelled at us as we slowly edged back out of the herd and continued thundering down the road to Cootamundra.

Monika:

The trip from Dubbo to Cootamundra went through a more settled and agricultural area. The town before Cootamundra, Young, actually billed itself as the Cherry town of Australia and we did see a large orchard. Of course, there was some wildlife, or let's say animal life. I saw a temporary warning sign for sheep and a little later there was the herd of sheep being herded along the street. Our driver had no intention of waiting for them, so he slowly edged his way forward. Most of the sheep went sensibly in the direction they were supposed to be going. But some of the sheep tried to go someplace else, and the herders were not exactly pleased with our bus driver! But he had a train to catch, and probably CountryLink does not look kindly on missed connections.

Bob:

The bus filled up at various stops in small towns as we approached Cootamundra, where we had roast beef with mushrooms and gravy on toast for lunch while we waited about half an hour for the train to Melbourne. Although 20 minutes late, the train, when it arrived, was sleek, modern, quiet and comfortable. So we sped southwest to Melbourne at about 120 kilometers per hour for around 6 hours or so. The landscape changed back to a predominantly emphasis on grazing, mostly sheep and cattle with the occasional horse farm thrown in. Arriving in Melbourne shortly before 7, we bundled up our possessions and walked the few blocks over to the Formule 1 hotel where we were staying for the next few nights, checked in, read for a couple of hours, and turned in for the night.

Monika:

At Cootamundra we caught the train that went from Sidney to Melbourne. It was 20 minutes late which gave us a nice time to have something to eat at a little restaurant in the station. We checked our larger luggage to Melbourne and then climbed on board and found our assigned seats. The seats even in economy class were comfortable with enough leg room even for Bob and a nice tray table that had a place for cups. Since there was no sign prohibiting alcohol, I poured myself a glass from the coke bottle and relaxed for the 5 hour ride to Melbourne. For the first few hours it was still light and we enjoyed watching the scenery, but when it got dark, Bob got down the computer, while I worked on some crossword puzzles I had brought along.

At Melbourne Southern Cross Station, Bob started the GPS and it led us straight to our hotel, four blocks down Collins Street. Our room was a typical Formule 1 room, small but with all the necessities and cheap (for Melbourne)


 

Copyright 2009 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt
Index
Prolog Map of Australian Walkabout Epilog

May 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
June 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30

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