Thursday, November 30, 2006

 

Trippy Weatherish Photos

The last three days has been hot as shit in Brisbane, and coupled with bushfires that we have been having... it made for some interesting pictures both last night and this morning.


This was last night's sunset... and I think it's probably one of the best pictures I've ever taken...

And this morning, I woke up to the light being a very strange orange colour. This led to me taking the following photographs:









The third picture was shot with automatic camera settings, the rest were shot with different shutter times set (from 1/400 to 1/1000). I love the manual mode on my camera! :P

Monday, November 20, 2006

 

Exploding Computer Parts

I can't say that this is a promising thing, because frankly, it pissed me off when it happened. However.. the power supply in my main PC fried itself yesterday (complete with tasty electrical burning smell), so I'm on my laptop until I can get a new one.

"What exactly does this mean for TFP?", I hear you asking. Well, it could mean one of two things.

1: I get so bored I start posting stuff again

Or

2: I get so bored I don't bother posting stuff for a while, which wouldn't make much difference at the moment, ANYway.

Regardless, I'm out a power supply until I can get a new one, which might not be for a couple of weeks, yet. Believe me, this bothers me more than it bothers you, as all my music and games are on my PC.. and the DVD player on my laptop is decidedly dodgy. This might give me a chance to start reading the books I picked up months ago in Perth, who knows.

ALL I KNOW IS I'M PISSED OFF ABOUT IT!

Anyway, c'est la guerre...

Yours,

~Frostilicus~

Thursday, November 16, 2006

 

Broken Hill And South Australia

(Or, "Belated Trip Blogging, part 4 or 5, I can't remember which", that I've had to restart typing, thanks to the goddamn WIND we had yesterday that knocked out the power! *angry Frosty!*)

The first night spent on the Indian Pacific was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be. I woke up before dawn, and wandered down to the end of the carriage to take a shower. I had a mini-fight with the shower curtain, and the shower was compact, though not "cramped", as such. (I HATE shower curtains.) But, the water was hot and relaxing.


Dawn in New South Wales

The soil that we were passing was a deep red colour, and I noted seeing a small sunbleached animal skull as we rolled on through the countryside. From the journal:

"...There are next to no trees here, and if it wasn't for the colour of the ground, one could swear we were on the Nullarbor. One wonders how a tree susvives on it's own in the middle of what is nearly desert. Even though it looks boring at first glance, it's really quite beautiful..."

Around about 7:30am-ish, we stopped in Broken Hill, a mining town close to the South Australian border. Broken Hill is well known for it's deposits of Silver, Lead and Zinc, which are said to be the largest in the world. The town is somewhat dead at 7:30 on a Sunday morning, however, except for the stallholders at the railway station, who probably turn up just for the Indian Pacific. Broken Hill was the birthplace of famous artist Pro Hart, who lived there most (if not all) of his life, and died there in March, 2006. His funeral was the first state funeral held west of the Blue Mountains.


Railway sign at Broken Hill.


Two-Up School


Anzac Hall


Post Office Clock Tower


Broken Earth Restaurant (in the background, see link for more pictures)


One of the many hills of tailings that dot the Broken Hill landscape as viewed from the railway station


Stalls at Broken Hill Station. I bought one of the little glasses as a gift for my mother. A Sturt's Desert Pea flower was hand-painted on it.


Tracks and railyard at Broken Hill


The motorail carriage of the Indian Pacific


Passengers of the Indian Pacific at Broken Hill. The woman in the foreground is from Amsterdam!


The National Rail locomotive that pulled us across Australia!

After departing Broken Hill at around 8:30am, the Navy carded people were called for breakfast. This morning's options were a continental type breakfast and a cooked breakfast. Everyone on my table ordered the continental breakfast.



Fruit: Pineapple, Watermelon, Honeydew melon, Rockmelon.
Cute as hell mini-muffin!
2 mini danish, Apple and Peach
1 croissant.

Tea, coffee, toast and jams were also served.

We started to pass by some low mountains after breakfast:





We passed a "blink and you miss it" township called Yunta. According to the signs along the road near the edge of the town, Yunta has internet access.




"Playground, Kool Drinks and Food"

The scenery now was getting to be farmland, with sheep amd moo-cows. It got cloudy too, and eventually rained a little bit...



The cabin radio was playing grandma music a la what 6KY in Perth used to be, and I seriously considered pulling out the iPod, but got chatting to some carriage-mates instead. Eventually we were called for lunch.

Lunch was a main course and a dessert.


Indian Lamb Curry, with spinach, Basmati Pilaf and Cucumber Raita


Espresso and Wattleseed Ice Cream Cake with Chocolate Fudge Sauce.

The curry was mild, though very tasty. The spinach and raita (a kind of yogurt sauce) was a nice touch. The ice cream cake was just right, with a strong (but not overpowering) coffee flavour, ir also came with a chocolate wafer stick, and the cake had a light sponge base.

From after lunch until about 3:45pm or so, we rolled on through the eastern part of South Australia.


Another Traveller!


Clouds and Grass




SACBH (South Australian Co-operative Bulk Handling) Grain Silos


What grows here? Could be vegetables, could be marijuana for all I know...


I think this is one of the best pictures I took on that day, with the exception of the sunset picture I took...


The dead centre of town (chuckle...guffaw)

Once we arrived in Adelaide, we stopped at Keswick Terminal, which would (I assume) be the South Australian Equivalent of what East Perth terminal is to Perthites. I now had 2 hours or so to stretch my legs while the train goodies were re-stocked, staff was changed over, and the train was shunted to the other platform. I should have taken a jumper with me, though or at least changed into my long black pants... the wind was FREEZING as it started to get dark, and I was never so glad to get back on the train.

While in Adelaide, I caught up with the Canadian who I had met in Sydney, who was transferring onto The Ghan, the "sister" service to the Indian Pacific, which since February 2004 has run from Adelaide straight through to Darwin on the north coast. (see the wiki link for more details) I wished the man luck.

Keswick Terminal serves as a holding place for carriages from other trains, namely The Ghan and The Overland (which runs a similar service from Melbourne, Victoria to Adelaide, to catch up with either the Indian Pacific or The Ghan)...


A Ghan carriage


A carriage for The Overland

Meanwhile, the train was being restocked:



And the staff changed over...




We also encountered these quarantine bins, which basically are designed for the disposal of organic matter (plants, nuts/seeds, etc) to stop the spread of fruit fly and other pests. There was also one at Kalgoorlie, and the Quarantine people also boarded the train just after breakfast at Midland on the final day of the trip.


I went onto the platform where the train would be leaving from, and waited for The Ghan to depart (as both trains meet each other so passengers can swap from one to the other if necessary). I decided that one day I would take a trip on The Ghan, as it would be most interesting and scenic.


Here's a pic I took of the sink in my cabin. I should have taken a pic of it while it was down, but damn reflective stainless steel played havoc with the flash.

And here's the sunset I took from outside the station:



Time passed, it got colder, and we were let back on the train, finally. Soon enough we of the Navy dinner cards were called for dinner.

Entree:

Sugar Seared Tuna, with Vegetable Salad, and Ginger Lemon Myrtle Ponzu Dressing. The tuna was pink in the middle, and was very tasty. "...a bit like having sashimi that's been seared on both sides..."

Main:

Roast Chicken Breast with Potato Galette and Zucchini Sauce. Nice and tasty (and tender). The potato galette was a creamy "melt in the mouth" consistency, and the addition of the zucchini sauce made the entire dish. The whole thing was topped off with a crispy piece of parma ham.

Dessert:

Passionfruit Curd Tart with Double Cream. This was also very nice, although a bit on the small side... I liked the addition of the criss-cross chocolate.

And here endeth this post on my first full day on the Indian Pacific. Stay tuned or (eventually) another trip-related post. (It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen..lol)
 

Trip Blog '06