QUEENSLAND COAST
28TH FEB - 9TH MARCH
Magnetic Island28th Feb - 1st March
We had originally planned to drive from Cairns to Brisbane in a hire car, but after having a proper look at just how far it was (2000 Km!), and the price of fuel, we decided to look into alternatives. We figured the best choice was an open train ticket, which allowed any number of stop offs. The only downside was that there were only 3 trains a week, and one of our journeys would be overnight, and the sleeper coaches were too expensive. Still, it was only 13 hours, we’d done more that on an Indian bus, so we figured it would be ok.
We got the car dropped off with the minimum of hassle, and headed to Cairns station where our train had just pulled in. We were
initially well impressed with the train, as you could check in all of your bags into the luggage car, there was a shower in each coach, and there was a bar coach with videos, and a restaurant car. Brilliant we thought! Bang on time the train trundled out of Cairns station, and through the City streets. When I say trundled, I mean it! We figured that it had to go slowly as we were going through the city and over lots of level crossings, but oh no!! It was a proper slow coach and even the cars were overtaking, bearing in mind that they only go 62 mph!!! We had just discovered the only downside to what would otherwise have been a brilliant train!! Still, we went for a coffee in the bar, and generally sat back and enjoyed the view.
Our destination was Magnetic Island, so named because it has some strange magnetic properties which sent Captain Cook’s compass spinning wildly when he sailed past. The
Our destination was Magnetic Island, so named because it has some strange magnetic properties which sent Captain Cook’s compass spinning wildly when he sailed past. The