Melbourne to Brisbane by train for the Matildas

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 15:11:00 +1100

The FIFA [FIFA: Fédération internationale de football association] Women’s World Cup is in full swing and this lucky little bugger has tickets to the Australia vs. Nigeria match in Brisbane on 27 July. To make a real journey out of it, I decided to opt for the overnight express passenger train (XPT) from Melbourne, via Sydney, to Brisbane instead of flying.

I’ve never travelled in a sleeper carriage on the train before. I took the train home from Adelaide in 2019 but that was a day trip. I really wanted to try it and this was the perfect occasion. I had the time to get to Queensland (2 day journey) and I was able to secure a sleeper berth on both services (Melbourne to Sydney; Sydney to Brisbane). I shared the sleeper cabin last night with a young uni student named Damian, who was travelling home having caught the train down to Melbourne a few days earlier. His reason for taking the train was because he really loves trains, and public transport but had never ridden the XPT [XPT: express passenger train] before. He was a nice guy, but quite talkative, especially about his passionate interest in trains 🤣 so considering this week’s trip is partly a bit of respite from caregiving I found it slightly challenging to keep up the chit-chat for the whole journey.

Otherwise the journey was pleasant, relaxing and I really enjoyed it. I watched some Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and read my book [Currently Flawed Hero by Chris Masters, about the Ben Roberts-Smith war crimes defamation case against Masters and Nick McKenzie, who wrote a similar and thrilling-to-read book about the case called Crossing The Line, which I recently finished]. There was a canteen in the middle carriage which served hot drinks and snacks, the staff were all friendly and helpful, and I really felt like my little working holiday had already started before I even get to Queensland.

I’m writing this now sitting at Central Station in Sydney. We left last night at about 20:00, and arrived this morning at 08:00. I had about 6.5 hours to kill before catching the 14:45 to Brisbane, which should get there about 05:00 tomorrow morning.

I left my heavy suitcase at Central in the baggage storage area and roamed down towards Haymarket, and then to the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre to have a sneaky shower. There are showers in the sleeper carriage of the train, but I wasn’t game last night so opted for the aquatic centre instead, which only cost me $4 entry. It’s a nice little trick Danielle and I often utilise when travelling through towns where we don’t have accommodation, as leisure centres offer a nice hot shower and somewhere to shave for a tiny fraction of the price of a motel room.

Walking out of the aquatic centre a fresh, new man I wandered down towards Darling Harbour and had some breakfast at Adria Bar, which was absolutely awful. The coffee managed to be both bland and burnt, whilst the bacon and eggs weren’t thoroughly cooked but the toast they were sitting on was burnt solid. I wasn’t going to say anything but the bill came to $44, and then the man asked me, so I gave him the brutally honest truth 😂.

From Darling Harbour I walked around to Circular Quay/The Rocks, checked out the George Street markets and then took the train back to Central. I bought myself a birthday cigar at Market City in Haymarket and checked out Paddy’s Market, then headed back to Central Station again and checked my luggage in, sat on the platform for a few hours and just basked in the warm sunshine.

It’s been a fun trip so far. I have a sleeper cabin on both legs of the trip, and although I shared last night I have this leg all to myself (so far: fingers crossed for no late bookings! 🤞).

Arriving in Brisbane, Sunday 23 July

Last night’s journey was far more comfortable. I enjoyed my sleeper cabin all to myself, got some good shuteye, and feel thoroughly relaxed. Of course the extra time in the journey is always going to be a factor, but I would elect to travel that way again over a flight in a heartbeat! Being able to stretch my legs, walk around, lay down and sleep, and just have some time to myself was pure bliss!

I arrived into Brisbane’s Roma Street Station this morning at 05:00! I headed to the hotel only to find they didn’t open until 09:00. How was I going to occupy 4 hours? By going fishing of course! 🤣

I walked down to the Brisbane River and climbed down from the bicycle pathway to some rocks, and hid my suitcase and bags under the pathway out of sight. [I wasn’t leaving them, but with my back turned I’m always a little nervous about theft.] I set up my travel rod and gear and cast some plastics, and some metal spoons. I caught a whopping dusky flathead, my personal best (PB) by a large margin: he would have gone 70–80 centimetres at least. I had left my landing net in the suitcase though, so after fighting him a fair bit I tried dragging him up on to the rocks to let him go, but he snapped off and took off before I could get the lure out of his mouth or get a photo. A very nice welcome to Brisbane, anyway…

I packed up after a few hours and visited a farmers’ market just up the road, got some nice produce for cooking during the week and took a taxi back to the hotel, where I’ve left my bags and come to a café called Coco Cozy to while away some time waiting for check-in. An old friend is going to take me to a nice Japanese garden nearby, so I’ll go do that before checking in later today.

Train — Getting Out There

Melbourne to Brisbane by train for the Matildas

Arriving in Brisbane, Sunday 23 July