When I studied
Modern History at evening school many decades ago, my text book was
intelligently titled, "From Frankfurt to Fra Mauro", the period of
history which was then considered "modern".
On commencing
classes, I had no idea what had happened in Frankfurt and to be honest, I've
since forgotten, but I knew from watching Armstrong take humankind's first step
on the lunar surface what had happened in the Fra Mauro Highlands of the moon.
(Congratulations once again Neil.)
By comparison, the
trip from Brisbane to Port Macquarie was completely mundane and it's probably a
ridiculous comparison to make. However, in the mundane lives we ordinary people
lead, it is often possible to make insignificant events significant by comparing
them with other events. So, if you are still with me, here goes.
Experienced people
like my wife and me get a serious discount on railways ... purely because we
are experienced. Some refer to it as being "seniors", but I prefer
the experience angle. We purchased our tickets for about half price and chose
the First Class option rather than cattle class as we didn't want to bump
shoulders with lesser beings and more importantly, there is more room to
stretch one's weary legs.
Our friends Jeffrey
and Sue dropped us off at the Brisbane Central Railway Station at some ungodly
hour ... It was still dark for goodness sake. But we managed to wend our way
through the cafeteria to the little shed on the platform where a lovely lady weighed
our baggage and told us they were overweight because railways staff cannot
handle anything heavier than 20 kg (poor bastards).
As a midwife,
Christina handles birthing mothers that are akin to small whales, well over 20
kg. No wonder she has "nurses back". Does she whimp out? Never.
Anyway, we two
"experienced" people whose arteries are probably partially clogged,
whose joints ache with arthritis and who lie awake at night listening to the
disorder of our veins, lugged our baggage onto the train with relative ease. We
then sat in our comfortable seats and waited to depart.
Although nothing can
compare with the efficiency and effectiveness of the German Railway system, the
New South Wales Railways Xpress did depart right on time. The carriages were
clean and comfortably furnished.
We glided our way
south through the suburbs of Brisbane towards the Gold Coast and shortly after
through the northern region of New South Wales. Daylight arose soon after our
departure from Brisbane and we noticed that all the countryside was beautifully
green and spread with grass and trees. Recent rains had obviously had an
impact.
As the train headed
towards our destination, we were able to visit the buffet car to buy a cup of
coffee and some croissants for breakfast.
There were
surprisingly few people in our carriage and I expect the rest of the train,
which meant we could stretch out into other seats and noise was minimal.
When we arrived at
Wauchope near Port Macquarie friend Caroline met us and drove us to our
timeshare property, the Vacation Village.
As we unpacked our
gear and prepared for the week ahead at Port Macquarie, we discussed how
pleasant the train journey had been and contemplated the next leg to follow
from Port Macquarie to Sydney at the end of the week.
Robin
PS:
"Seniors" can buy $2.50 combined rail, train and ferry tickets for
use anywhere within the greater Sydney Metropolitan area and close surrounds.
We spent a couple of days travelling on the train visiting Kiama to the south
of Sydney and Katoomba to the west. Not a bad deal.
