Report From Australia – End of Day Two

SYDNEY – This is a very cosmopolitan town. In fact, coming from Hawaii, I feel quite at home seeing so many Asian faces here. But there are also Indians and Pacific Islanders and Middle Easterners and Europeans. In fact, my contact with Great Southern Railway was born in Holland, grew up speaking Dutch and French, speaks English with no trace of an accent, plus three other languages.

Which leads me to note that many visitors to Hawaii have a hard time dealing with the Hawaiian names we hang on streets and towns … towns like Kaaawa, a little community on the Windward side of Oahu. (It’s pronounced kah-ah-AH-vah.) Or Kalanianaole Highway (just say kah-lah-nee-ah-nah-OH-lay).

Well, from now on, those tourists will get a pass from me. You see, on the way to Kalgoorlie, we may take a side trip to Bubyeroo Gorge. Or perhaps Uluru (Ayers Rock) ,and Kata Tjuta. I can’t wait to cross the Nullarbor, but of course I’m distraught that I won’t get to Borroloola or Oodnadatta or Innamincka. Get the picture?

I did have a bit of a scare today. Several days ago – a few hundred miles this side of Kalgoorlie, just to pinpoint the location for you – a freight train derailed and tore up some track, forcing cancellation of the train that was to leave here this past Saturday. At last word, the train I’ll be on, which is scheduled to leave here Wednesday afternoon, will not be affected. Well, actually, they’re claiming a “95-percent probability” that the train will leave as scheduled. Those are pretty good odds. I’m only 5-percent worried.

Tomorrow I’m going to spend the day touring several vineyards in the nearby wine country. I am a stickler for detail and am planning a lot of research.