Travelling by train
 

We're going to be in Oz in December (Perth, Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne. We're thinking of doing either the Cairns to Sydney, or Sydney to Melbourne leg by train. Is it a good idea & which would be the best option? (Fortunately we can be flexible & are not governed by the time it takes!)

Well - I've done Syd-Melb, and a good part of Cairns-Syd, and they're both pretty boring.

The only part I'd consider was perhaps Cairns-Brisbane, on the new-ish high speed train.

The others pass through dreary country - and are not that comfortable.

If you want to train it - consider the Indian Pacific - Perth to Sydney - it was an interesting trip.

Just talking to some very tired Canadians who took tilt train Brisbane - Cairns and absolutely hated it. "Uncomfortable and noisy" - its OK for short hops but Brisbane-Cairns is about 1700km and Sydney-Cairns is close to 2500 kms. The tilt train does take some 7 hours off the Brisbane-Cairns leg but its still a long trip. As Margo says, dreary scenery at least until about one and a half hours south of Cairns, where you hit the greenery of the "wet" tropics. Much better and cheaper to fly.

Thanks for the advice - maybe the train isn't such a good idea after all!

Australia is a land of sunny skies and boundless open spaces. Hard to believe any part of the country being dreary. Some think the countryside can be monontonous, true...but for a lot overseas vistors (me included), the monotonous emptiness is part of the appeal...kind of like visiting a different planet. Take the train from New York to New Haven in February....now that's dreary.

Nonetheless I still would pass on the train option for the other reasons stated.