Reasons I went to Melbourne and did not continue from Adelaide to Sydney:

• There is only 1 train per week from Perth to Sydney and it was full between Adelaide and Sydney on the day I was taking it. This meant that I needed to get off in Adelaide, which I did, but I couldn’t continue on the same train for another week. This meant finding another form of transport and the only other alternative from Adelaide to Sydney was a bus. This would take 24h however, which was far too long.
• Something I did find out about in Adelaide was a car share from Adelaide to Sydney. On the last night in Adelaide, a girl asked me if I wanted to go to Sydney tomorrow. The answer would have been yes, had I not already booked a bus to Melbourne.
• The trains to Melbourne left from Adelaide on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As I go in to Adelaide on Tuesday, the options were to either get the train the next day (which I wasn’t going to do) or to wait until Friday (which was far too long). Therefore, the best option was to fill the gap with a bus. This I did and 12 hours later I was in Melbourne.

I arrived in Melbourne fairly late and proceeded to the hostel that someone on the Indian Pacific railway had recommended. His recommendation for Adelaide had not been bad, so I decided to go with his choice for Melbourne too, as it was very close to the bus station. It wasn’t hard to find and not long after I was sat in a restaurant, having got my accommodation sorted.

Whilst in Melbourne I spent 2 days exploring the city. Day 1 was spent riding the Free City Circle tram route, which took you on a loop around the city. Once I knew where I was going, I got off and wandered roughly in the direction of the Australian Centre for Moving Image, where I spent most of the afternoon. Day 2 was spent organising transport for the next step to Canberra and exploring Brunswick and Fitzroy, the two ‘bohemian’ areas of the city. This I enjoyed, eating vegan food for lunch AND dinner and being back at the hostel in time for a decent night’s sleep.

I got to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific railway line, which runs from Perth to Sydney. It takes 3 days to do the whole thing, but I was only going to be on it for 2 days, as the train was full between Adelaide and Sydney.

The journey started with me having to get a replacement bus service between the station that I should have set off from and the station that the Indian Pacific train left from. This was slightly off the main train and bus routes, so instead of getting a train from the main train station to the Indian Pacific one, I had to get a bus and a train instead, as the main train station was closed.

Once on the train, I met Wayne, who I ended up talking to for most of the journey. He was 66 and lived on a caravan park south of Perth and was interested in broadcasting and contemporary country music. He had served in the military (air force) and was going to see some ex-work mates in Sydney. Compared to some of the other people in the carriage, I was very lucky to sit next to Wayne, as the people on the journey were one of the reasons I was quite glad to get off.

In Adelaide I spoke to the people on the information desk who gave me a map and a list of hostels in the city. I found details of the one that someone else on the train had recommended and made my way there by tram and on foot. Once there I checked-in and spent most of the rest of the day sorting out my onward travel arrangements.

The next day was spent going to the Migration Museum, which I enjoyed and going to the Botanical Gardens. I got here a bit late and got locked-in, having to climb over a wall to get out. I was going to climb over the gate, but a middle-aged woman was on hand to suggest that climbing over the wall was much easier (and safer). On the other side I had a kebab and a few beers in a nice-looking bar, before heading back to the hostel.

I arrived in Perth on the container ship Buxstar the night before actually disembarking. After watching the ship approach the port and dock from the bridge, I went to sleep and got up the next day for the customs inspection. The two immigration officers gave me a bit of a grilling, as I didn’t know where I was staying, didn’t know anyone in Australia and didn’t have any onward travel booked. Just to make themselves satisfied, they also went through all my stuff, asking questions about how much money I had saved and whether I could show them a business card from my last job. I think I answered the questions correctly, as they ended-up letting me in.

Once off the ship, a car turned up to take me and my fellow passenger, David, to the nearest terminal building. This was an office at the end of a short road and it was from here that David called a taxi. After waiting for 15 – 20 minutes, we decided to walk to the main road, as nothing had showed up. Once here, we had a more obvious address to give the taxi driver and one turned up in a few minutes.

The taxi driver dropped me off at the nearest train station, which took me to the central station in Perth. Despite being on a boat for 10 days with an Australian, it was strange being in the West again. At the train station I managed to get directions to the tourist information centre, where I went and bought a ticket for my journey to Adelaide a few days later.

Perth had everything that I needed but seemed a bit sterile. It took a while to find a good hostel and even though I was there for only 3 days, I had to think of things to do on the second and third days. It was very expensive and I didn’t feel particularly upset about leaving.

Whilst I was in Perth I went to the modern art gallery, the cinema, Freemantle and I got my hair cut (by an Irish girl).

Being in a container port at night is like being in The Matrix. Huge machines work seemingly un-aided, loading and un-loading containers from ships, throughout the night. It’s not something that you normally get to see, but is critical to our transport infrastructure.

Travelling on the container was a good experience, for a number of reasons. I got to see how the ship works, from the physical systems to the management hierarchy. I got fed well and didn’t need to do anything, other than amuse myself and fit in with the day-to-day workings of the ship. I got to learn a lot about how sailing a boat like Buxstar works, plus I got to meet the crew. It was also a good personal experience, as I got to cope with a long period at sea! This I managed to do without any medication, despite it being pretty choppy in parts.

The journey was from Singapore to Fremantle (Perth) and would last 10 days. At least two of those days were spent sitting in ports, either in Singapore or Jakarta, but unlike my fellow passenger, David, I didn’t leave the ship at all during this time.

My first impressions of the ship were roughly what I was expecting; the room was comfortable, I had a sitting room, a toilet and a shower and outside I almost even had my own balcony. Most things had a way of being tied down and there were rubber mats everywhere to stop things sliding around.

Being on a container ship means that you are effectively treated as one of the crew. I got to see the engine room, go on to the bridge whenever I felt like it, walk around outside and sit in the crew recreation room. You eat with the officers and you have to take part in the emergency drills. Despite me taking 2 reading books, 5 new albums, an introductory guide to Chinese and a load of blog updates I had to do, I barely even started the reading books. Sticking to mealtimes, going outside and taking photos gave me plenty of entertainment.

On the whole, the experience was very enjoyable. The sea was a bit rough in parts, mainly between Indonesia and Australia, but I got to see a lot, including Krakatoa, dolphins and flying fish. The crew were very friendly and they provided everything that I needed, including advice on how to deal with sea-sickness! I very much enjoyed my time on the ship and it was an important part of my round-the-world trip. Thanks to Buxstar and the crew, I had an even greater chance of making it to Australia (or New Zealand!) without flying.