We arrived in Adelaide about four hours late.  We didn’t arrive at Parklands train terminal but rather at Adelaide International Airport.   And we didn’t arrive on the Indian Pacific train but rather via the Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service, now known by its acronym.  I’ve always wondered why there was no “qu” in Qantas.  We arrived to late to see the show we were planning on that night at the Adelaide Fringe, but we saw it two nights later.

I didn’t know when we would arrive in Adelaide when I went to bed the day before.  But I slept with the window open to watch the stars.  Much of the night we were pulled over on a siding.   I saw the sun touch the farm fields and forests as it came up and enjoyed the glow before lowering the shades so as not to wake Suzi.  When she woke up we watched the journey from our room and from Breakfast.  First it was the forest, then scattered farm fields and finally rolling farm or pastureland.   Towns and farms popped up along the route.  The dirt road which kicked up dust the night before transformed into a paved road and then a highway.   It was a beautiful ride back to Perth, covering, in the daylight, what we traveled through in the dark two days before.

It took a mighty effort for Journey Beyond, the rail company that runs the Indian Pacific to get us here.  When the train turned around the leaders in each section talked to each passenger, at least in our section.  “Where do you want to end up and when do you need to get there?”  Fifty Eight of us wanted to go to Adelaide and arrive on schedule.  Most of the passengers wanted to arrive in Sydney two days later, but some just wanted to go home to Perth.

Lucus, or leader, told us that there was a Qantas flight from Perth to Adelaide at 5:10 on Monday.  Since he thought we would get into Perth at 1:30 we would have plenty of time to make.  So the process started.  Lucas and the other section leaders communicated with the home office in Adelaide while they had connectivity.  Then silence while they worked on it.  Then connection again.  They had bought a block of tickets on the 5:10 flight.  It was the last one to Adelaide because they close the airport at 11 PM and with the time zone difference and a nearly three hour flight we would just make it under the curfew.

They also block booked a hotel in Perth and had rooms for anyone who needed them and told those going to Sydney they would get them there at or before the train was scheduled to arrive.  They asked each Sydney passenger if they wanted to spend their time in Perth or Sydney. 

We were traveling with our carry on baggage.  But our bags are “expandable” and were opened up beyond carry on proportions.  We didn’t want to check bags so we started giving away things that we didn’t think we could put in carry ons, a large tube of toothpaste shampoo, sun screen, all in large bottles.  I gave Trudi my Leatherman.  It is a model that isn’t made anymore and was designed for electrical workers with special wire strippers and other useful things.  Trudi noted a certain sadness in my giving it away.  I had it for a decade and came close to losing it at airports on several occasions.  It has a small blade.  Allowed in some countries and not in others, including both the US and Australia.  She promised to send it to me when she got to the States on their extended honeymoon tour.   They had bags in the baggage car that would be checked through to Sydney.  They let Lucas know that they had tickets for the Sydney Opera on the day the train was to arrive so they wanted to get there before then.

I began to get nervous about making a 5:10 flight when one of the crew told me we were more likely to get in at 3:30 than the scheduled 1:30. An announcement came over the PA system saying that we would arrive in Perth at 2:30.  In actuality it was 3 PM when we pulled up to the platform.   I don’t know why I was anxious.  We didn’t need to be in Melbourne to pick get back on the ship until Sunday afternoon and, while we had tickets for Adelaide Fringe shows, if we missed them it wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

Over lunch most of it was settled.  The Adelaide people would get on two chartered buses to go to the airport, the people going to Sydney would all be at the same hotel along with Lucas who would continue to work on ongoing reservations and let them know at the hotel.

And from our perspective it worked.  We got on the bus, representatives from the company met us at the airport and shepherded us though check in and we all got on the plane on time.  We took off flying over the same territory we had just traveled. 

The one hangup was, that while our bags met the dimensions of allowed carry ons, Qantas actually weighed them and we were over the 14 kg we were each allowed so we had to check one of the bags anyway.  We didn’t need to surrender our toothpaste, shampoo and sun gunk.  I could have checked my Leatherman.  Further, Australia does not have restrictions on liquids taken on domestic flights.  We know for next time.  Some Aussies told us that it was not usual for Qantas to weigh domestic carry on luggage.  But because this flight was completely full, they did.

At baggage Journey Beyond was waiting for us with a bottle of Australian Port for each party plus some chocolate covered almonds.  A driver had my name on an iPad, grabbed our bags and took us to our hotel in a Limo, provided by the train company.  No complaints.