I had to deliver a car to my niece in Clunes, Victoria, so I left Sydney early on Sunday morning. Along the way, I made a diversion to the Bethungra Rail Spiral, an amazing piece of technology weaving through the countryside, added a quick stop at the Junee Railway Museaum… I need to go back there!
From there I passed through Cootamundra, Junee and then continued all the way down to Albury.
Once I hit the freeway at Albury, I saw a bit of truck “road rage” between a couple of drivers heading south — entertaining but slightly terrifying. I turned off at Springhurst to have a look at my old family farm. The house really hadn’t changed much in 30 years — apart from a new roof, it was almost exactly as I remembered it.
After that little detour, I got back on the freeway and headed towards Melbourne. About 100 km out of Melbourne, Apple Maps decided to take me off at Seymour and onto some back roads that were getting narrower by the kilometre. I hardly saw another car and started to wonder where I was headed — especially when the navigation said I was about to join the Burke and Wills Track. I thought, “What the hell?!” expecting it to be a dirt road — but it turned out to be a proper two-lane highway. I stayed on it for what felt like 200 meters before finally turning west toward Clunes.
After 11½ hours on the road, I arrived — tired but happy. I’d stopped at a few little country snack shops along the way and really enjoyed the drive. It was far prettier than taking the Hume Highway all the way down.
Monday
The next morning, I had a walk around Clunes, a charming little town I hadn’t realised was used for several scenes in Mad Max. I then caught a train from near Ballarat into Melbourne, where I met up with a school friend for lunch. To my surprise, he brought along two other people we went to school with — one of whom I hadn’t seen since we left school in 1980! It was a fantastic catch-up.
That night I stayed at the Ibis Central, one of my favourite hotel chains. The place was almost fully automated — check-in via machine, and if I’d been a bit smarter, I could have used the app and just scanned a QR code to get my room key. The room itself was spotless and well laid out.
That evening I tried to connect my phone to the TV to watch the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, but after 15 minutes it kept disconnecting — so I gave up and watched it on my tablet. There’s always some drama with McLaren, and it really seems like the team wants a British driver to win the championship rather than supporting Oscar Piastri as they should!
The Trip Home
After an early breakfast and a great coffee, I walked to the station and boarded the NSW TrainLink XPT back to Sydney. The trip was mostly uneventful. I shared my carriage with two elderly passengers until Wagga Wagga, where they got off and were replaced by two schoolgirls who were travelling for a sporting event.
The only bit of excitement came just before we pulled into Junee. There was a call over the PA asking for anyone with medical expertise to come to the canteen area. A few minutes later, another announcement explained that a passenger had suffered a medical episode and that we’d be delayed while waiting for an ambulance.
The conductor, who was standing near my seat while she made the call, said to Triple Zero:
“We’re the XPT train from Melbourne to Sydney, and we’re at Junee Station.”
From the sound of her voice, the operator must have been asking for the nearest cross street — because she kept replying,
“I’m not a local. I have no idea! But we’re at the only platform at Junee Station — please send an ambulance quickly!”
About 20 minutes later, they offloaded the gentleman, who was thankfully able to walk off the train with the paramedics — a good outcome. After that, we were back on our way to Sydney.
Interestingly, there’s no EFPOS on the XPT, which seems odd in this day and age, but it didn’t really bother anyone.
All in all, it was a great weekend — full of long drives, old memories, good friends, and a few unexpected adventures.