Welcome to my first blog post of 2025. I hope you and your family had a great Xmas and new year period and got some much needed rest and relaxation.
I had planned that also, but it didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped...but it started out well enough, with a planned train trip just after Xmas 2024 to Melbourne on the Overland train to see family.
I have covered this trip in detail in my blog before (click here if you want to read a lot more detail about the journey and all the towns).
I realised though that the blog entry was over ten years ago now, so I will just talk about some different things not mentioned in that blog entry.
Since I last travelled on the Overland, it appears the journey has become more popular, and Journey Beyond (the operator) is doing more to promote it, and even some new train merchandise, which of course I was very excited to check out!
As I write this blog article in January 2025, I am actually sitting in bed ill in a Prague hotel room in the Czech Republic.
I have travelled here for a management meeting (1st for 2025), and being winter here, I caught a cold from some work colleagues last week and I am recovering in the hotel room on the weekend.
Since I had some time recovering, I thought I would write some blog entries! I had uploaded a bunch of photos before I left so I could do this if I had time. So it proved I did! :-)
The Overland train left Adelaide for Melbourne on December 26th 2024, and we had to be at the Adelaide Parklands Terminal at 6am to check in for a 6:55am departure.
In terms of service, the train is much the same as ten years ago - Red premium carriages, Red standard carriages, and a cafe car.
Once onboard the train, we are handed a new menu to choose our Breakfast and lunch, which is served to our seat in Red Premium, and is included as part of the fare. Alcohol is not included and costs extra.
In Red standard you have to go to the cafe car to buy your food. I went for the Parfait and Curry of the day.
As we wound our way through the wonderful Adelaide Hills, we got given a journey map, which is something I haven't seen before on the Overland. Very handy.
On the back of the map is the Overland timetable, which is helpful to know when we will be arriving into various towns in South Australia and Victoria along the way to Melbourne.
Before long, my breakfast arrived, and the Parfait was delicious, with a orange and brewed coffee to have with it.
After breakfast, I made my way to the Cafe carriage, which I note is the Matilda Cafe, rather than the usual Cafe 828 (named after the number of kilometres for this journey between Adelaide and Melbourne).
I spoke with the staff, and they mentioned that they switched to the Matilda Cafe carriage as the primary carriage now for the Overland as apparently the kitchen facilities are better for cooking hot meals. The tables are much larger too, and better accommodate families sitting together.
In the Matilda cafe serving area, they have various meals available to purchase - note that cash is not accepted on the train anymore - only credit cards and EFTPOS. I think $12 for a meal with complimentary drink of your choice (non-alcoholic) is a good deal:
The timetable is shown in the cafe car too, in the place that the food menu used to be. Kinda strange, but I guess it reflects that there is less choice these days in the cafe car than there used to be.
What is new in the cafe is newly made Overland train merchandise! I was very happy to see it, and quickly bought all the new ones!
I bought the Fridge magnet, Lapel pin, key ring and the drinking glass, which can be used for hot beverages like coffee, etc.
Being the day after Xmas, the Matilda Cafe had some Xmas decorations on the tables too, which was a nice touch - I also bought the new pen:
As a Red premium passenger, you can have as much non-alcoholic drinks as you want from the cafe, so we enjoyed some coffee while enjoying the scenery go past!
We then made our way back to our seat.
We pass through South Australia quite quickly, and before we knew it, it was lunch time!
I continue to be impressed with the food offered on the Overland. While not as fancy as the Ghan, Indian Pacific, and Great southern trains, it is perfectly acceptable for a day trip to Melbourne. No complaints from me, or my travelling family.
The day before we departed, a large bushfire started near the Grampians national park, close to Horsham in Western Victoria.
As we got closer we could see the large smoke rising in the distance. The train operators mentioned it on the trip, and said it was no threat to our trip.
We were very lucky as it turned out. The return Overland train trip to Adelaide the next day (after this trip) was cancelled because of this bush fire spreading too close to the train line!
As always, train is just the best way to travel.
Relax with a book, and love the fact that mobile coverage drops out frequently throughout the trip, allowing a much needed digital detox.
As you can see, the seating is spacious, with plenty of room to stretch your legs. The staff hand out stools to rest your feet on if you want them.
As we passed the town of Stawell, the fire got a lot more intense and blotted out the landscape.
You can see a chopper which is helping direct fire fighting efforts. A lot of people were evacuated from impacted local towns near the fire - hopefully they didn't lose their homes.
Bush fires are the one big hazard in Australia we have to worry about every summer.
The sky continued to be covered in smoke, and as we aligned with the highway towards Geelong, it gave us some more nice views of the passing scenery.
It was very windy outside, which is what was fueling the fire and making it very dangerous.
The wind farms would have been very productive that day for sure!
As evening approached, we arrived into Melbourne at Southern Cross station, and headed over to Southbank for our accommodation for the next few days.
We get a good view of the city skyline from our room.
One thing to think about when taking the Overland train is that the arrival time is just before 7pm Melbourne time, if it is running on time.
When it isn't, and that is often the case, you can't plan any dinner plans in Melbourne just in case it is delayed. This is made worse by travelling on a public holiday after Xmas day, when almost everything is shut.
So hotel room service is my easy way to deal with it. And the food was delicious. Beerenberg sauces included with the meal from the Adelaide Hills. Very appropriate. :-)
Melbourne lit up at night is great, and makes a great backdrop to our dinner :-)
Well rested, we could have a nice buffet breakfast at Melba restaurant, one of the great breakfasts in Melbourne in my opinion.
It was here at Melba back in March when I was here for the F1 Grand Prix that by total luck I met Alex Albon, the Williams F1 racing driver getting his breakfast!
Weather was much better on the next day:
Being post-xmas sales starting that day, naturally we checked out the bargains in the CBD. Confession that I bought too much!
While wandering around the shops, I came across these Airwheel devices. May not be that practical in reality with limited storage space inside, but I love the idea riding them and not having to walk around the airport terminals!
Also, I read about a new Japanese patisserie opening in Melbourne called LeTAO.
The desserts looked delicious - we had to buy some:
We got two sundae's, and they were so good.
We walked back around the Yarra river afterwards to work off some of the unhealthy calories and to drop off our shopping!
We caught up with family in Melbourne the next day and celebrated xmas with them - and that was good, but I started to feel very not good while there.
The next morning, I felt really unwell - I couldn't even leave the hotel room. Tests confirmed it, I had Influenza A, and that was my holiday done. My family all got it too - great.
I was knocked out for almost three weeks with this damn flu - it took a long time for me to recover.
I returned back home to Adelaide and finally got better two days before I flew out to Prague for work, and then got sick again with another cold within 3 days of getting here! Fantastic...
Anyway, it was a fun trip to Melbourne while it lasted.
I still love riding trains, especially longer distance ones. Thanks to the Overland for a wonderful train trip as usual. The Overland is the oldest passenger train service in Australia, and still running strong in 2025.
I look forward to doing it again another time - hopefully without the flu next time!
