After breakfast, Undara drove us to Mt. Surprise to catch The Savannahlander train back to Cairns. Little did we know were about to venture on one the great rail experiences in Australia and be lucky to be the first (and only) passengers of the season (alongside the conductors) on this 12 hour journey from Mt. Surprise back to Cairns in the classic "silver-bullet" railcars. The train is prepared to carry 60 passengers but we were able to get a highly personalized journey and Ron enjoyed playing his guitar all along the way.
The conductors could stop the train whenever we wanted. They stopped the train so we could take a picture next to the huge termite hills that lined the outback. Wild!
We also stopped in several small towns along the way. The towns were waiting for this train that only comes to town once a week. In the first town, they had prepared a nice tea with muffins and breads for us. Even though we were full from our huge bush breakfast, we didn't want to disappoint the little towns that we were visiting. So we ate more :).
On our journey, we were "held up" by some local gangsters. They asked us for all of our money and then thanked us with some Easter candy.
In another town, the kids had their first pasties.
Because we were the only passengers, the train also stopped before some huge suspension bridges and allowed us to walk across the bridge, take a picture by the waterafall, and then came and picked us up on the other side.
After arriving back in Cairns, we enjoyed our last evening in Australia, watching Australian football outside on the large screen, having some dinner, and playing cards. A great end to an amazing adventure!!
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