From now on it's an almost straight run between the salt lakes of central South Australia heading into the west. You wake crossing the Nullarbor Plain, the world's largest flat surface. It's a scene of utter desolation with little but saltbush able to grow here. The scenery hardly changes, and over breakfast someone makes a joke about going to sleep and waking up eight hours later to the same view. To the north are the tribal lands of the Aboriginal people. Marilinga land... Pitjanjatjara land and over 40,000 years of the Dreaming. By afternoon the Indian Pacific reaches the Western Australia border and continues on its remarkably unbending journey along the 478 km piece of track known as the 'Long Straight.' The wildlife is sparse, just a few dingoes... the occasional red kangaroos and the odd wedge-tailed eagle.

In the evening, the gold town of Kalgoorlie/Boulder looms on the horizon. Built on the 'Golden Mile,' reputedly the richest square mile in the world, it marks the final leg of the Indian Pacific's journey... There is now less than 600 km to travel, most of it before sunrise. You retire for one final sleep, and wake on the outskirts of Perth. The adventure is over, but the memories will last forever.

To read and interesting and refreshingly frank article written by B. Elder about the Indian Pacific - Sydney to Perth trip, see Life on the Line.