Sand and sea

So my first trip across Australia's planned, departure this weekend! After two days crossing the Nullarbor Desert between Adelaide and Perth, I'll spend a night on an island in the Indian Ocean just off the coast at Perth. Then I'll fly back over the Great Australian Bight. This by the way is a map of the rail system. The Indian Pacific is the blue line. I hope by the time I leave Australia to have done all of the lines - the highlight will be the Ghan (the red line) in May, when things have cooled down a bit. The Alice Springs-Darwin bit only opened in 2004.

You can get a sense for the terrain by going to maps.google.com and writing in "South Australia," then choosing from the buttons at top right "satellite" or "hybrid." The rail line's not marked on the hybrid map, but you can certainly swoop in on some pretty amazing territory! (Double-click to zoom in.) You can also get very close indeed to the island I'll be on next Wednesday night. Type in "Rottnest Island, Western Australia" and you're there! Now imagine snorkeling in turquoise seas after having crossed the Nullarbor!