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Who, I wondered, is Richard? What had he done to deserve this? What items of great significance were contained therein?

There are some things inquiring minds are better off not knowing, and I guessed that this was one of them.

Back aboard we had time for showers before we set off. After the initial encounter with the shower facilities this little black duck wasn't looking forward to the next, which I expected would take place in a moving train. 

The space was limited, and we'd been warned to ensure that the shower curtain covered everything if we wanted to keep the water in the designated area. There weren't too many obvious places where the train was going to be stationary for any length of time after Adelaide apart from Cook, where the main purpose of the halt is to replenish the water supply at a cost of up to $2/litre!

Once we were moving again in full daylight the route took us across an ancient dry landscape covered with salt-bush and populated by the odd pocket of sheep, the occasional emu and, more than likely the obligatory kangaroo, though I didn't manage to spot one over the entire crossing. Still, it's hard to keep an eagle eye on the landscape and scribble notes at the same time.

After Yunta, a surprisingly large settlement two hours out of Broken Hill the country started to improve, with stunted trees taking over from the salt-bush. There were signs of recent rain in the odd patch of greenery though for the most part the countryside looked like it'd soak up any precipitation when it hit the ground. In the unlikely event of summer rain (we're talking a Mediterranean climate in these parts) I suspected that rainfall would evaporate on impact. More...

© Ian Hughes 2012