Ghost Town

Come with me on a train ride. We’ll travel 4,352 kilometres across Australia from east to west, spending four days and three nights on a train 731 metres long. We’ll start in Sydney and stay in Perth at the end and along the way we’ll traverse deserts, stop in a ghost town and cross the mighty Nullarbor Plain. Come with me on a transcontinental journey aboard the iconic Indian Pacific! 

Indian Pacific Adventure #12 Cook, Nullarbor Plain

It’s hard to believe the derelict town of Cook, named after Joseph Cook, the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, was once home to 200 people. Founded to support the Trans Australian Railway in the early 1900s, the town was a thriving settlement housing maintenance crews and their families. When the railway was privatised in 1997 the people departed, leaving the buildings abandoned to the elements.

With just 30 minutes to explore the remains of the town, everyone was quickly off the train. The buildings are now deemed unsafe so we could only look from the outside.

The swimming pool, a popular place in the extreme heat of summer, hadn’t been used in a very long time.

The discomfort of these corrugated iron jail cells must have been a deterrent against misbehaviour.

Even the ramshackle outdoor amenities would have been uninviting.

But despite the harshness of their surroundings, the people of Cook obviously had a sense of humour!

Joining Becky for November Walking Squares

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