We woke up on day 2 of our train ride across Australia to the smell of bushfire smoke, and in the club car our eyes confirmed it, with the scene of hazy valleys and an orange glow in the east prior to sunrise. 
Thankfully, we were always far away from any fires and never close to danger, although at least an hour of travel was through burned sections of the bush. This is cow country, wide spaces of dry grass, with lots of sycamore gum trees.
We didn’t sleep well the first night, due to our own fault of not using earplugs. The track in this section of Australia is not cared for very well, unlike the fast trains of Europe. Things are creaky, and there is no rhythm to the rock and roll. The train rolls at night, and gets serviced during the day as we go out on one of several excursion options.
Our days always start with a fun time of coffee in the club car, followed by a great full-order breakfast in the dining car. Today we took a bus to Nelson Bay at Port Stephens, and took a boat ride to see spinner dolphins and the landscape from the water. It’s summer, here down under, so the day was lovely, the water warm, and most people on vacation on this day, New Year’s Eve.
Back at the harbour, as we disembarked and walked along the pier, a gust of wind removed Sue’s hat from her head and blew it into the harbour. Ted did what any gentleman would do. 
Already wearing swim trunks under his shorts (in hopes for a jump in the bay from the boat which never came) he assessed the situation, looked for a net, but found none. So, he removed shoes and shirt, performed a lovely racing dive into the drink, and captured the hat to the wonder, amazement, and cheers of the rest of the tour group. Sue’s hat was saved.
We enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at a bayside diner, and a long sight-seeing drive back to train via a few other cities, bays, and even saw the massive Newcastle coal-loading facilities that originally made this area prosper. Back on the train around 4 pm, we pulled rolled on the next leg of our journey as we showered and dressed up for a great, moving dinner.
The rest of that evening we partied! We were among the first of the world’s population to celebrate-in the New Year and a new decade. In our club car, party favors, stories of the past, and trips to the open bar, were equally shared with laughs and joy among old and new friends. Sue and I celebrated the new year with a festive clink of our champagne glasses followed by a kiss. That night we used ear plugs and enjoyed a long night of sleep.