While still procrastinating, I came across this new train line opened today in Australia on Next@CNN. I had planned to write about it earlier today, but I forgot about it and luckily it was replaying again tonight. There's pretty much only three places I'd really love to visit - Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and/or Scotland/Great Britain. While in Australia, I'd love to go into the Outback, see the sights, the wildlife, and all the other beauty of the continent. Now, just starting today, they have a north/south train that traverses Australia from Adelaide to Darwin. At 1600 miles and 3 days long, what better way to see everything in Australia? Optimally, there would be stops along the way to see some wildlife, but obviously, that's quite prohibitive along a railway that is also used for freight trains. The cost is a bit high - $1200 to $1700 for a sleeper and ranges up to $12,000 for the best of the best. With five dining cars and a multitude of other options on the train, I don't think boredom would be a problem - and the sights must be amazing. Now, I've just got to get the cash to get to Australia and then the two grand or so to book the train ride.

Edited to add: The menu (PDF) looks amazing as well. And they have huge discounts for students - just $1100 for the normally $1700 package. What an amazing trip that would be.

URL: Australia's Great Train Journeys