CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Hop on board the Great Southern Rail and take in the vastness of the country; from desert landscapes to fertile
plains, a journey on-board the Great Southern Rail provides opportunities for reflection; the interiors of Seven Stars draw on the nostagia of the
belle époque Pullman carriages of EuropeJAPAN / SEVEN STARS
/ KYUSHU
Japan is known for its bullet trains which
travel at speeds of up to 320 km an hour, so it
may come as a surprise to learn that the boss
of the company brought the Shinkansen
bullet train to Kyushu who commissioned
the country’s first luxury sleeper train. Koji
Karaike apparently wanted a train that
would go slow, taking its time to showcase
the beauty of the most southerly of Japan’s
four main islands – a dream that was realised
in October 2013.
Kyushu is a tropical island, a land of
volcanoes and extremely photogenic.
The portrait windows of a train carriage
beautifully frame the lush rice paddies and
verdant landscape. The train offers two
routes around Kyushu – a long one (four
days, three nights) and a short one (two
days, one night) and both include plenty of
outings. The longer route travels through the
five prefectures of Fukuoka, Oita, Miyazaki,
Kagoshima and Kumamoto and includes a
night in a traditional Japanese inn, a ryokan.
It’s in a hot spring resort and the individual
cottages have tatami mat floors, futons and
private onsens.
The train is boutique – there are just 12
en-suite rooms and two luxury suites. The
interiors draw on the classic, nostalgia of the
belle époque Pullman carriages of Europe –
think brass fittings and vintage lights – with
exquisite Japanese touches. The walls are
made of rosewood and maple and the floors
from walnut. Shoji paper screens cover the
windows and the sliding glass doors. As
comfortable as the guest rooms are, it’s the
carriage at the end of the train where you get
the best view from a large picture window.
A good time to visit is in autumn when
the maple leaves turn red in a spectacular
display that is known as momiji. Incidentally,
the name Seven Stars doesn’t refer to the
level of service, but to the seven prefectures,
or provinces, that make up Kyushu.
http://www.cruisetrain-sevenstars.comAUSTRALIA / GREAT
SOUTHERN RAIL / THE
INDIAN PACIFIC
Surrounded by water, Australia is sometimes
referred to as an ‘island continent’. The
Indian Ocean laps against its west coast and
the Pacific Ocean against the east coast. To
get a sense of the vastness of the country,
travel from Perth in the west to Sydney on
the east coast, a 4,352km journey aboard the
Great Southern Rail. The journey includes
the longest stretch of straight line in the
world, 478km across the Nullarbor Plain.
The three-night, four-day Indian Pacific
route runs all year round, leaving Sydney
on a Wednesday afternoon and arriving in
Perth at Saturday lunchtime. In an effort to
entice a younger crowd, the train has been
spruced up in the last few years, and a new
food and wine menu aims to showcase the
best that Australia has to offer.
The journey drives home the vastness of
the country and for much of the way there
is little life outside the window beyond the
odd sheep. It’s a chance for self-reflection as
you watch the desert landscapes change toNovember/December 2017 AsiaSpa 105