At precisely 3.30pm, it happens. A minor miracle made of custard and vanilla icing is handed to me on a paper plate, and all is well on this long train trip to north-west Victoria.
You couldn’t ask for a more enduring symbol of Victoria’s Mallee region. Forget mallee bulls and mallee scrub; the vanilla slice created by the Ouyen Mallee Bakery is the confection that sparked the annual competition known as the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph.
How I come to be eating this delight aboard a train to Mildura is another story. It’s been impossible since 1993 to catch a scheduled passenger rail service to that rural city, but heritage rail operator Slow Rail Journeys has filled the gap. Several times a year, it operates the Vinelander: an all-expenses-paid rail cruise from Melbourne to Mildura, including several excursions.
But first we have to get there, not as easy a task as you might think. Our standard-gauge train, previously owned by V/Line, must head south-west towards Geelong before curving cross-country to Ararat and Maryborough. From there we can finally trek north towards Mildura (and our essential vanilla slice pickup at Ouyen).
Luckily, this is a rail cruise, so no one is in a hurry. We also have plenty of space – my travel companion and I have been allocated a block of six seats between us, and our fellow passengers are similarly spread out.
We enjoy the first day on the train, particularly travelling the little-used stretch of freight line which weaves through the foothills of the Pyrenees Ranges, with pretty views of rolling green hills.
The first night is spent at the impressive RACV Goldfields Resort near Creswick, then we’re bussed back to Maryborough to continue our train journey. We eat well along the way, with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea being served on board – always items sourced from passing towns, including the aforementioned vanilla slice.
Our arrival at Mildura’s railway station creates a sensation in the train-starved city, with a small crowd welcoming our arrival. Passengers are accommodated near the station, at the Commodore Motel or Mildura Grand Hotel. The Grand is a fascinating historic pile, and a twisting series of corridors leads to our comfortable old-school room with balcony.
Dinners are a social highlight of the trip, and consistently good quality. A tasty alternate drop menu (pork chops or chicken) is served at the Grand soon after arrival in Mildura. The following night’s meal, an array of local produce served within the soaring interior of the city’s Powerhouse, is the best of the journey; and the Murray River dinner cruise aboard the PB Mundoo on the final night in Mildura is also delicious. Breakfasts served in the Grand’s ballroom are a little disappointing, however, with weak coffee and lukewarm bain-marie fare.
Split into two groups, we embark on excursions. On the first day my group heads by bus across the New South Wales border to Mungo National Park, a starkly dry and dramatic environment where some of the oldest human remains have been found.
It’s a one-hour 40-minute drive to get there, much of that over an unsealed road, which leads to applause when we finally return to the bitumen on the return leg. While on site we meet traditional owners who give us the lowdown on the area’s past human settlement, and take us to view fascinating desert formations caused by long-vanished water flows.
The next day sees excursions to Orange World and the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens. There’s enough time between these outings to have a dip in the hotel pool – where it turns out the chilly water hasn’t caught up with the suddenly hot weather.
Never mind, for there’s a return rail journey to Melbourne yet to enjoy, including a lunch date at Clyde Park winery at Bannockburn near Geelong. And, more importantly, a second vanilla slice – this time sourced from award-winning Sharp’s Bakery in tiny Birchip. Which will be judged the best by us passengers? Let the battle of the tastebuds commence!
THE DETAILS
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Tim Richards fell into travel writing after living and teaching in Egypt and Poland. He’s a light packing obsessive, and is especially drawn to the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Follow him on Instagram @aerohaveno