Riverina Rail Tour

Itinerary

Day 1 | Sydney – Bowral

Your Riverina adventure starts at Sydney’s Central Station. Once onboard the Aurora Australis, either choose to relax in the lounge carriage, or settle into your cabin while we travel south from Sydney. Lunch will be served onboard the train today as we travel to Goulburn, where you will have the choice from two off-train experiences.

Option 1: Retford Park National Trust

Built in 1887 by the Hordern family and lavishly redesigned by James Fairfax in the 1960s, Retford Park is a place of great heritage significance located in the heart of Bowral, Gundungurra Country. Be amazed by the ‘Portuguese Pink’ mansion while wandering the pristine gardens dotted with sculptures and artworks. With 60,000 artefacts, textiles, and furniture within its collection, here enjoy a guided house tour, and a stroll around the stunning gardens.

Option 2: Fairground Follies

The Fairground Follies at the Antique Mechanical Music Museum features a most exciting and unique collection of fairground and mechanical music. “Where good times of the past, make great times for today”. An interactive experience featuring cultural music, folk art, a 100-year-old carousel and much more. This is an enchanting attraction, a magical place filled with music, entertainment and history of antique mechanical music. Enjoy a guided tour and afternoon-tea.

Following your first day of touring, rejoin your train in Moss Vale and enjoy dinner onboard as we travel to Goulburn and stable for the evening.

Day 2 | Junee – Coolamon – Murrami

Enjoy breakfast onboard as we leave Goulburn and continue along the Main South Line. We pass many interesting villages and towns today as we travel through the Canola Trail, so keep an eye out for the many grain silos adjacent to the rail line. Our train then arrives into Junee, and there is an opportunity to watch the Loco Runaround movement.

Our first stop for the day is the Historical Railway Museum featuring a 100-foot turntable, showcasing steam and diesel locomotives. The Junee Roundhouse is one of just a few surviving, working, railway Roundhouses in the Southern Hemisphere. It is uniquely Australian as its size, being fully circular and having a long, ‘100 foot’, turntable. While the Museum is part of the Roundhouse, the other part, including the turntable, is still used as a diesel locomotive servicing facility by Junee Railway Workshop.

Have you ever wanted to see what happens at a licorice factory? Your next stop is the Junee Licorice & Chocolate factory. As soon as you step foot in the front door you’ll be immersed in the delicious aroma of licorice and chocolate, one of the chocolatiers will talk you through the process of licorice and chocolate production and you’ll witness it being made before your eyes.

We then have a short drive to Coolamon where our lunch spot awaits. Enjoy a tour with an artisan cheese maker located in the heart of the Riverina, known for creating an innovative range of handcrafted cheese, followed by lunch.

There is free time to wander about Coolamon town before we rejoin the train and head onto Murrami. After dinner onboard, enjoy a special stargazing experience in Murrami.

Day 3 | Whitton – Griffith

Today you will enjoy breakfast onboard before departing on one of
the below off-train experiences.

Option 1: Meet The Producers – Morella Grove Farm, Southern Cotton Gin and Whitton Malt House
Nestled in the lush Riverina region of New South Wales, Morella Grove is where the essence of nature meets Frank and his family’s passion for excellence. This award winning producer of olive oil, following a paddock to plate philosophy is your first stop of the day. Morella Grove is a beacon of sustainability, in the Riverina’s arid beauty, they practise minimal intervention, respecting and nurturing the natural environment. Next is it a visit to Southern Cotton, an independently owned ginning facility located in Whitton. Consistently ranked as one of the best gins in Australia, the privately owned Southern Cotton provides fast, timely ginning for local growers. Your tour concludes with lunch at Whitton Malt House.

Optional Upgrade: Whisky Tasting at Whitton Malt House (limited capacity)
Try a curated selection of fine whisky’s (additional cost).

Option 2: Farm & Vines – Murray Cod Farm And Calabria Wines
Specialising in producing premium pond grown Murray Cod, join a guided tour of Murray Cod Farm, which is committed to sustainability and operates with a focus on improving the natural environment. From here, journey onto Calabria Family Wines, where you’re invited to savour the essence of the families’ wines and the warmth of their traditions. Renowned for Italian hospitality, at Calabria Family Wines you will experience a fusion of flavours and aromas through the café bar menu, new museum and sensory wall, plus explore exquisite wines and discover new favourites. Enjoy a wine-tasting and Italian shared platter style lunch. Following your tour, rejoin the train in Yenda and travel onto Temora where we stable overnight, enjoying another delicious dinner onboard.

Day 4 | Temora – Bundawarrah – Orange

Breakfast this morning is onboard before experiencing Temora. Today you can choose one of two Temora tours:

Option 1: Bundawarrah Centre

Visit the Bundawarrah Centre which houses the Temora Rural Museum. Spend the morning experiencing the history of the region including a cottage of hardwood slabs that was Sir Donald Bradman’s first home, a one room public school, bush church, country dance hall, printery, flour mill and ambulance station. Next is the Ambulance Museum which includes ambulance vehicles and conveyances dating back to 1897.

Option 2: Temora Aviation Museum
Alternatively spend the morning exploring the Temora Aviation Museum which was built on the site of the biggest and longest lasting RAAF Elementary Flying Training School during World War II. There are three main exhibit buildings to discover, the Museum which is in the original 10 EFTS Guardhouse; the second exhibition area, located in the Engineering Hangar overlooking the aircraft which are currently in maintenance; and the Display Hangar which houses the new exhibitions area along with the aircraft.

Coaches will return you to Temora Station where lunch will be served in the dining carriage as we travel on freight only lines via Stockinbingal. There are many freight trains to pass on this single track line, and we are likely to experience delays. Dinner will be served onboard the train as we travel through Parkes and onto the Broken Hill line to Orange Rail Yard.

Day 5 | Orange – Blue Mountains – Sydney

Enjoy breakfast as we travel from Orange and towards the Great Dividing Range. On through Lithgow and through the 10 tunnels that replaced the Lithgow Zig-Zag, then cross the Darling Causeway on the way to Mount Victoria. Stopping at Mount Victoria, we disembark for a fun adventure on Lithgow’s Zig Zag Railway. Soak up the sights, smells and scenery on Australia’s historic rail adventure – the Zig Zag Railway. Established in 1869, you’ll enjoy a relaxing ride on the romantic, nostalgic, impressive steam locomotive as it hauls you over the Great Lithgow Zig Zag. With a grazing boxed lunch provided, you’ll then have free time in Leura and Katoomba before reboarding the train for the last leg of your Vintage Rail Journey as we arrive back into Sydney Central Station.