Moving on

Check out day from Melbourne. First stop a present for Labrador, a toy kangaroo holding a boomerang (they do that all the time) and with a joey in its pouch. He may on receipt of it forgive me for my absence or may raise doubts about my taste.
Despite the station being a short walk away I took the circular route tram in the opposite direction for one last look around.
Southern Cross Station is both coach and rail and the rail part has 16 platforms some divided into 2. The diesels are kept idling with consequent noise and fumes unfortunately. And AUstralians love their fast food, seemingly hundreds of outlets. My choice an icy fruit mix concoction. But most people on the train ate something, an iced doughnut, an oriental bean dish whose smell filled the carriage, a wrap.
The journey to Bairnsdale is a little under 4 hours and 281km (175 miles) so speed not great but cost, UK should note - off peak single $34 or just £17.
An elderly diesel engine arrived with 4 elderly carriages. These are wider than UK so seating 3 one side 2 the other. This is a reserved seat train yet, excluding the 1 first class, there was 1 reserved coach and 2 unreserved. In the UK they try to limit long distance train stops and get travellers between stops to travel to the next stop to board. This one stopped often to pick up until it got some way out despite there being more frequent local trains.
Melbourne is sprawling. Mile upon mile of industrial and residential landscape - a graffiti artist's heaven it appears. Once the sprawl has gone it is continual building sites with new homes going up. Boom town.
Finally the countryside.
Trees and trees, loads of them, bringing wonderful greenery. Fields often outlined by them, roads and tracks lined both sides and likewise streams, Sadly a few skeletons of trees long gone. For much of the journey the land is large  (very) fields appearing to be mainly grass. The colour varies from sand to a sand base colour with just a smattering of green mist, here and there a bright patch of a hardy weed or where there is just a little more water. Whilst I spotted an orchard with trees covered at the top - protection from sun, birds perhaps but more probably hail - and another of maize but cattle seem to be the "crop" mainly. These herds have to scatter from each other rather than close herd so they can find enough grass left behind.
The line follows roughly that of the Princes Highway, the alternative to the shorter Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney. And for a long stretch we were paralleled by a pipeline - water, gas, oil who knows - not buried but above ground. The odd English name town like Stratford.
We hit single track and got to Bairnsdale on time. Take a note UK railways. 1 platform and now the end of the line.
A gentle 20 minute walk to a lovely Victorian hotel/guest house.