Sunday 17th March 2019 - The Ghan

I was very excited when I got up this morning! A bit like a child really! Because I was going on a train. Not just any train but The Ghan, the train that runs between Adelaide and Darwin, a distance of 2979km, about 1800 miles. A one way journey lasts 54hours, although as we were only going as far as Alice Springs we were only on board for 24 hours, a distance of only 1559km, or 974 miles.

Our taxi picked us up from the hotel and took us to the station where we checked in. Our suitcases were stored away and all we had was an overnight bag, which for us means our well worn day packs! On the basis that we were expected to wear smart casual, and also have warm clothes for the early morning off train experience of sunrise in the desert this was a little challenging! Maybe crumpled smart casual will suffice!

From here on in it was all inclusive! First stop, the bar, for coffee!! We had to be there at the latest an hour before the train left and with almost 300 passengers on the train we were there in good time to get sorted. I had time to buy a postcard for a train-loving friend and was told that if I wrote it before boarding they would stamp and post it, even to the UK. Now that’s good service! Coffee drunk, postcard written, some photos taken, we decided a glass of bubbly was a good idea! By this time the waiting area was filling up and people needed seats. 2 ladies came and sat next to us, one of whom was over 90 and still travelling and using a mobile to keep in touch with family!

Onto the train and unable to see either end so it’s big. We were surprised therefore when it was announced half an hour before the journey was due to start that the train was about to move as it needed to join up with the other half of the train on the adjacent platform. This train is 902metres long. Almost incomprehensible!! 2 engines, 38 carriages and 49 staff to look after everyone.

We were shown our cabin, a long bench seat by day that converts into a single bed at night. Then there is a top bunk and we have a tiny en-suite, which includes a shower. We were given our time for lunch in the restaurant car and informed about the lounge where you could sit with other passengers if you wanted.

At 12.15 we pulled out of the station, heading north out of Adelaide. As our lunchtime was 1.00 we soon wandered along to the lounge and sat down with our drinks to watch the world that is currently Australia go by. However a couple nearby soon started chatting to us. They were Aussies from Queensland who had been visiting relatives in Adelaide and were now off to see their son in Darwin! It makes a trip to London to visit children seem like a trip to the shop!!

At 1.00 we were called to lunch and were seated with another couple, this time from Toronto, Canada. They are travelling for 8 weeks in New Zealand and Australia to escape the Canadian winter, rather like the couple we travelled with in Tasmania last week who were also travelling for 8 weeks. A very pleasant 2 course lunch and then back to the cabin to look at the view. What I hadn’t anticipated was the number of people watching The Ghan go past. Some with cameras, others with big cameras on tripods and microphones too! All that I saw were men, adults, no children, and when I waved at them they waved back!!

I had wondered if I would be bored just sat on a train for hours, but no! The view constantly changed and as we travelled became more rural. There were vast fields of stubble, so presumably wheat or barley, and then bit by bit this diminished and the land became more scrubby and less fertile, but still very flat. After 4 hours the train came to a halt. We had to pull onto another track to allow a very long freight train to pass. Much of the line is single track, but in places there are 2 tracks to allow trains to pass. Freight always has precedence over The Ghan.

On our wine tour on Saturday we had met a couple who were also on the Ghan so we arranged to meet up with them. Another Canadian couple escaping the winter! They were travelling for 4 months, although part of the time was to visit their daughter in Perth. It is their normal practice to travel this much every year!

And then to dinner and our companions this time were an Aussie couple, well into their 70’s and they were heading to Darwin because of the history there and particularly around the 2nd world war. The wife recounted a story of how earlier in the journey she had returned to her cabin with her husband to use the loo, but had got mixed up with the carriages. Each cabin is numbered but the carriage letter is only at each end of the carriage and on top of that the cabins are not lockable from the outside! Inevitably she walked into the wrong cabin without realising and unfortunately the rightful occupant returned leaving the poor husband trying to explain why he was in this cabin, and more importantly why his wife was in the en-suite! They were able to tell a story in a way that made us laugh a lot.

After dinner it was then back to our cabin where the 2 bunks had been made up ready for us to hop into. We settled down as we were due to be woken at 6 the next morning ready to get up and see the sun rise over the desert.