Australia #8 - The Ghan - By Train from Alice Springs to Adelaide

Planning our 90 day roadtrip of Tahiti, Australia and New Zealand I realized that Alice Springs (see Australia #6) and Uluru (Australia #7) might be challenging for us so a bit of luxury leaving Alice for Adelaide might be justified. And we love traveling by train!

One of the 30 or so passenger cars, more than I expected, with the lattice roof of Alice Springs station reflected in its windows.

After our almost 20 hour day out to Uluru and back, asleep around 1, we woke at 7, surprisingly fit due to the water, fruit, and food uptake emphasized by our driver/guides. One of them, James, drops by Alice Motor Inn to do laundry, so we say goodbye to him and to Marilyn who runs the inn, but miss our other driver/guide/Marilyn's husband/motel owner Tony by a few minutes. After a short taxi ride check-in is painless, if you've remembered to pack an overnight bag (luggage is placed in a baggage car, and the couple ahead of us hadn't read all the material provided by the railway, so there was much consternation as they tried to repack!). I'm concerned we will have to wait in the very small train station in the heat but we board immediately into an air-conditioned lounge car and are offered a drink!

The Ghan, traversing about 3,000 kilometers through the center of Australia from Darwin in the tropics to Adelaide on the south coast, is one of the world's great railway journeys. Various versions of how the railway got its name exist, but this memorial in front of the station celebrates the commonly accepted version that the train is named after Afghani camel drivers and camels that helped open up the interior in the late 19th century.

The Iron Man memorial marks laying the one-millionth concrete sleeper when the line was modernized about 40 years ago. Prior to modernization the line was unreliable at times, due to flash floods for example - or white ants destroying wooden sleepers! The terrain here is still typical Red Centre desert.

Further south, there is more vegetation, and water, suitable for cattle.

After a good night's sleep in our comfortable two berth cabin we get our first glimpse of the sea, the top end of Spencer Gulf, which comes far inland off the Great Australian Bight. The land here is much more arid than I expected.

We were early to bed as our Uluru trip seemed finally to catch up with us, so we skipped the 2 hour stop around 10 p.m. to stretch legs and view the stars in the middle of the desert. And, as we found throughout Australia, we had an unexpected time change - when we passed from the Northern Territory into South Australia, which was not on Daylight Savings Time, we lost an hour as we turned in.

The train was divided into 5 segments, two Red or day-coaches, two Gold, with cabins, and one Platinum, also with cabins. Each segment had its own lounge and dining cars. We were in Gold, which was exceptional - I can't imagine how Platinum could have been better, but apparently it is. Our overnight trip from Alice to Adelaide was the most expensive part of our 90 day roadtrip (other than our airfare Toronto - Sydney return), but it was more than worth it. And did I mention, we love train travel!

The meals were outstanding: for breakfast, yoghurt with peach pannacotta followed by this corn brioche with smoked salmon! At lunch the first day we met a very nice couple from the UK, hit it off immediately and agree to meet again for dinner. We discover they often visit friends in Toronto, near our home, and meet up with them again 6 months later for another lunch, this time in Greektown, Toronto! We are still in touch - karma!

On a long curve, a chance to see the two engines (in Australian English - power cars!).

After a 24 hour overnight trip The Ghan arrives at Parklands Terminal in Adelaide at 11:30, on schedule, a pleasant 26 Celsius so we’ve had a 20 degree drop from Uluru two days ago! We quickly collect our luggage, and instead of a taxi take a minibus shuttle which has a luggage trailer, so you’re not manhandling bags onto a bus. The drive around Adelaide CBD to drop other passengers is an impromptu tour, and we’re very impressed by the layout, architecture, and parks. We are dropped off right at the downtown rental agency where we pick up our upgraded SUV and head off to find our caravan park.

Join me for my next post - we explore the Adelaide area!

Thanks to @benfenson for watching over my Oz posts!

!steemitworldmap -26.995800 lat 133.465940 long The Ghan Australia d3scr