My Amazing Ghan Experience! 🚂

I would like to share one of the greatest adventures of my life! I spent four days and four nights exploring the wonders of Australia’s vast interior on a train. But, not just any train!! It was the Ghan train and it was epic!

The Ghan is an icon. It runs from Darwin to Adelaide or vice versa. We set off from Darwin, on Australia’s northern coast. We travelled into tropical countryside going south through the Northern Territory and across the vast desert landscapes of the Red Centre. The dramatic Flinders mountain range was our back drop as we headed towards our final destination in Adelaide.

But that description is far too brief as so much detail, excitement and adventure filled those four days. I’ll start at the beginning.

Arriving at the pick up hotel in Darwin very early one Saturday morning we made our way to the desk to register for the journey. My husband had his ruck sack mainly filled with cameras and a suitcase. I had a small case as my hand luggage and a larger suitcase. My hand luggage contained mainly shoes.

We were given labels and told to attach them to our luggage. We were then informed that the large suitcases were not allowed in our cabin but would be loaded into the luggage carriage to be collected at the end of the journey. This took a while to process. I looked at my husband.

‘So we can’t take our suitcases with us onto the train?’ I thought of my six pairs of shoes, some make up, a jacket and a book that consisted of my hand luggage. I went into a blind panic! I needed clothes, not shoes!

‘You should have read the instructions’, a sanctimonious old git offered his two penny worth!

After sharing the contents of my suitcase with crowds of interested onlookers, I managed to exchange the shoes for clothing. Carrying my little suitcase, still in shock, I boarded the bus to the station. I was sure that I’d forgotten some really important items so paid no attention to the buzz of excitement building in the bus. My husband looked chilled, leaning back and staring out of the window.

At 8 a m we arrived at the platform to be greeted by a carnival like atmosphere. Tables were laden with food and a man serenaded us with ballads. There were smiling faces all around but I wasn’t smiling. I felt a bit shell-shocked. It seemed surreal. I was offered and took my first glass of champagne. This was to be the first of many! For the next few days champagne would flow like water.

Finally, after walking up and down the platform a few times with my husband to get some exercise, we were allowed to climb on board. Debbie greeted us and ticked us in. We were shown our cabin number and told to ‘settle in’. However, my husband wasn’t ready to ‘settle in’. He decided to go back outside and take more photographs. One can obviously never have enough photographs! A couple of minutes later he was back. Debbie had informed him, that, once he had been ‘ticked in’ he had to stay on the train until he was ‘ticked out’! A while later she knocked on our cabin door to reiterate her warning just in case my husband tried to escape again!

Every day we went on an excursion. There was a choice so everyone was catered for. We sailed through a gorge, went on a tour around Alice Springs and had dinner under the stars. We were taken to the opal mine capital of the world where people actually lived underground in homes called dugouts. The town was called Coober Pedy and was fascinating where temperatures can reach as high as 52C! The homes were wonderful and cool, just without windows and pitch black when the lights were turned off. The landscape around Coober Pedy appears moon-like, most unusual. It’s dotted with shafts and mullock heaps from opal mine activities. There was a dingo fence near the town which apparently is one of the longest structures in the world, over 5,800 kilometres.

We were also involved in a collision with a road train carrying three carriages full of cattle. Fortunately no one was injured but our trip had to be extended for another day and night. The second engine had been damaged so health and safety being foremost, the decision was made to continue with only one engine. This decision wasn’t made lightly or quickly. It took twenty four hours and many rumours until we were fully informed. The staff were really good and very helpful, treating us to fancy meals and lots of champagne!

In fact, during the whole trip we were treated like royalty and the meals, of which there were many and varied were absolutely delicious! This sounds like an advertisement for trip advisor or a brochure for the Ghan, but, if anyone is planning a trip to Australia, I can highly recommend this train journey. It was the highlight of my holiday and definitely one I shall never forget. 👠