Trivia for the day: The Ghan is an abbreviated version of the train's previous nickname "The Afghan Express", unofficially bestowed in 1923 by one of its crews. The train's name honors the Afghan camel drivers who arrived in Australia in the late 19th century to help find a way to reach the country's unexplored interior.
More trivia for the day: In 1862, John McDouall Stuart was the first European to cross Australia from North to South (he actually started in the South). It took Stuart 3 expeditions and 2 years to find away across the continent (lack of water was the biggest impediment). The Ghan pretty much follows Stuart's route.
My day started at 8:15 when I was picked up at my hotel. Part of Gold Class service is free transport to/from the train station. My bags were checked in when I got on the bus -- so all I had to do when we got to the train station is find my car and board the train. They actually make that bit very easy -- they drive people along the train and drop them off at their car (it's a very long train -- I think more than 1km). I decided to walk to my car -- which was a long walk in the Darwin heat. My car was 1 of 2 gold class single sleeper cabin cars. 18 cabins in the car -- with shared toilets (2) and showers (2). Fortunately only 8 out of the 18 cabins were occupied -- so no wait time ever for either toilet or shower. The cabins were small -- not too bad when the bed was up -- easy to move around -- pretty squishy once they put the bed down. I did have a sink in my cabin -- it folded out of a cabinet -- hot/cold water but no drain -- instead when you closed up the sink, the water went swooshing down the cabinet (I'm assuming there was a drain at the bottom of the cabinet). 1 small closet, 3 little cabinets, 1 power outlet, -- and that pretty much was all that was in my cabin.
We left Darwin at 10:15 (about 15 minutes late) and pulled into Katherine at 2pm. I had lunch at 12:15 (all meals are booked in for a specific time). There were 2 dining cars (can't believe I didn't take a picture!) -- tables of 4 set with white linen tablecloths, etc. -- felt like I was on the Orient Express. Assigned seating -- I sat with different people at every meal -- food was excellent / lots of choices-- and a very nice wine selection (all included). Right before the dining cars was a bar / lounge car -- I didn't really spend much time there -- but others did playing games, drinking, etc. Everyone I met was Australian -- and most were "pensioners" (they get a good discounted rate).
At Katherine, we had the option of doing several different activities -- I picked the Katherine Gorge boat trip (as did most people). We got off the train and boarded buses for a 30 minute drive to the gorge. The trees around the boat house were loaded with bats (red flying foxes and black flying foxes) -- kind of freaky and very noisy.
Katherine Gorge is in Nitmiluk National Park (just south of Kakadu National park) -- it's made up of 13 gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls (note: the Katherine River begins in Kakadu). Boats can go through 5 of the gorges. We were supposed to go through 2 gorges -- but the water levels were too low -- so we had to settle for just 1 gorge. The boat trip was great -- the gorge is really beautiful (I don't think my pics do it justice). Our tour guide was fantastic -- explaining both the geology of the gorge and how the indigenous people made a life along the gorge. There are freshwater crocs in the gorge (and salties during the wet season) -- but we didn't see any of them -- water is still pretty warm -- so no reason for the crocs to get out of the water.
We got back to the train a little after 6pm (it took forever for people to get on/off the buses & boats). I had dinner at 6:30pm (fantastic lamb chops) --- my table mates were a lot of fun -- so we sat at our table for quite awhile (a bit surprised they didn't kick us out) -- we didn't leave until almost 9pm (and the last dinner seating was at 8:30pm). I called it a night then -- squeezed into my room and was asleep by 10pm (I'm turning into an old lady --- actually I think the old ladies in my car stayed up a lot later than I did!)
Breakfast was from 6:30am - 8:30am --- another excellent meal. Taking a shower on a train was interesting -- for some reason, I felt the train movement more than when I was walking around in the train.
We pulled into Alice Springs on time (a little after 9am) -- and then just sat there. Eventually someone came on over the PA system and told us that there was some problem further down the line -- and that the train was going to be delayed by 10+ hours getting into Adelaide (I didn't really care since I was getting off at Alice Springs). Typically they make a 3.5 hour stop in Alice Springs (again people go off and do excursions). They told everyone that they expected to still leave Alice Springs as schedule -- but later that day (Thursday), I was up on a hill and could see that the train was still there -- and then read this news article that they actually spent Thursday night in Alice Springs -- delaying their arrival into Adelaide by 24 hours.
Overall -- happy that I took the train -- it was a lot of fun -- glad that I only did it for 1 night though (especially given the delays). There really wasn't much to see enroute -- just a bunch of trees / scrub grass -- not like going through the Rockies -- and of course it was dark for a good part of the trip -- so couldn't see anything.
Weather: mix of sun & clouds, 75 - 95F
Miles Walked: 3
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