Australian Trains 2025: 2 - The Ghan

We were picked up at our hotel right on time. The Ghan is advertised as one of the world's great trains. It isn't. It runs between Adelaide in the south and Darwin in the north. It is an old train, the longest train we have been on, maintained well. We had a decent cabin with twin beds and en suite bathroom, however on our first morning our car ran out of water. There was none. I asked the staff if they could get a bucket of water, but that was apparently impossible. Marilynn finally walked six coaches down the moving train to find a public toilet. I made the trek from the dining car when we went for breakfast.

The countryside we travelled through was an dry area. There was a variety of vegetation, ranging from scrub bushes a few inches high to areas with higher bushes and trees. Information was scarce and the staff were not well trained outside of their specific jobs. A couple of times announcements were made and the train slowed to allow passengers to see - one was for a dried river bed and another a small statue beside the track.

After hours of dry countryside we suddenly came upon a fairly major town, with paved roads and a football field with massive lighting surrounding it. No announcement was made as to where we were or what supported the town. It turned out to be Alice Springs, and buses were waiting to take us to the nearby nature reserve. I now walk with a cane, so I was not keen on the 4 km walk through the reserve, however comfortable electric 4 wheel scooters were waiting for us, which made the tour comfortable. We started in a small stadium for a trained birds show, then a wheel chair friendly nature museum with many smaller animals on display. We returned to the train just in time for dinner. The average age of passengers was high, so there was nothing going on after dinner.

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

We stopped at Katherine where a bus transported us to a helicopter base for a 20 minute flight. We boarded a 3 seat helicopter for an aerial view of the falls and canyons of Nitmiluk National Park. It was a great flight over incredibly rough country. I was seated beside the pilot where there was only open air beside my seat, no door. Marilynn was happy to sit in the back, which was enclosed in clear plastic sides.

There were no more stops until we reached Darwin and were transported to the DoubleTree hotel, where we had booked an ocean view room. There were apparently no sea view rooms available in spite of Marilynn having booked some time ago. The room was OK, though.

It was a long way, with lots of trees and grass along the top of a cliff above a rocky beach. The people here are very friendly. We asked a fellow where what they call the waterfront was, and he showed us a very long set of stairs down to a flat area at beach level. We were talking to another couple when the man who pointed out the stairs approached us. He had brought his car down to drive us up the lengthy hill so we wouldn't have to walk, then drove us to a restaurant where we had the most amazing lunch of Morton Bay Bugs, which look like mini lobsters without claws and jumbo prawns . People here are amazing.

We then took an Uber to the wharf where we were to board a large yacht for a dinner. cruise We had a good time with the fun couple we were seated beside. The yacht people had a bus laid on to take us back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we fly to Perth to stay a night before boarding our next train, the Indian Pacific to Sydney.