Just Back From...

The Ghan, Darwin to Adelaide

By Barbara Best

Darwin, the most tropical of the Capital cities in Australia is nowhere near as uncomfortable this time of year as I thought it would be, and certainly nowhere near as humid as Sydney has been recently. True we did experience one sharp storm but we used it to take time-out to visit the Art gallery and Museum and see the Commemorative display of Cyclone Tracey and that helped place our storm into proper perspective.

Other places of interest include the East Arm military museum which shows how the 500,000 soldiers stationed in Darwin during the war managed to survive incredible tropical conditions, and the war memorial to the many who died in the air raids.

But the main reason I was in Darwin was to take the legendary Ghan train to Adelaide.

It has only been operating all the way through to Darwin since 1999 but already has been voted the most popular tourist attraction in Australia.

It's travelling in a style reminiscent of the an earlier bygone era before the advent of faster jet age. Yes you do potter along around 50 km's an hour, but what time that gives you to catch up on a novel, listen to the commentary or talk to other fellow train tragics! The journey takes 3 days and two nights but there is so much to do it is amazing how fast the time flies. From April this year the train is going to be travelling twice a week, so you can stop off in Alice, travel to Uluru and then return to collect the next train through.

There are three classes of travel on the Ghan: the First Class service is called Gold Kangaroo, this comprises a fully self contained, ensuite cabin and includes all your meals.

The Second Class is called Red Kangaroo. In this class you can book either a cabin with no bathroom (just a wash basin), or you can book airline style sleeper-seats with facilities at the end of the cabin. Both styles of Red Kangaroo service have facilities at each end of the cabins for showers. As one back packer said to me it's heaps more fun than the bus and where else could you take a shower whilst you are travelling? Red Kangaroo class does not include meals but you can buy food from the dining buffet car or your own supplies on board.

I was in Gold Kangaroo and I can tell you that it is truly wonderful. From the complimentary champagne upon departure to the last breakfast coming into Adelaide the food is of such a great quality with such great service you are hard put to believe you are on a train. If you want to travel with friends there are a few special carriages that you can charter for less than the cost of the Gold Kangaroo service - carriages with such grand names as the Hans Heysen Carriage. These have double beds in them and you can breakfast in your own carriage

All the food is cooked freshly just before serving. There are two sittings and the anticipation of the later diners as they wait with a pre meal drink is something to behold as they see the earlier diners exit replete. Upon your return to the cabin after dinner your bunk beds have been turned down, after breakfast the reverse - all is made up.

However the Ghan is more than an eating experience, its a collective experience for the whole train. When the train stops in Katherine and the excursion buses arrive to take you either for a boat trip on the Gorge or a town tour everyone, no matter where they are seated, joins in and complete strangers feel they must talk to each other to tell them of something they have either seen or learnt about this wonderful train.

The same in Alice Springs where you can have an excursion to a desert park or just wander around the town.

The Ghan is an hotel on wheels - from the time you take your complimentary champagne, the service is a silver service that would be hard to find in top star hotels and all run and cooked whilst the train is moving. But it's also the staff who, although they have travelled possibly 50 times, have the same amount of enthusiasm as if it was their first trip and share this enthusiasm with the passengers to make it such a wonderful experience

I confess I am a train tragic and I have also wanted to go to Alice Springs ever since I read 'A Town called Alice' many years ago. For me it was a trip of a lifetime and it did not disappoint!