It’s on every Aussie Baby-Boomer’s bucket List – the Ghan. It was on ours too – so we decided: Let’s do it. As simple as that. Taking advantage of the Pensioners Discount and the Early Booking Discount. And deciding to indulge in three days in Darwin and three in Adelaide. Perfect. Nine days.
Our hotel is in the centre of Darwin. It’s the end of the dry season, and everything looks tired. The centre of Darwin looks down at heel – along the shore the palm trees all look droopy and this part of Darwin looks as if t was all rebuilt after Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and never renovated. Our hotel looks ordinary – but inside it is lovely. Cool and open and built around a giant Atrium – not unlike the one I stayed in in Singapore.
Day 2- The next day we do a bus tour of Darwin and find the nicer areas – the Harbour area is pretty and there are lovely beaches – it is weird to think you can’t swim in them because of the ever present danger of crocodiles. On the bus tour we pull into a bus area behind the main street while the driver goes to the office. Just over from us is a shop called the “Happy Herb Shop”. I ask the driver what you could buy in there, but he says he’s never seen it before. Yeah right! Parsley, Sage Rosemary and Thyme?
Day 3 - Next day we do a day trip to Kakadu. My advice to people would be to do this trip in Autumn – after the wet season. An early start and miles to go before we get there. Onto a boat and a cruise along the Yellow Water Billabong. Lots of birds, a buffalo and yes – plenty of crocodiles. “Don’t put your hand in the water!” The guide has plenty of unnecessary instructions and stories about a wild horse which had its foal on the side of the river. As it was born a crocodile came out and dragged it straight in. All in front of a crowd just like us. Luckily, it wasn’t us.
Day 4 – onto the Ghan. We have single cabins – they are tiny and when the bed is put down there’s not room to turn around. But meals are great in the dining car, and there are free tours at our stops at Katherine and Alice Springs. You can go to the car adjoining the restaurant and have drinks and talk to others, but as these carriages are used for people waiting for meals, there are usually no available seats. So we sit in our cabin – there’s room for 1 visitor, and with the door open we talk to the passing traffic. The scenery is red and dry – there is no water in the Elizabeth River as we went over the long bride you see in the ads. At Katherine we go on a cruise through the gorge – it is spectacular. It’s amazing to think that it floods! The crocodiles here are the freshwater variety which are not so dangerous – we don’t see any but we wouldn’t have risked it if we had! Some passengers have gone on a plane ride over the gorge –(at extra cost). They say that it was spectacular – but 5 or so people in a little plane with no air-con, in the 450 heat made it difficult. The 450 heat on land was difficult as well! I’m not as young as I used to be!
Day 5 – Stopover in Alice Springs. We opt for the tour around Alice. First to the Old Telegraph House; It is hot again – over 400 the heat is very dry. We also go to the Flying Doctors Headquarters and I go to a Reptile Display while Bookworm goes to a Museum of Pioneer Women. When I was last here (in 1967 or so) I went to The School of the Air and out to a local Indigenous Community. We only have a short stop (and I imagine the community visit is no longer acceptable and the School of the Air is done by Computer!
Day 6 – By breakfast the surrounding terrain has changed as we near Adelaide and we see the Flinders Ranges in the distance to the east, and a large body of water (Spencer’s Gulf?) to the west. Just before Port Augusta we move onto the small amount of track that is shared by the Ghan and the Indian Pacific. Some passengers get off here and continue the journey to Perth, or to Sydney on the other train. The rest of us stay on, and soon we are travelling through the outer suburbs of Adelaide. Later that night we wander out of the hotel in search of dinner. The roads are blocked, and we stop to find out why. There is a parade – a “Zombie Walk” and shortly the street fills with people – young, old, families – dressed as ghouls, ghosts, patients covered in fake blood, goths and anything else that they considered to be scary. Apparently all for charity – but lots of fun.
Day 7 – We have booked a tour to the Barossa Valley. We drive out through the northern suburbs of Adelaide and up through the picturesque but winding roads of the Adelaide Hills. This area is bushfire prone, but currently leafy and pretty. Eventually we arrive at Jacob’s Creek winery, where we learn some rudimentary wine-tasting skills. Then off to Hahndorf – a pretty village originally established by German settlers – many still live there. We bought fudge (to take home) and ice-cream (not to take home).
Day 8 was Sunday, so we thought it appropriate to have a day of rest. Bookworm took off to church at the Adelaide Cathedral. I bought local papers and did my own spiritual thing in the coffee shop. That evening we had our celebration farewell dinner in the hotel restaurant – Turkish Lamb shops. And, of course, some Jacob Creek wine. After all, we only had to negotiate the lift back to our room!
