Holiday Part 3: The Ghan - A Journey to the Heart of Australia

We boarded The Ghan in Adelaide (after having returned from Kangaroo Island the evening before) for a trip to the center of Australia (and now that the track has been extended to Darwin to the Top End too). Our trip itinerary was as follows: Adelaide - Alice Springs - Katherine for a few hours - finally Darwin (more on Darwin later).

The Ghan is the 48-hour, 2979 km passenger service on the Adelaide - Alice Springs – Darwin Central Australian Railway in Australia. The service’s name is an abbreviated version of its previous nickname The Afghan Express, which in turn comes from the Afghan camel trains that trekked the same route before the advent of the railway.

Not long after pulling out of the station we were welcomed aboard the train with a champagne reception in the lounge followed by a wonderful meal in the dining car. As we were eating we were able to see the sun setting over the fields of South Australia. Sometime during dinner our cabin was turned into a bedroom. Sadly I got the top bunk and consequently I did not sleep well, which wasn't helped by the 7:oo am wake-up call with coffeee and tea brought to our room. During the course of our journey a narrative of the towns and areas we passed through was play over the PA system, unbelievable each section started and ended with a song. What song you might ask? Well that would be The Ghan theme song. I can't believe it but the train actually has a theme song.

Sadly I don't have much to say about Alice Springs other than I don't think I'll ever be going back. Our hotel was smack in the middle of the city (if you can call it that) and part of the Todd Mall, which was great. There wasn't much for us to do as most everything was closed (aparently the country shuts down between Christmas and New Years). We strolled around the town, went over to the Gaol but it was closed (so now we are 2 for 2) and then decided to see if the Royal Flying Doctors Service museum was opened. It was, and much better than I though it would be. Because people live in extremely remote areas, as well as on huge cattle/sheep stations, far from anyone else, medical care isn't exactly around the corner. The Royal Flying Doctor Service actually flies out to these places for clinics and emergency care. It's pretty amazing.

So what might you ask do people do in the center of Australia? Well I can tell you this it wasn't the traditional Chinese food and a movie. First the one Chinese restaurant we passed looked sketchy and second the movie theater was closed. So what did we do then? We signed up for a 500 km (one way) one-day bus trip to Uluru/Ayers Rock.

But before I get to The Rock, our first stop on this day tour was Kata Tjuta also known as The Olgas. The Olgas are located 48 km from Ayres Rock and they stand about 200 metres taller and are 36 individual domes. The name for the Olgas is Kata Tjuta which means the place of many heads. While at The Olgas we walked through the Valley of the Winds (the flies were once again present and very annoying and we now understand why people wear hats with corks hanging all around, also popular are fly nets that go over ones head).

From The Olgas we drove over to The Rock.
To borrow a phrase from a local backpacker travel center in Kings Cross... "Bugger me, it's huge!" Ayers Rock has officially been known as Uluru since it was returned to the Anangu, the Aboriginal owners, in 1985. It was then leased to the Australian government and is now jointly administered. Uluru is more than 318 m (986 ft) high, 8 km (5 miles) around with a hard exterior.

Unfortunately, because of high winds the walk to the top was closed (though the Aboriginal owners do not like people to climb the rock one still can if one chooses) and a few other walks were also closed. We were able to take a guided 'hike' around part of the base with one of our guides and he shared with us some of the Aboriginal stories about the rock and point out some bush tucker along the way. We then drove around the base of the Rock (there was a fire around a small area so we couldn't get too close).

The day came to an end with dinner while watching the sunset over the Rock. Because it was a little cloudy the colors weren't that awesome but it was still pretty magnificent. If you ask me this day trip is the best thing one could do while visiting Alice Springs.

Before we knew it we were back on The Ghan and headed toward Katherine and Darwin.