Another day, and another train..... The Ghan.
We were still feeling rough with the beginnings of head colds but were excited about our next train trip. We had plenty of time after breakfast to pack and then check out of the hotel, we grabbed a taxi to take us back to Parklands Terminal and check in.
As you would expect there was free wifi at the Terminal so we caught up with our mail, getting a message from Michael's cousin that she would be at Alice Springs to meet us. This cousin, Margaret, is sister to the cousins in Sydney that we recently 'discovered' when checking into the family tree. We missed out on meeting her when we drove around Aus. By the time we'd found that she existed, and where she was living, we'd been through Alice Springs and were a 2 day drive south.
As usual with Great Southern Rail everything went very smoothly and we were soon called to board the train. The train was so long that it was over two platforms so once everyone was on board there was a bit of shunting to connect the two halves. The train actually had 37 coaches and was 924.8 metres long. Almost 1 kilometre.
We were delighted to meet up with Casey, the dining hostess from the Indian Pacific again.She had had a few days break in Adelaide and was now working The Ghan up to Darwin.
We left on time, passing through the Adelaide suburbs and out to Port Augusta. Travelling into Adelaide we'd passed through here in pre dawn darkness so it was interesting to see the area in daylight. Across the Spencer Gulf we could see the industry at Whyalla and then after Port Augusta as the train rounded a bend we could see the end of the train against the backdrop of the Flinders Ranges.
We continued on the same track as the Indian Pacific had taken but at Tarcoola we headed directly north.
We settled back into train travel mode, a lovely way to travel. We both have sniffles and now a cough developing.
We were getting the hang of sleeping on the train and had quite a good night. After breakfast the next morning we were all getting excited about our arrival in Alice Springs at lunch time. After passing through Kulgera they announced that we would be passing 'The Iron Man'. Kulgera is the southern most settlement in Northern Territory. It is the closest point on the Ghan to Uluru. We stayed here overnight on our bigtripalmostaroundaus.
The Iron Man is a 1m high monument built by railway workers to commemorate the one millionth concrete sleeper laid on the stretch of railway between Tarcoola and Alice Springs, completed in 1980.Everyone gathered around windows on that side of the train, after 10 minutes the consensus was that we'd missed it, then they announced that the driver had just told them that we were approaching the Iron Man now. Cameras back on, and yes - there he was.
Then we slowed down and the cameras were out again as we crossed the Finke River. I had stood in the middle of the Finke River when we were travelling around Aus. Quite safely, as there was no water in it, there rarely is. There was a tiny puddle in it now.
We arrived in Alice Springs ahead of schedule, surprising our welcome party. We were waiting on the platform, 'under the camel', when she arrived.
Margaret runs a B & B in Alice Springs and had guests to meet off the train. We all piled into her car and headed back to the B & B to check the guests in. What a lovely house. Her guests were enthralled and after a quick snack and cold drink headed off to see some of the local sights. We sat with Margaret and went through the family photos that we'd brought with us. All too soon it was time for a little drive around Alice before being dropped off back at the station.
Although it was a short visit, it was one that we would not have missed. Finding new family members is such a delight.
We asked a fellow passenger to oblige us and take a photo of the 3 of us.
Then it was time to re board and continue on north to Katherine and Darwin.
We saw the sun rise the next morning and after an early breakfast arrived on time, at 9.00am, in Katherine. There were plenty of buses lined up to take us off on tours. Everyone was off to see Katherine Gorge, now called Nitmiluk Gorge. Some tours were a little more strenuous than others. Ours involved some walking over rocks between the 2 gorges that we were visiting. There are 9 gorges all together but in our short stop over we could only do the first 2.
The boarding of the boats was very well organised and to help keep up our fluid levels in the heat we were given a can of soft drink, a bottle of water and a small tub containing fresh fruit.
The gorges were spectacular and our guide entertaining and knowledgeable. The walk over rocks between gorges was an easy one, but it was very hot in the sun. As usual, it was over all too soon. We got back on the air conditioned coach and had a tour of the little town of Katherine. We made a mental note that all the larger parking area had signs prohibiting motor homes or caravans. We won't be welcome here when we do another trip around Aus.
As we headed back down to the station our driver stopped on a bridge to show us the river depth markers - impressive and if you're not familiar with just how much rain can fall in a short period quite hard to fathom.
We boarded the train and headed straight into the shower, to cool off and refresh before lunch. We left Katherine for the final leg of the journey to Darwin.
We arrived in Darwin, on schedule at 5.00pm.
I think that this was the first time that Great Southern Rail had organised coach transfers to Darwin hotels, and it did not go smoothly. It was not the fault of GSR, they were their usual pleasant, efficient crew. The coach drivers seemed confused as to where they were to pick up passengers and although our coach was full, we couldn't leave until all of the other coaches were full, so that no one was left behind.
We sat there for 40 minutes.
Then we off into Darwin and our next stop, the Central Hotel.
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