Nov 23-24 The Ghan

I had been looking forward to this leg of our journey for a long time. So much so that I was already declaring it the highlight of my trip before we had even rolled out of the station. Named in part for the Afghan migrants who ran camel communication networks in the Outback, The original Ghan train began running in the late 19th century and is legendary within Australia. I believe within train enthusiast folklore worldwide the Ghan train also has a special reputation - though perhaps not quite as famous as its cousin the Indian Pacific that runs from Sydney to Perth. Running north from Adelaide or south from Darwin it bisects the country right through its heart with Alice Springs acting as the halfway point. In season, the train runs once a week, leaving Adelaide on a Wednesday and returning to Adelaide on a Monday, taking roughly three days to make one leg of the journey - provided the tracks aren't washed out - which has happened. There are several different coach classes and we were travelling on the red service which meant we had two small cabins with seats that turned down into beds at night. I think what I liked so much about the idea of travelling by train is that we would all be together in the cozy cabins with nothing to do but stare out the windows and watch the outback go by. We were really hoping the boys would enjoy it.

After the longest two kilometre bus ride of my life and a few nervous moments thinking we were sitting for 20 hours with the backpackers (not that there's anything wrong with that) we found our cabins and settled in. The boys were climbing off the walls poking their heads into every nook and cranny and putting the tables up and then down and opening and closing doors, then screaming and laughing and fighting...one moment we were telling them to be quiet and then the next letting them have fun and be excited. When I say cabins, they were more like closets but when you got everything stored away they were all you really needed.

The scenery as I had hoped was at first mesmerizing, though after a few hours it began to all look the same. Most of the land is used for cattle and every once in awhile you would see the "track kill" of some unlucky " little doggy" who didn't quite "git along" fast enough. There are few fences. After recognizing the same sort of similarity in the landscape as I had, the boys spent their time drawing, playing games, checking back and forth between our cabin and theirs and generally being busy. Consequently, Lint and I were back and forth breaking up the fights, serving up food, taking trips to the loo and generally being busy as well. There would be no curling up with a good book on this trip!

The diner car was right beside ours and we had two okay meals there. The best part about the diner car was not the food but the view. It was bright and spacious with windows on both sides so you could get a really good sense of the size of the view. We "enjoyed" our dinner watching the sun start to set and sharing the diner with several aboriginal kids who were travelling down to Adelaide to see the ocean as well as a family from Pickering, Ontario who were visiting their son at the University of Brisbane.

At night we figured we would split up so that bathroom breaks, fear of the dark etc. could be divided and conquered. As it turned out, the boys both slept soundly throughout the night and Lint and I were the ones with the full bladders and insomnia. Sleeping on a train was not quite what I had hoped and came with an endless supply of creaks, rattles and bumps. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I guess I thought I was going to be gently rocked into a deep and peaceful slumber. Not! We stopped dead several times during the night, once for at least 45 minutes and just as I would start to doze, the train would jerk forward and begin to move. Another time we obviously got onto a siding to let another train go by and I swear it sounded like a jet plane was about to clear all 20 cars of us right off the tracks as the other train came hurtling by. Of course, being on the top bunk and with the night light on for Allie, I couldn't actually see any of this - I just had to go by "feel". Another time I spent 20 minutes or so trying to sleep with my foot wedged against a light fixture so that it would stop rattling. I was sure they weren't having these problems in the gold service cabins!

As is always the case, my deepest and best sleep came right before Alex decided it was time for us to wake up. I was proud of him having slept through the complete marching band of sounds that had plagued me throughout the night. He seemed refreshed while I felt disgusting. The same could be said for Lint and Colin with him rarin' to go and Lint claiming painfully to have been "up all night". Oh well, it was only one night and in a few days, weeks and hopefully years to come it would be a great memory and a night to remember for all of the good reasons.

As we got closer to Adelaide we travelled more slowly, at first an hour behind schedule and then miraculously back on time. We began to see the ocean as the train swung down through Port Augusta and suddenly there was civilization where before there had been nothing. The train pulled into the station in Adelaide a few minutes early and I can't say I wasn't eager to disembark. Our cabins, though cozy had become a little claustrophoic and the boys were in need of "a run". Regardless, the Ghan would still be the highlight of the trip for me. Train travel is a unique though not inexpensive way to see Australia. If not for a few too many "bumps in the night" I would have looked back on the past 20 hours on the Ghan as travelling perfection.