The Case for Great Train Journeys through Australia

This is the second in a series on Great Train Journeys I have undertaken.

Just last year (now, wow), I undertook another pan continental voyage, this one on the Australian island, from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory. The name given to the train that makes this journey: the Ghan.

Once again, the countryside outside the air-conditioned carriages were fairly featureless, rolling plains of small bushes on red earth as far as the eye could see, with the odd hill or dry river bed every so often for variety.

However, the class this time was cattle, though the seats themselves were more comfortable than flying the same class, with a bit more leg room and greater width for the more ample derriere. Also, this time the service was Australian, which meant almost as much disrespect as travelling in Russia, though a greater understanding of the insults being flung about. The journey legs were shorter, a shower (!) came with towels, and the dining car provided very reasonably priced meals, though the true find was one of the most divine chocolate mousses I have ever eaten. Actually, make that several.

Western service, enthusiastic fellow travellers who didn’t snore (well, I had ear plugs in so perhaps they did) and, while quite full between Adelaide and Alice Springs, remained comfortable throughout. The fact the train was no smoking but one enterprising and possibly marijuana-fuelled lad blatantly flouted this rule every half hour or so was a mild irritation though allowed a nice “bonding through shared disapproving” moment between the rest of the passengers at our end of the carriage. .

The voyage itself, though only over night, was slow, as the train trundled along at approximately 80 kilometres an hour to ensure that the danger posed by any warping of the tracks in the extreme heat was minimised. That sense of decided slowness led to a distinct restlessness in the passengers, though a good large book was my solution to this foreseen problem. The crew didn’t really try to alleviate that boredom, the odd snippet of commentary played at for about 10 minutes at a time but covering about 7 hours of travelling time and sites. However, the train did slow for the South Australia – Northern territory border and other sites of interest to allow some chance for clearer photographs for the snap happy amongst us.

Verdict: A convivial atmosphere on a fairly average kind of train led to another wonderful train experience. 4 dead kangaroos lying in the middle of the road after being hit by a Toyota Hilux out of 5.