It was on my list of things to do, and places to go—an outback adventure on the Ghan. My phone must have been listening because I started to get the promos in my social feeds. Unfortunately, my twin-share travel buddy had already done the trip, but the universe will find a way. Amid my conversation with myself, I got a call from my good friend Sue who happened to mention she’d been having the same conversation with herself.
Fast forward, not very far or long, we’re being collected from our hotel in Adelaide and taken by fancy Chrysler town car to the Adelaide Parklands terminal for onboarding. Bubbles on arrival, a bit of carriage shuffling from our newfound friends, and it was time to board the train.
To say it was a bit exciting was an understatement. The cabins were small but functional, bunk beds – I was designated the top, and with the smallest of bathrooms we had everything you need for a couple of nights. Train whistle blowing and off we go.
Once we’d settled in and filmed the requisite departure video it was time to explore the rest of the train – read into that, bar, and lounge! A great little spot to take refreshments as we watched the world go by.
Soon we were joined by all our other travel companions, I reckon about 20 in total. This may very well have been a Covid blessing in that it was the first journey for the year and by no means a full train. Nothing beats a small intimate group on travel ventures!
A night of great food, good company, and copious amounts of wine ensued. Dinner service was Covid-restricted to two sittings with two to a table and the food service was a gold-class three-course fine dining experience.
Dinner had, we all remained in the bar, acquainting ourselves with each other over a few wines and an impressive amount of Port. Somewhere amid the frivolity I was made aware that my ‘off-train excursion’ the next day required me to have long pants – of which I had none. Our beautiful hostess offered to lend me a pair of tracksuit pants, but being reasonably imbibed by this stage I decided with my wee travel sewing kit I could reasonably convert the sundress I was wearing into pants. Not only did I manage to achieve this bit of re-purposing I felt it appropriate to then model said fashion cat-walk style through the carriage! Oh, to be a marching girl!
Big night, very early morning. We stepped off the train in Marla to witness a desert sunrise. In the semi-darkness, we emerged to where some beautiful humans had travelled miles to set up lights the length of the train. Sue was keen to disembark and chuff a cig before experiencing the magic of a desert sunrise. Tea, coffee, fruit juice, bacon, and egg butties greeted us. We gathered in our collective spots to watch the sunrise and an I was joined by an Akubura hat-wearing gentleman – there were people from other carriages out for the sunrise- some of them Platinum folk so I didn’t recognise him as one of our crew. How rude, but hey, it’s a little dusty out here and I was soaking it in on my own, so used to experiencing my ventures solo.
Roll on, to back on board the train, we lunched and gathered before later disembarking in Alice for our first excursions. Sue headed out for a camel venture having a family connection to the cameleer history of this land while I ventured off in my designer pants to visit the Ghost Gum Walk, Simpsons Gap, and Cassia Hill.
There’s no other way to describe these places other than, beautiful in their remoteness. White Gum walk was just that, walking where the white gums grow, in a riverbed that has not seen water since I don’t know how long. Simpsons Gap is a geological gap in the MacDonnell Ranges, Rungutjirpa to the indigenous custodians. Cassia Hill, a 360-degree view across this wide seemingly inhospitable land.
Two confessions here, first is that I adored the vastness and enduring beauty of a place seeped in time. Would I choose to live here, not, but there is beauty in the colours and the enormity of this land? Hell yes! Secondly, as I walked the circuit of Cassia Hill, I was joined by the Akubura hat-wearing man. Smart, funny, and entertaining, I might be developing a little crush.
Excursion over we headed back into Alice and with a bit of time on hand we headed up Anzac Hill which afforded us sweeping views of the town, situated, truly, in the middle of nowhere. Which I say, only as a Kiwi lass who still cannot comprehend the size of this wee island in the South Pacific.
Back on board, catching up with Sue sharing our experiences of the day. Another first-class dinner and many more drinks. The Akubura-wearing hat man and I ended up being the last two standing, surprisingly not Sue the repeat offender. We even outlived the staff’s commitment, to looking after us, and rightly so, someone had to get up and look after the ‘guests’ in the morning.