Of Travel and Starting Anew

I am starting anew.

To explain, once I left Australia I arrived back in the UK and lived at my parents' home for a month. It was great, having my meals and laundry done for me again (I know, I'm one of those people) and my parents were so pleased to have me around again. My Dad kept saying "I can't believe you're here! I'm so glad you're here!" even though he'd been travelling with me for the last 2 weeks and even witnessed me get on the plane to come back. My mum just gave me the odd sudden hug which is much more my style (sorry Dad, but you do know this). I got to see my sister who came home from Uni a few times, and I saw my friends for a few dinners, and even had an old school sleepover at my best friend's house like we used to do in Secondary School (with the added addition of a new tradition of consuming vast quantities of Yum Yums - pastry heaven).

I had a day trip in London to get my American Visa which went so fast! 3 years ago it took 4 hours, this time only 1 and half. Once I'd convinced them I was not going to be a threat to their country, I got lost trying to find my Mum who had come with me and was actually only down the road, and we went to a Japanese lunch place for some seriously yummy food, had a good walk around London, and then had dinner in a dim sum place before going to see Billy Elliot in the West End. Such a good time, I love London a lot.

I spent the week before I left for America watching copious amounts of TV, because of the Olympics. I am now a major fan of archery. And I don't see the point in water polo.

I would have watched the entire second week's running of sport but I had to get on a plane and leave the country again, which wasn't without it's drama. When I arrived for my flight, they told me it was delayed by 4 hours, which was a problem because I had already arranged transport to get me from Memphis Airport to Oxford, MS which I couldn't change. My Dad, of course, saved the day once again by thinking clearly instead of panicking like I was and asked United Airlines to change my flight. I managed to get one sooner than my now delayed flight, and I said goodbye to my parents once again (I'm sure sure they're getting annoyed with me having to say goodbye all the time. They've given me so many leaving presents...).

As I sat in the departure gate, something amazing happened. I was bumped up to Business Class. Hell Yes! I have asked every single time I've gotten on a flight, and finally it pays off. At first the guy offered me a Business Class seat that unfortunately had no sound so I couldn't watch TV, but I was so thrilled by the prospect of the upgrade I didn't care. Then just before I boarded he said they had a perfectly working seat available. You know when the airport staff say "can families with young children please come forward to board the plane, and anyone else requiring assistance. Business Class and First Class may board at leisure"? Well, I boarded at my own leisure, which was straight away so I could enjoy the experience as much as possible.

Business Class is something else, it doesn't even really feel like you're on a plane. You are separated from the "commoners" behind by a curtain. You have epic room to put all your bags away and stretch your legs. You have a shelf which I could put my book on. You can move the back of the seat and the foot of the seat independently to whatever position you require, or the whole seat to create a bed. You get your drinks in real glasses, you know, ones made of glass. They actually trust you with those. And proper knives and forks. Multiple knives and forks! I had two pairs of each. Little salt and pepper shakers, china plates, and steak! I had a proper steak meal. And the pillow and blanket was wonderful, if only I could have stolen it. I did steal the overnight kit they give you, with the creams and ear plugs (best ear plugs I own, they actually work) and sleep masks and a toothbrush. And the toilets are roomy. And for dessert (back to food) they came around with a trolley and made personalised ice cream sundaes. Is this for real? Do all Business and First Class airlines do all this? I must always travel this way.

If you're wondering, my technique to try for an upgrade is to wear something comfortable but still a bit smart. I wear nice shoes too. When I go to check in, I ask if an upgrade is possible, and they will usually say no. I've always found that people tend to get upgrades while they're sitting at the departure gate, but I think perhaps they must make a note that you asked. I'm also super nice and friendly, I think that helps. And they won't upgrade you unless the plane is full as well.

Anyway, when I landed in Houston I dragged my on board case along in a hobbled over Quasimodo fashion because the handle got stuck, and hit the immigration queue. It wasn't long, but it took forever, and naturally I chose the wrong queue. When I moved, that queue slowed down. I moved again, one of the officers left and only one was ushering people through. Curses, this always happens. When I eventually got through it had taken so long that they'd removed my suitcase and a few others from the baggage belt and it was just sitting in a group on the floor. It took that long. Finally I checked my bag in again, went to the departure hall, and found out that my connecting flight had also been delayed. I was sending panicky texts back to my Dad, "Ring the emergency number for Ole Miss, I've been delayed again. Tell them they have to come get me. I'm not sleeping in the airport."

I convinced myself to choke down a big mac and a few fries and sipped a diet coke feeling completely woozy the whole time. My body was very aware I was supposed to be asleep and I really wished I'd got some shut eye on the plane, the first time ever that I probably had the chance to, but I just didn't want to miss a minute. I was really paying for it in Houston.

My connecting flight was a a tiny little excuse for a plane. Really it was a flying bus. Two people one said of the aisle, one on the other. My seatmate didn't seem to know what was going on at all, so I hope he got to his destination. He was American though so he didn't have jet lag as an excuse. When I got the airport (Memphis is so tiny, it's hardly an airport) and found my driver, I was able to string some coherent sentences together about American football season and my complete confusion over baseball, and then he dropped me at my hotel an hour and 15 minutes later. I was so happy to go to bed that night, you have no idea. Or if you've ever been jet lagged before you probably do.

This is the 6th time I've had to set myself up in a completely new place with all the essentials. I had to buy linen and towels and bathroom stuff and kitchen stuff and bins and a phone and all sorts. Oh and food, which I have so looked forward to for the longest time. I got all my favourite things I'd missed (except for a few they no longer sell, curses!) and moved into my empty apartment. I took one day to prepare myself, and then I started work full time the next day. I am dedicated to my craft! And my craft is working with International Exchange Students, like I used to be. I completely love my job. I organise a lot of social things as well as trying to help them adjust into the new culture. I think I'm pretty good at it too, not to blow my own trumpet or anything.

My classes are... annoying. Well, I've been out of education for a whole year. Over a year, in fact. So I am trying to adjust back to having to read textbooks and being given homework. It's not the easiest thing, after I've been so used to coming home from work and being able to completely shut off. And all three classes end after the public transportation finishes, so I either have to get a taxi every time or walk across a highway bridge with no pedestrian sidewalks in the heat. I've tried to do without the taxis. I'm really stingy. I have a class which ends at 9:30pm! So that one I am trying to bag lifts for.

I want to go into more detail about all this, but I feel this is quite a bit of writing for one post, and I'll have much more to say as time goes. I am absolutely loving being back at Ole Miss. The place is the same, but the experience is completely different to my time 3 years ago. In good ways and in bad, but I will work on the bad. Sorry to go on so long, but I've had 2 months to catch up on, and I haven't even really finished that yet! Anyway, more next time.

TTFN!

Of The Last of Australia - Ayers Rock and Sydney

Aw man, I can't believe I'm still writing this. I've moved countries twice since I went on this trip and I'm still not finished! I'm gonna zoom through the last week of my travels even though it was probably the best and most interesting part. Then I can move on and explain the name change of my Blog.

Okay, so we could sort of see Ayers Rock when we arrived, and my Dad got all emotional about it, but first we had to move into our accommodation. Now, hotels in Uluru are expensive. The cheapest place was the one we got, seeing as I was on a budget, and even then it was the same price as the pricier hotels we'd been staying in. I suppose they figure you either pay the money and sleep there or you try and sleep in the National Park and get arrested. The cheaper place, The Outback Pioneer Lodge, is actually the most fun, and for a travelling group of 4 it's excellent and the rooms hold 4 people. It's basically a hostel, which confused my Dad when we arrived:

"How do you change with strangers in the room? Where's the bathroom? You're taking the top bunk."

The hotel/hostel has small rooms with 2 bunk beds, and a separate shower/toilet building on the complex. Not a problem during the hotter months, very much a problem in July when it's absolutely freezing in the mornings and evenings and you're trying to whip in and out of your clothing in your shower cubicle. We had the room to ourselves the first night which was great, and the second night the two Canadians who joined us went to sleep before we'd even come back from dinner. Unfortunately the guy snored. I wish doctors would cure that.

So, we arrived and moved in and after a quick lunch, we had our first tour to watch the sunset. Whatever tour you book, a coach comes round all the hotels to collect everyone whose booked it and then drives off for the tour. Our tour bus took us to the designated Sunset watching area. It may be worth considering the time of year you go to Ayers Rock, because for us in July the position of the sun meant that the sunsets were the most spectacular. At the opposite time of year, the sunrises are better.

Our tour put out some snacks and drinks and gave us camping seats, and we joined the other tours to watch the sunset. It really was amazing, the red was so vibrant and if you take a photo every 5 minutes the Rock is a slightly different colour. Definitely a good idea to bring your tripod. Dad was having fun practising with all the buttons on his camera to find the best settings and positioned the moon in different places on the shot. I don't know, I don't have the camera or the knowledge so I can't explain. But at least he was amused. One thing I will say is that for the sunset tour, unless you're doing the dinner after, you might as well skip doing it as a tour and just drive there on your own. There's no need to pay $50 each, unless you haven't got a car, because there's no commentary or anything different. I'll explain later.

At its brightest

When the sun was below the horizon

When we got back to our hotel, we queued up for the BBQ. If you stay at a different hotel, you can still come to the Outback for the BBQ, and I really suggest that you do. You queue up to purchase your meat, and you can choose from beef, buffalo, crocodile, chicken, emu, iguana. Maybe not iguana. But all kinds of different meat, as burgers or sausages or steaks. Then once you've paid you bring it over to a range of BBQ grills and cook it yourself. To one side is a heated case with vegetables, potatoes, salad and dessert. It was really great.

The next morning we got up super early to go on our sunrise tour. Now, at this point I shall recommend doing the Sunrise Highlights tour. There are many tour options available, and it will depend on how far you want to walk as well. We didn't want to do a whole lot of walking, some tours offer a base walk which is quite a big thing. Our tour was small, only a minibus full of people, and it was great. Pip, our guide, picked us up and took us past the sunrise viewing area to a layby a little further in. It meant we were on our own without all the tour groups standing around us, and he provided tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and breakfast cereals. It was damn cold. I mean it, all of me was cold but my feet were agonisingly freezing. They alternated between being painful and numb. That was my only issue with the trip. During the day it wasn't boiling, and was actually rather pleasant, but in July the nights and mornings are very cold.

Anyway, we watched the sunrise, and then we packed up and drove to the Rock itself. The great thing was that because we weren't at the viewing area with the other tours and were further along, we reached the Rock before any of the other tours and were able to look at it and have our talk from Pip without anyone else around, and get in some good pictures. Pip was fantastic, and told us really interested Aboriginal stories. He showed us Aboriginal art on the walls, and explained what a few of the symbols meant, but said that the history was very sacred and Aboriginals won't tell them everything. He also pointed out where there used to be art, but previous generations of tour guides had thrown water on the paintings to make the colours more vibrant for older cameras, and had washed most of it away.

He explained some of the stories they knew from the Aboriginals that explained what particular cracks in the Rock meant. He showed us the watering hole, where, despite the Rock being in the middle of the desert, the water has never run dry. When he brought us back to the bus and we drove around the base, he told us more stories of other Rock formations we could see, and told us where there was a sacred place for Aboriginals, which we're not allowed to take photos of (he had to tell on man off who was glued to his camera).

Our tour guide, Pip, who was awesome

We stood near the base where other tour groups were walking up the Rock to the top, and told us how Aboriginals hated that tourists would walkupon their sacred Rock, which we were not going to be doing. He told us other stories, about how a group of 4 or 5 tourists in one family climbed the Rock without a guide, in the blistering heat of summer, when the temperature was 40 degrees Celsius and the Rock was 50 degrees (it's apparently 10 degrees different on the Rock than off), in Crocs of all things, and that the Crocs had melted on the Rock and they'd all received third degree burns to their feet, and were stuck up there. It is thousands of dollars per person to get someone down off the Rock, and so that family alone spent about AUD$35,000 to get rescued.

Me, not climbing Ayers Rock

Another tourist had outlined his travels around Australia for his parents, and when he didn't check in with his parents at a designated time, they called Ayers Rock police to say he was missing. He'd climbed up Ayers Rock on his own, and had fallen off the top to a point halfway down and completely hidden, and unfortunately died. The heat at the time meant that he was practically mummified by the time they found him and brought him down.

Also, a new tour company who wanted to establish themselves at Ayers Rock stencilled their website address on top of the Rock to get aerial shots from a helicopter for brochures. Well, drawing on the Rock is completely illegal, for obvious reasons, and they went to court. If a small company, they would have to pay a fine that could completely bankrupt them, and if they were a big company, it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So, let all those stories be a warning to you.

While the sunset tour was not really necessary to purchase, I really felt that the Sunrise Highlights tour was worth every penny. It was so interesting, and Pip was so knowledgeable. It is a completely different experience to go to Ayers Rock and really find out about it's history and the myths and legends that surround it, rather than just staring at it through a camera lens.

When we got back to the hotel again, Dad left for the airport to collect a hire car, and then we made our own way to Kata Tjuta. A guided tour of that would also have been really interesting, I'm sure, but I had still been mindful of my budget, and so decided not to book one. We parked right up near it and walked as far as the Valley of the Winds, although they have much longer walks available for free too. Kata Tjuta is also pretty spectacular as a natural structure. These two rocks, Kata Tjuta and Ayers Rock, just appear on the horizon of otherwise completely flat land. It's so strange.

 When we drove back, it was getting close to sunset, so we decided to go again and watch the sunset on Ayers Rock ourselves. This is why I feel like booking a tour is not necessary if you have or hire a car. It's easy to do yourself, you go to a different area for independent people wanting to watch the sunset, and it's just as spectacular. Actually it was even more spectacular for us. I'm not sure if it was the location or that particular day but the colour of the Rock was just unbelievable, which I hope you can see in the photo.

That night we had another BBQ, because it was just so much, fun, and then went to bed. The next day we were going to get a plane back to Sydney, but first we went to the Ayers Rock Resort village to look around the shops, and watch the free boomerang throwing tutorials. They also have Aboriginal dancing a lunchtimes, although we missed it both days.

As Dad said, Ayers Rock was really a tick in the box, and I'm so glad I did it. Dad said it was on his bucket list, so he was thrilled to have seen it. It was quite the contrast, leaving Ayers Rock and the desert and arriving again in a bustling city which was so familiar to me, yet which felt different because I was no longer living there with my friends and I was showing Dad all the things he remembered from visiting years earlier and some new things.

Sydney is really special to me. It did take a while to grow on me, which I wasn't expecting as I thought I'd just love it straight away, but it was a different place than I thought it would be from programmes and pictures I'd seen. In a way I found my own Sydney, and I loved that. I met up with Jee Eun, Saki, and Olina again and I'd missed them loads. We went out to Max Brenner which would be my last time *sob* and I gave them little trinkets I'd bought on my travels. I went again to see Mrs Macqaurie's chair and the Opera House, and Westfields and Darling Harbour, and Paddy's Market and China Town. I showed my Dad where I lived before with the girls and we took my route to work so that he could also see where I'd worked at the University of Sydney. I took him inside and introduced him to my ex-colleagues who had received my postcard. I took him to my favourite spot to look at the city, which is behind the swimming pool on the campus if you are there or ever go there and want to take a look.

Dad's favourite cup of coffee

Where I worked while At Sydney University

I was genuinely sad to leave, as I always am when I've gone somewhere exciting. I'm never really sad to leave England, maybe because I keep coming back to it. But who knows when I will visit Australia again. We managed to get me on the same flight as my Dad (we were supposed to leave on different days), and we didn't tell my Mum that I was coming home early (although we had to tell me sister so that she could make sure Mum came to pick us up). The flight was very long. On the way to Australia I'd broken it up with a week in Hong Kong, but this time we just got our connecting flight and moved on. I watched lots of movies as I always do, asked for all the extra snacks we were allowed because I love aeroplane food, and then when we landed I had horrifically swollen ankles which completely freaked me out, having never had that particular problem before. I temporarily forgot about my ankles when I snuck up behind my Mum and said hello for this first time in over 5 months. She was shaking so hard (not from fright, I didn't shout boo) that my Dad had to drive us home. And then after I'd dished out all my presents (turns out I bought a lot for my sister. As in a lot. I'm going to need to pay attention next time as she didn't even by me a birthday present) and had a good chat about everything, I fell asleep on the couch. I vaguely remember when my Mum woke me up that I tried to get to my bedroom through the garden patio doors, and then didn't know what do when she put pyjamas in my hands, but finally I was in bed, in England, asleep.

I just want to thank Australia in general. And all the people that I met within it, who talked to me on planes when I was on my own, who took me places I wouldn't have been able to go by myself, who chatted with me as if no time had past even though we'd been apart for almost 20 years, who took me to the beach at night which I'd never have done myself, who made me laugh so hard about boys like I was 13 again. And to thank my Dad, for joining me on the other side of the world when I was really starting to find that travelling alone was very difficult and lonely, and encouraged me to spend a little bit more than my spendthrift ways wanted me to in order to have the best 5 months ever (although the money would definitely be useful now I'm trying to buy a car....).

And also to you, whether you're a friend of mine reading this or you were just interested in a pommie's adventures. It was nice to have people interested in what I was doing. I hope you continue to read on, now that I am continuing this blog as a Pommie now living in America. I rejected the idea of renaming this The Limey Diaries, because I don't think it's quite as catchy, or the term quite as well known.

Anyway, welcome to my new series:

The Pommie Diaries: Abroad

 TTFN!

Of Didgeridoos, Flying Doctors, and Dingoes

Alice Springs is a very strange place. I couldn't imagine living there. It's so far from everything; a plane or train ride is not cheap, and a car journey would take ages. It was definitely warmer there, and Dad took advantage of being in the desert so that he could where his special hat. He fit right in! The town of Alice Springs has a 'Mall' mostly made up of souvenir shops and restaurants with the odd pharmacy as well. We rode in on our hotel's shuttle (seeing as the Heavitree Gap is not actually in the town itself it provides a free one) and had coffee with an older Australian couple who were also on the bus. Older Australian couples are very friendly, I had some of my nicest conversations with them. Perhaps it was because I was a single traveller, or perhaps it was because I didn't try hard enough, or maybe it wasn't even me but them, but I found it incredibly hard to make any conversation with anyone my age on the trip.

Anyway, despite Dad suffering from food poisoning (crazy, he never gets ill) we managed to have a really good day. We climbed up Anzac Hill (I almost had to carry Dad up there) so that we could look at the view over Alice Springs (see picture above) and catch a bit of a breeze because it really was rather warm. We also had a good walk through the 'Mall' so that I could find some souvenirs (I got some really good ones) and have a look inside the Didgeridoo Outback shop where you could buy a didgeridoo and also have a free lesson! It was really interesting and the teacher was really good. in the evening they also had a didgeridoo show which we didn't attend seeing as we only had one day in Alice Springs. To be honest, unless you were into hiking and trailing (which we're not) a day is all you need in Alice Springs to see and do everything. A really interesting must-do is the Royal Flying Doctor Service where you can watch a short movie and look around the museum. We were unfortunately too late to see the movie but because of that they let us look around the museum for free. The RFDS is vital to a place like Alice Springs, and you really get a sense of that from being there, because the town itself is small, and the ranches spread out over vast planes of land which can take a long time to get to.

For dinner we went to The Rock Bar Shop of Todd Street, which I totally recommend. I especially recommend the lasagna. I thought I had the best lasagna at Circular Quay is Sydney, but I was very wrong. This place does the best lasagna ever. It even beats my Mum's (don't tell my Mum.... or if you're reading this Mum, I swear you still do the best spaghetti bolognaise!). Bojangles, which is a restaurant right next door, is also somewhere that a lot of people recommend and it definitely looks like an interesting place. Especially as it appears to be themed as a saloon.

So after dinner we went back to the hotel for a good night's rest as we had to be up and ready to go for 7am the next day when the shuttle came to pick us up to take us to Ayers Rock. It's a long way, and we made 3 stops so the trip took us approximately 5 hours. Here is the link to the shuttle:

http://www.partner.viator.com/en/2178/tours/Alice-Springs/Alice-Springs-to-Uluru-Ayers-Rock-One-Way-Shuttle/d358-2230A21

The reason I am providing the link is because it was a fantastic shuttle (although expensive, but all of them are, trust me. If you haven't got your own car, this is the way to go). 

The first stop was at a camel farm, believe it or not, where you can ride a camel for an extra cost (I'm not certain whether they 'farm' them, so to speak, I didn't ask), look at the animals penned outside which is free, or go inside to have a coffee or hot chocolate and plant yourself beside the indoor fire, which is what most of us did because in July the mornings are bloody cold! We stopped again further along at a service station for the loo and something to eat. It was where I found this beauty, which I now wish I'd bought -->



Along the way the driver provided some commentary about the landscape, the history, the animals and more. It was a really good talk, really interesting, and at one point he even showed us a documentary on the TV screens about an explorer who was searching for gold in the area. The driver would also point out anything interesting he would see, and what really made this couch trip better than the rest, is that he slowed down when there was anything interesting so that we could have a proper look, and even take a picture, which is how I got my picture of a wild dingo which I'm super proud of. The dingo had been eating a dead kangaroo at the side of the road. Funny thing to be proud of, but I am. The driver also slowed down so that we could see wild camels and eagles. He told us how the area had seen more rainfall lately than they'd seen in a long time which meant that instead of being bone dry and sandy red, the area was incredibly green (as you can see in the photo).

On the hunt

Our last stops before we reached our destination was to view Mount Connor, which believe it or not actually belongs to a rancher because it's on his land. A lot of people thought it was Ayers Rock at first. It was almost as spectacular though, really impressive. One of the viewing spots had a hill which everyone climbed on top of. To one side was Mount Connor, and to the other was a dry salt lake. Personally, all the green shrubbery around us meant that whenever there was a patch of red sand, it made the sand even more impressive, it was so vibrantly red in contrast. The sand also got absolutely everywhere. I was wearing my lovely new black, blue and white Vans trainers and the white went very very red. So maybe that should be a warning to you. Don't wear white.

Climbing up the hill to the viewing point for Mount Connor

Dad and the salt lake

Mount Connor in the distance

When we jumped back on the coach, we were finally on our last leg of the journey and it wasn't long before we could see the fantastic rock that we came to see in the distance. I'm pretty sure Dad had tears in his eyes. I was more concerned with my shoes.

Next time: Ayres Rock

TTFN!

Of Trains, Transvestites, and Too Cute To Believe!

Remember I said that I had a bit of a Sheldon (Big Bang Theory reference) moment and booked The Overland for a 10 hour train ride? Yeah, well, that wasn't the half of it.

My real Sheldon moment came when I booked The Ghan, a very famous train in Australia that runs from Adelaide through Alice Springs and on to Darwin. We would be getting off at Alice Springs, about half way, but even then the train journey was 25 and a half hours. I know, I'm crazy. But even crazier people were actually travelling all the way to Darwin! Not sure I could do that. But I was really excited to see some real Australian outback and hoping to spot some wildlife on the way. The train was exactly the same as The Overland, with great big seats and lots of leg room, but the seat reclined way way down to an almost horizontal level so that it became a bed on the overnight trip. There were private cabins available where the seats became proper beds and second beds were strapped to the walls during the day to provide space and let down at night, but they were very very expensive and my trip was already costing me a bucket. A bucket of cash, that is. Just a seat on the train to Alice Springs cost almost AUD$200.

What do you get for this money? Well, your seat of course. The spacious loo at the end of the carriage also doubled as a shower should you require it (surely you can go without a shower for one night people?), and by that I don't mean you shower in the loo, there was a shower head on the wall and a shower curtain so that the water didn't go everywhere... well it still did from what I could gather, but not a huge problem. There were towels provided by the train people as well. The next carriage over to ours was the dining car where you could order meals and snacks at very good prices (I was expecting it to be extortionate seeing as they have you trapped on a moving vehicle, but this wasn't the case) and table seating so you don't have to balance your food on your lap. very civilised!

The lounge car

Dad and all his technology. He was very excited.

Before the train left the station, we were offered a place in the lounge car, one over from the dining car, for an extra $10 each. Dad and I umm'd and aww'd over it seeing as it was just another seat somewhere else on the train, but he decided to treat us and go for it. They then give you a wristband to show you are allowed to be in the carriage. The lady had told everyone that seats were limited so to ask as soon as possible if we wanted one. Turns out hardly anyone took them up on their offer, but they honestly should have.
 Like I mentioned, for the AUD$10 all you physically get for it is another seat somewhere else on the train, but it made a huge difference. For a start it is much prettier than the carriage you are assigned a seat in. The chairs are different and there are sofas, they have little tables, and the views out the window were fantastic because you could see right down the end of the carriage, which you couldn't when in your original seat. It meant we could see so much more, and had a different impression of just how vast the Aussie outback really is. And because not many people had spent the extra $10, there were only ever at most 4 other small groups or single people in there and it was quieter when the one rambunctious toddler wasn't around or was behaving instead of climbing over all the seats trying to, I don't know, escape maybe? We spent all of our time in the lounge except for when we were having dinner or sleeping. So if you go on The Ghan, pay for the lounge car. Seriously. Do it.

Actually, I remember now that the only other noise in the carriage was from two passengers who'd brought their portable dvd player with them, and apparently didn't think to plug in headphones. They were quite good at turning it down when they noticed it got a bit loud, but they didn't... always... notice. It didn't spoil our journey or anything and it did provide a moment of entertainment for Dad and I when we realised they were watching a transvestite movie and descended into a fit of giggles. Very immature, sorry.

I brought the first Hunger Games book with me, so I was occupied for most of the time and the time went very fast that first day. When I wasn't reading I was playing solitaire on the tablet, chatting with Dad or the other carriage patrons, or taking pictures out the window. If something interesting appeared outside the windows, one of The Ghan's staff members came over the tanoy to tell us about it, and the train actually slowed down so we could take pictures. An example of this was when we passed the statue commemorating the 1,000,000th piece of track when the train line was being built.

The night wasn't too bad despite my difficulty sleeping on any kind of transport. I'm not very good at sleeping in a seat, even one that reclines as much as this one did, but I did get a few hours, and then I was awake to watch the spectacular sunrise the next morning. Everyone was up and taking pictures. Well, almost everyone, and those few really did miss out on something fantastic.

Breakfast was lovely, and then we were back in our lounge carriage to enjoy the last hours of our trip. We didn't see kangaroos, unfortunately, or wild horses, which other people had seen in the reviews I'd read, but I suppose that's just down to luck that the wildlife was even near the train tracks at the right time when the train shot past. We did see a lot of cattle roaming, that counts as wildlife, right? And the landscapes of the outback were wonderful, and greener than I was expecting!

We pulled into the station about lunchtime, and even that was an experience. There was nothing separating the train from the road beside it so cars drove alongside us, and we seemed to be going right through the town to reach the railway station. Getting out at the other side, it is worth it to pay about $8 each and get one of the coaches waiting outside to take you to your hotel, rather than waiting for a taxi. As Alice Springs is such a small area and pretty much everyone has their own cars, there aren't many taxis, and unbelievably (seeing as the train comes in at a scheduled time all the time) they don't come by the station unless they are called for, which can take a while.

So we took the coach to our hotel, the Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge, and got into our room which was thankfully already spewing cool air as it was rather warm outside (which in itself was very nice as Melbourne and Adelaide were so cold). We spent the rest of the day trying to wash and dry our clothes as we were getting a bit desperate for clean clothes by then, vying for space amongst a massive group of school children who decided to socialise in the laundry room and constantly tumble dried their pyjamas to warm them up when the evening got a bit cold. We ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant which, although quite basic, I found quite fun and considered it part of the outback experience, but not sure Dad felt the same (fair perhaps considering he seemed to suffer from food poisoning the next day. I was fine though) and they have an Aussie who provides the entertainment in the evenings by singing and playing guitar (he was quite funny, but people were shouting the answers to his question and jokes almost in advance of him saying them, so I think he must perform and say the same thing every night. We didn't find out ourselves as we ate in town the next day).

The wonderful thing about the Heavitree Gap which is why I think, if you're ever in Alice Springs, you should stay there, is the rock wallabies. The hotel is tucked up beside a massive rock formation, which means getting signal on your phone is a bugger in the hotel rooms and you have to go outside and away from the rocks to get it, but it also means wild rock wallabies come down from the rock every afternoon and evening and are fed food by the guests who can purchase it in the reception. They are absolutely adorable, and there are loads of them, and they even had joeys in their pouches which just made my day (do wallabies have joeys? Or is it that just kangaroos and they have another name? I could google it, but I'm not going to).

So that's my take on The Ghan. Can you believe it, a whole post about a train! But it was pretty spectacular, and if you can factor it into your travels then you really should. Every Australian I mentioned The Ghan to before the trip knew what it was and was really impressed, and either slightly or very jealous that I was going on it. It is a major part of Australian travelling, and it actually felt like a privilege to be able to go on that journey. You see incredibly beautiful landscapes, and get an impression of just how vast Australia is which you would never get if you just flew everywhere. Just wonderful.


Next time, Alice Springs and off to Ayers Rock!

TTFN!