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!