Riding the Ghan

I was in car R, this was a pretty long train

Australia has a few train lines linking it from East to West as well as from North to South. I took the one called the Ghan that runs between Adelaide and Darwin. I got off in Alice Springs as that is where my trip that would lead me back to Melbourne started. Yes, I could have flown up rather than going up and down along similar landscapes, but train was the cheaper option, and I actually managed to sleep pretty well in my economy car. The trip took about 26 hours, and the landscape did change slightly. It was actually not as dry looking as expected as there has been a lot of rain this year. I saw sheep and cattle and entertained myself mostly by reading a novel, and napping, if that counts :p

The current Ghan line is a newer version of the original railway. The previous one was originally called the great Northern Railway (and nicknamed the Afghan Express in honour of the Afghan cameleers), it started in Port Augusta and opened in 1878. Over the years it expanded further north, eventually reaching Alice Springs. During the war, it carried soldiers up and down with up to 56 trains a week (rather than the usual 3). Its use then dwindled and the last old Ghan ran in 1980. A short part of it is still maintained near Port Augusta for tourism purposes. The new track was built in 1980 with a standard gauge as opposed to the narrower original one. The extension from Alice Springs to Darwin was added in 2004.

Here are a couple of shots from the trip.

Before the All Aboard!

The lady in purple is reading a book I gave her.
The book was in French, I was done with it,
and well she spoke French.

The Finke River, with a bit of water in it! and is between
400 to 300 million years old.

Someone actually counted to a million of the concrete sleepers!