The Ultimate Australian Rail Adventure: The Ghan Experience

The above-mentioned railway line extends from the bottom (Adelaide) to the top of Australia (Darwin), and the first part was built from Adelaide heading north in the 1870s. It was gradually extended in narrow gauge to Alice Springs, the center of Australia, by 1929. Owing to the remoteness of this part of Australia, passengers wishing to travel from Adelaide to Alice Springs from the 1870s until the 1920s were forced to travel the last part by camel. My wife and I took the The Ghan train (now standard gauge) from Darwin to Adelaide via Alice Springs last week. It is now considered one of the world’s “bucket list” rail journeys.

The train is pulled by two diesel-electric locomotives, each with 4,000 horsepower, weighing 132 tons each and pulling 28 carriages. The train’s average length is 2,539 feet, or nearly half a mile.

We commenced the train journey in Darwin after flying 4.5 hours from Brisbane the day before. Here are a few photos in the park across the road from the hotel, typically showing the tropical sky and flora in the late afternoon.

This relic (4-inch gun) is from a US destroyer sunk by the Japanese when they attacked Darwin Harbor early in the Second World War—a tropical storm in the background.

These are a few photos of Katherine Gorge, one of the off-train experiences available on the first day of the trip. The picture above shows a beach where crocodiles typically lay their eggs during the breeding season.

A very hot walk along a dry creek bed on the way to Spicer’s Gap. Another one of those off-train experiences available to all passengers on the second day.

Other than the water, the above photos show the typical country in the West McDonald’s, a dry mountain range extending hundreds of miles west from Alice Springs.

We arrived in Adelaide on the afternoon of the third day. The total experience was well worth the time and money. The food on the train was exceptional, and all the staff went out of their way to ensure everyone enjoyed the experience.

We stayed in Adelaide for a couple of days after the train and then flew back to Brisbane. An excellent short holiday, but we were glad to get back to all the comforts of home.