The Ghan; The train

Thank you for all those lovely comments and well wishes on my previous blog post. Last night (Sunday), DH and I arrived home from Darwin after a lovely holiday. I thought that I would write about the train in which we travelled over 2900 kilometres right through the centre of Australia, from south (Adelaide) to north (Darwin).

The train is run by a private company (Great Southern Rail), and everything about their operation, impressed me. From when I got out of the car at the station and DH unloaded the luggage on to the footpath beside me, and then went to park the car, GSR staff were there to help. A staff member loaded the luggage on to a trolley and insisted on wheeling it into the station for me...

 

 

 

The luggage was checked in and I was invited to sit down and have a drink while DH was parking the car...I thought the occasion called for some 'bubbly' but when DH arrived, he preferred coffee.

 

 

There was entertainment too!

 

 

Time went quickly and it wasn't long before we got our boarding call. This Ghan was 1200 metres long and was broken into two parts, on two different platforms, for boarding. Then when all passengers were on board ( as well as the vehicles on the car carriers) , the train parts were joined up and off we set at 12.15 pm. Each carriage had a staff member in charge and this staff member visited every cabin to talk to passengers. We had a late lunch sitting at 2.15, but time went quickly. We had to walk through 3 carriages to get to the lounge car and then the next car was the dining car.

 

 

( there were 100 passengers from Gold Class using the same dining facilities as DH and I. The other 200 passengers had other facilities)

 

 

The restaurant manager liked passengers to wait in the lounge car where she would come and personally take them through to the restaurant car.

 

 

The meals were wonderful! The menu reflected local produce too but there were lots of choices really.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some photos of our cabin...daytime...

 

 

 

We had our own bathroom; it was small but it was so wonderful not having to share!

 

 

Then while we were at dinner, a little 'magic' happened! Well it was magical to me whose long distance train travel had always been 'sitting up all the way', no sleeper for the young Maria when I did that sort of travel!

 

 

 

We enjoyed looking out the window watching the scenery flash past. DH also caught up on some reading and I found time to knit...of course!

 

We had 3 off train experiences/excursions which I found to be rather wonderful, but I'll write about them in other posts.

 

(DH and I travelled Gold class and all our food, drinks, and quite a few excursion choices were included in our fare. Platinum Class has larger cabins and a double bed whereas we had bunks and of course food, drinks and a selection of off train excursions are included in their fare.There is a Red Class which has just seating and the food,beverages and excursions are not included.
The walk to the dining car could be challenging for some, but a narrow wheelchair is available in each carriage and room service can be organised if necessary. If booking early enough, a cabin in a carriage closer to the dining car could be organised too I'm sure.There are cabins designed for those with mobility/disability issues. )