the ghan

chezgo · Senior Member

the ghan

lynnenbarry · Veteran Member

Been hot every where hasn't it - can't seem to escape it cry

The Ghan trip is another on the top of top 10 list to do things.
We have done much reading and looked at prices, but at the moment that is about as far as we have gone, so will be keeping an eye on this thread for sure.

In 1991 I went on the Ghan from Alice Springs to Adelaide with a friend Before we were married) and it was just one of the absolute highlights of my life and can't wait for Barry and I to do it together.
Now the train goes right through it would be just sensational. The train just seems to saunter along and you see so much, not like a jet express.

There's the old story about the old, old Ghan, where a lady got on at Alice Springs, and in those days it was very much stop, start sometimes with huge delays.
After many days of this the lady went to the conductor and asked how long it would be before they got to Adelaide.
The conductor looked at the now very heavily pregnant lady and said to her
"how long have you been on the train?" Her reply - well I wasn't pregnant when I got on"!!

have a good day

Basil Faulty · Guru

I was thinking of starting a "Great Train Journeys" Thread and guess what the Ghan and Indian Pacific would not have been on it..... Long, tedous cramped even on Gold class would be my description and as for (Ok maybe I'm being a bit harsh) value for money - well you are paying for the experience....
Food, good but really just average considering what the fare costs.
Cabins, considering that unless you are one of the very lucky ones who get his/her chair in the lounge car (by being in the first 30 or so who gets in at dawn) you are stuck in your cabin for the duration and allowed out at meal times - there is nowwhere else to go.
Service in Gold - sterile....
I found it only took one less sociably inept person to ruin the trip for everyone, you know the type - the loud mouthed shnook who has to read the brochure etc at the top of his voice and dominate all, if any activities to help quell the boredom ( first to spot an Emu gets a Mintie) - NO NEVER AGAIN!!!!!
Seriously I enjoyed the "Grand Pacific 21 day rail trip of New Zealand" far more and actually cost about the same inc airfares AND the Kiwi trains all have several open observation/photography cars on each train. The scenery was mind blowing as well and TraiNZ still has a vestage of romance left.....

I'd actually drive. First stop Port Pirrie, pick up Dave who is your guide for the first part of the trip Port Augusta to Quorn on the Pitchi Ritchi Railway (I'm still waiting to do this part of the original Ghan in the Coffeepot) then drive up the Stuart taking in all the side diversions that train travel does not allow either turn right at the 3 ways and go via the Barkley to the east coast then turn south or go on to Darwin stooge around there and return south either the way you came or via the Barkley to Cairns & down the coast or even via Longreach etc....
Of course if you did go via the barkley you COULD travel Via Normanton and then you can travel on one of the great trains in ze vorld - The Gulflander.... Now that is a train trip especially if you know me who could help you get the seats next to the driver (only as I know the station master and have his personal phone number LOL)

200 towels a day would have seen me hammering at the doors of an "Instituion".....

dave06 · Guru

Basil I am in absolute full agreement, we did it a long time ago and I swear if I could get my money back I would, food, yik!!! company, disgusting, scenery well it is the desert, we slept most of it, I too would like to do the new zealand one as well as the canadian rocky mountain thingy one, cant wait to get on the western explorer in tassie, I reckon she will be a little ripsnorter, I am also waiting for our much loved little mate to come out of hospital (the coffee pot)

now when you come and pick me up just make sure you have a spare month or three, just to spend within 1,000 kms of here, I have plenty of fantastic secret little spots that are up that way, and when we hit darwin we will hook a lefty and go back to the promised land THEN you will know what scenery really looks like

200 towels a day, jeezz!!! I would have one wrapped around my neck and swinging from the ceiling before the first 100, some might say that's a good thing, and they are probably right, now where's my zoloft!!!

Cruising Granny · Guru

I have done the Ghan, in 2002, before the line to Darwin was complete. Unfortunately the social atmosphere was no longer there, the meals were not included in the fare in economy, and the lounge car was desserted. Previous morons and their behaviour had spoilt it for those who followed, and there were restrictions.
I can't speak for first class, my budget doesn't stretch that far up the line.
However, my experience on the Savannahlander out of Cairns, inland to Forsayth over 4 days was an experience which I really enjoyed.
It doesn't run over the wet season, but it's well worth the $'s. There are several options from first class 5 star, to the pub crawl which I did.
The drivers are so very friendly, they have a wealth of knowledge which they share, the country is diverse and beautiful, and the rest is up to you.
Cheers Granny

chezgo · Senior Member

Ok so now I am re thinking that trip I thought it would be a relaxing gourmet trip to the north and at $2,000 each plus $300 for the car maybe not but granny the pub crawl train near Cairns sounds like fun and warrants further investigation. And with the current temperatures here the train in New Zealand would be nice i have been there a few times over the years but have never done a train trip. chezgo

Basil Faulty · Guru

chezgo wrote:

Ok so now I am re thinking that trip I thought it would be a relaxing gourmet trip to the north and at $2,000 each plus $300 for the car maybe not but granny the pub crawl train near Cairns sounds like fun and warrants further investigation. And with the current temperatures here the train in New Zealand would be nice i have been there a few times over the years but have never done a train trip. chezgo

The NZ trip from Pucton to Christchurch is spectacular for most of the trip the line runs along the beach with monstrous surf one side and snowcapped mountains on the other... then from Dunedin up the gorge is brilliant too - maybe the Kiwis have better scenery but you do have to like sheep though....

Basil Faulty · Guru

Cruising Granny wrote:

I have done the Ghan, in 2002, before the line to Darwin was complete. Unfortunately the social atmosphere was no longer there, the meals were not included in the fare in economy, and the lounge car was desserted. Previous morons and their behaviour had spoilt it for those who followed, and there were restrictions.
I can't speak for first class, my budget doesn't stretch that far up the line.
However, my experience on the Savannahlander out of Cairns, inland to Forsayth over 4 days was an experience which I really enjoyed.
It doesn't run over the wet season, but it's well worth the $'s. There are several options from first class 5 star, to the pub crawl which I did.
The drivers are so very friendly, they have a wealth of knowledge which they share, the country is diverse and beautiful, and the rest is up to you.
Cheers Granny

Yep I'd agree the Savanahlander is a nice trip - Forsayth is the end of nowwhere though LOL but now they have a trip to Cobold Gorge from the railway terminal and Cobold is worth a look the freshwater Crocs there are all named after members of the british aristocracy as they just lay around all day and do nothing...............

Cruising Granny · Guru

Basil Faulty wrote:

Yep I'd agree the Savanahlander is a nice trip - Forsayth is the end of nowwhere though LOL but now they have a trip to Cobold Gorge from the railway terminal and Cobold is worth a look the freshwater Crocs there are all named after members of the british aristocracy as they just lay around all day and do nothing...............

While Forsayth is at the end of the line, to me the whole trip was about the country the line passes through, and the history along the line. Cobold Gorge just after breakfast was absolutely stunning, with the silence not disturbed by the electric motor, the rock walls carved by centuries of wet season flooding, and the colours within the narrow ravine.
The gorup I was with didn't see any freshies, but we did see the fish which inhabit the dark, cold water. Travel is not always about the means of travel or the comforts, but the terrain and natural and other features along the way. I've sacrificed quite a bit of comfort to see what's over the next hill.
I have to admit the Forsayth pub was probably the least interesting destination, but once again the locals, including the red-tailed black ****atoos provided some light entertainment in the subtle light of day break.

Train travel in NZ in 1976 was basic but once again passed through some spectacular country from Auckland to Wellington, and then from Picton to Christchurch.
Where the Ghan travels through the most isolated of Australia's outback, you could see similar terrain travelling by road, west across the Nullarbor, north up the Stuart, or across outback NSW and Qld. And the train doesn't stop for that special photo of that special spot.
Cheers and happy travels. Granny