Ghan, Day 1: Rockin’, rollin’, ridin’ …

After a leisurely start in the morning – we are talking Sunday here – we got to the station at the appointed time of 10.15am or so. Check-in for all we grey travellers went smoothly and we set off exactly to schedule at 12:15pm. Our Gold Class cabin was comfortable, with a lovely picture window. (There are also Gold Class Superior and Platinum cabins, but we were happy with our choice). Fortunately we had a forward-facing configured cabin, that is, our seat faced the direction the train was going in. The cabin next to us was not. This was, we realised, because they designed the cabins to have the en-suites back-to back.

First up, not long after we set off, was lunch. Since all settings are for four, we shared each meal with another couple. And, you know, with each couple we found we had one connection or another (besides, that is, us all being of a similar age!). For lunch, our companions were a couple from Nowra, with the husband being Danish by birth. As some of you will know, I have some Danish ancestors.

There wasn’t a lot of tourist information provided over the radio system, but we were amused that one of the few was to point out a wind farm. Tony Abbott would not have been amused. A couple of other places were identified en route too, like a town called Crystal Brook, but, interestingly, we passed through the (infamous) Snowtown in silence.

And, of course, there was the usual bit of Canberra bashing. As we passed through Port Augusta, the commentary advised that, at one stage, there had been proposals to make Port Augusta the nation’s capital, but, the commentary went on to say, “ask any Port Augustarian [their word) today and they’d be glad they put Canberra somewhere else”! Hmmm …. we’re glad too. We’d much rather be where we are! How many countries, we wondered, bash their national capital the way Aussies do! Is it just Australians’ irreverent nature?

We spent the afternoon alternating between our cabin and the lounge car where we met several other travellers – from Ballarat, Bendigo, Melbourne, Hobart, Terrigal, and so on. For dinner we shared our table with a couple from the Channel Islands. The connection with them was teaching. We had a most enjoyable conversation. The fellow’s daughter is a herpetologist so we enjoyed talking things reptile. This couple, too, had spent recent holidays volunteering on building a school in Uganda (so were treating themselves this year to a “real” holiday). Nice people.

The food has been OK, though they don’t seem to seriously cater for food intolerance issues. They are happy to remove items from dishes, and can provide gluten-free bread, but they don’t go out of their way to make sure you get your money’s worth if you cannot eat what’s on the menu. I survived, but was a little disappointed in the offerings. (For example, snacks offered in the lounge bar with drinks – all included in the ticket price – were peanuts and pretzels. If you can’t eat wheat or peanuts, well, you go hungry. Or, you get to keep the calories down! Take your pick!)

We settled into our beds for the night – made-up while we were dining – quite early as we were planning to rise early to great the sunrise at Marla. There’s something nice about lying in bed as the train rocks beneath you.

Some stills

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Some movies