Riding the Ghan: off into the Outback
Riding the Ghan was something I’d waited six months to do, after buying an advance purchase ticket. My chance to take a long train ride through the rugged Outback. What a great trip – for more on the ride see my post about the end-to-end ride.
Australia is Dry
It’s the driest continent on earth. But it does rain, and late on the second afternoon an electrical storm spread dark across the entire eastern horizon. During dinner we watched repeated ground strikes and pulsing lightning inside the clouds, glad we weren’t under the storm.
Not far from our start in Darwin, we crossed the pretty Elizabeth River on the route’s longest bridge. Later we crossed the Finke River. A river in name only it seems. The Finke is a river-width stream of sand (with occasional waterholes) but it can rage in rare rain. I mention the rivers and the Finke in particular because the Finke has a claim to being the oldest river on the planet. Is the Nile older? Not necessarily. I’m cheering for the Finke.
Outback flying by
Nitmiluk Gorge
We had a choice of off-train excursions, one each day. For my Day 1 excursion, I elected the Nitmiluk Gorge cruise where we traveled in flat boats between fractured red sandstone cliffs along the Katherine River. We saw wildlife including a colony of fruit bats fanning themselves iKathering gorgesn the heat and a white bellied eagle keeping an eye on them. I didn’t see crocodiles. But they are there. The freshwater crocs (freshies), native to Australia, live in the river year-round. The giant, aggressive saltwater crocs (salties) get into the river during the wet season floods. It takes wildlife officials a few weeks to remove the salties when floodwaters recede below natural barriers. The guide on my boat said his company doesn’t offer canoe trips until they get the all clear from wildlife authorities. Well, that’s a relief. I didn’t see a croc, but I saw the big saltie trap by the dock. You could trap a small car in it.
Kathering Gorges
Alice Springs Desert Park
The next day I visited Alice Springs Desert Park. They say, “Get red sand in your boots,” but I didn’t because my clay-colored Palladium desert boots, well-matched to the red sand, kept it out. (I love my boots.) There in the red sand at the foot of the MacDonnell Ranges, we observed and learned about Australia’s disappearing native flora and fauna. Does that sound familiar? The Park’s mission is dedicated to restoration of native habitat and reducing threats to native animal species.
The van driver who took us to the park said that 3,000 Americans live in Alice. They’re there as part of a joint defense facility. I’m sure she tells this to every group she takes, but she was amusing, so here goes. You have to love the Americans, she said, because they bring along their cars with left side driving. Australia has right side driving. Sometimes she looks in her side mirror and has a moment of panic because it looks like no one’s driving the car behind her. That would give me a fright too.
The Milky Way
Late the second night we stopped in the desert to look at the stars. Deep in the night, moonless, still and clear. We used the train’s telescope to see Jupiter and four of its moons. Stars and planets swarmed over us, the Milky Way’s densest and bushiest side rising over the Outback. Brilliant white, “close to the light seen when looking at spring snow in the early morning, shortly after dawn,” said University of Pittsburgh astronomers. Our cosmic homeland. The Southern Cross was up there sideways. Orion was upside down. In the dark, the silent train behind us, it felt like the stars were singing.
Before the railroad company turned loose a train-full of tourists in the night desert, a crew had placed small lanterns 20 or 30 yards from the train. We had to stay inside this limit, like swimming inside a shark net at the beach. The staff were meticulous about procedures, gathering us in our assigned lounges, briefing us and ticking off each name and cabin number as we got off and then returned. And as we pulled away, I saw the eerie silhouette of hands as they reached out of darkness to pick up the lanterns. Then back to our cabins for our last night on the Ghan.
Trip date: March 2016