We’ve just passed Redhill station, so it must be Reigate next.
We’re on The Ghan, a train which starts in Adelaide and runs north through the very centre of Australia to Darwin at the top, although we’ll be hopping off in Alice Springs. It takes over 24 hours just to Alice, which is a good reminder of how huge Australia is.
Anyone who has been to Australasia knows that placenames here come in four flavours: places named after British places, places named after people, aboriginal/maori names and the just plain silly. We’ve visited Richmond in Tasmania and have been assured there is a Richmond in every other Australian state. We’ve passed Ascot, Windsor and Epsom in one short drive. Perth is unusual in being probably more well known now than its Scottish original. The places with aboriginal names are often beautifully melodic, like Wolloomoloo which is actually a central suburb of Sydney. The silliest names tend to be reserved for geographic features; we have visited the Remarkable Rocks, we’ve seen Mistaken Island but we passed right by the Conspicuous Cliffs without stopping.
Anyway, 24 hours on a train again. This is nowhere near as good as our overnight Thailand trains for three reasons: (1) we just have seats, no sleeper compartment, (2) the food is crappy and overpriced, (3) and even with just seats we’re paying perhaps ten times the price of a Thai sleeper. In fact we’re paying quite a lot more than the cost of a plane flight from Adelaide to Alice Springs, which perhaps explains why The Ghan feels more like a tourist attraction than a piece of public transport.
I realise I haven’t said anything about Adelaide, despite staying there for three nights. Well, it seems like a compact and friendly city, low on sights and high on green spaces. Good places to eat and easy to walk around. It was raining this morning, so we literally left it under a cloud.
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