The Ghan & A Town Called Alice

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Time to leave Adelaide to go to train station to catch The Ghan to Alice Springs. The Ghan is a very long old train that travels across Australia from Adelaide via Alice Springs then on to Darwin. We arrived at train station early to see the train carriages arrive and take photos before the crowds arrived.
We had booked some time ago in UK and were travelling by Gold Kangaroo service which gave us our own berth which converted in to bunk beds for us to sleep on the 24 hour journey. When the train had departed the bar/lounge area was opened where we headed for drinks before our Bushmans Lunch was served in the Restaurant Car. The Ghan does not travel fast and has to stop for freight trains to pass as there is only one track. After lunch and a short rest its time for Sunset dinner and more wine!, then to the bar for after dinner drinks before retiring to bed in our ready made up bunk beds.
Next morning we are woken up at 6am with a cup of tea in bed, then breakfast in Restaurant car at 7am.

The scenery was very flat most of the time with red sand, the odd bush, black trees and some wild horses and cattle. The driver pointed a couple of land marks, one was The Iron Man, not very big and nearly missed it as train went by. Another was a river which was fuller than normal due to the rain the outback has had in last couple of weeks. Soon time for more food, Bushmans lunch before the train arrives in Alice Springs where we depart. A very enjoyable journey.

After departing The Ghan and taking more photos we get shuttle bus to our hostel, Annies Place. On the way we get a call from Jo and Gaz to say they have arrived at their hotel and are coming over to meet us. We all went for a much needed swim in the pool as temperature was about 40 degrees. Was great to see Jo and Gaz and seemed strange meeting up so far from home.
We had a wander around town, dodged a downpour of rain and brought hats and fly nets ready for our Red Centre Camping Safari the next day. We have never seen so many flies and bugs, they drive you crazy!

After sorting out small bags to take camping we met up with Jo and Gaz again to eat in The Overlander, a steak house in town. We had drinks in the bar before eating. The waiter asked where we were from and promptly came back and put a Union Jack on our table! Steaks were excellent, Bill ordered a 1kg T Rex T Bone and managed to eat it all. He then ordered a Pannakin of Port (a small tin mug - the local way apparently) and good night was had by us all. Then off to bed as we were being picked up at 6am to start our tour to The Red Centre/Uluru.

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Photos

So Long You Cant Get It In A Picture
The train had 16 carriages - and this was a small train

The Logo
The Ghan is named after the Afghans who built the original track using camels to transport everything

The Only Way To Travel
Before boarding the crew lined up to greet us and the Train Manager blew the whistle to signal the train was open

Restaurant Car
A nice way to travel

The Iron Man
To celebrate laying one million sleepers

T Rex T Bone
This was 2 inches thick and a real effort to finish