The Ghan and Katherine Gorge

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The Ghan and Katherine Gorge

After a true hangover day at the pool relaxing with those from the tour it was time to say goodbye and move on once again. We were heading North to Darwin via the Ghan. The Ghan is a luxury train which travels from Adelaide to Darwin over 3 days. It is a must whilst in Australia as you truly get to appreciate the sheer size of this country and see the sparse landscape first hand. Dean from our Alice Springs tour jumped on the Ghan too which made the long 24hr journey a great laugh. We had a lounge, a bar, dining room, sleeper seats and a lovely conductor. It was amazing watching the land change from red dust into lush green flood plains as we reached the Adelaide River in Darwin. Seeing termite mounds and the sun rise was beautiful. The Ghan stopped at Katherine for 4 hours sow e had the chance to visit Katherine Gorge. Unfortunately the water level was too high so we were unable to kayak but we walked one of the tracks along the edge of the gorge for the spectacular views.

We met a friendly couple who were traveling the world together and decided to go to the pub for a well deserved beer. It was 2pm on a Tuesday and it felt like a Friday night, music pumping, loud chatter drown out the bar men and it was filled inside and out with Aborigines. The experience is one that will always stay with us when everyone turned their heads as we walked in and bought our drinks. They were curious but not so intimidating that we felt we had to leave. Their culture is difficult to understand. It seems that a high percentage roam the streets like zombies all drink alcohol 24-7. They drink so much that the prices have become so high and a limit on what they can buy has been implemented. In Alice Springs you can only buy one 2litre box of goon after 6pm each and it costs double the normal price.

We really enjoyed our journey on the Ghan and would definitely recommend it, it opened our eyes to the distances we have been traveling and has made us appreciate how close we are to Europe!

Once we had checked into the YHA at Darwin we headed out as surprisingly Darwin is a decent spot to go dancing. Alysha and I had a few drinks at a wine bar then I continued on as Aly headed home to bed. I went to the Lost Arc which had a live band playing and a great atmosphere. I got chatting to some locals straight away and we were off! First on the dance floor but only had space for one song as we were suddenly invaded and the rest of the bar obviously thought it was time to strut their stuff!! Unbeknown to me there was a club round the back and in between drinking and shaking my bum I got dragged into a huge dance area, podiums, three bars, wicked DJ and a wet t-shirt competition. There are so many of them in Aus, I suppose it’s the beach wear lifestyle - the easy going side - or just the fact that $500 was on offer to the winner?! The girls were hilarious and one of them strutted to the front of the stage wiggling her bits she slipped and fell straight on her back, legs in the air - not a good look when wearing a mini skirt - although the boys didn’t seem to agree. She got the loudest cheer of course and stole the show. Legend! It was a top night out and I met some funny travelers all up for a boogie and nasty tequila!! I crawled into bed at 5am, 6:30 the alarm screamed at me and I wanted to throw it and myself out of the bedroom window. I was up and ready in 15minutes to catch our tour bus to Kakadu National Park. I was still buzzing from the night out which made the meet and greet all the more fun!

xx Shaz

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