31 August 2010
Now we travel overland taking a railway journey on the great Ghan train from Darwin to Alice Springs, right in the heart of the country, a journey of 1350km. This famous railroad, finally completed in 2004 having taken 140 years in its construction, gets its name from the Afghan camel trains, once the most effective means of transport. Our train had 28 carriages, carrying 270 passengers. It was the most wonderful relaxing way to travel and has whetted our appetite to undertake more train journeys in the future. Leaving the station on the outskirts of Darwin, we crossed the beautiful expanse of the Elizabeth River, the city skyline hazy in the early morning sun. Like Cairns, Darwin has seen huge expansion in the last four years. We settled into our comfortable leather cabin armchairs and prepared for our window seat wilderness adventure tour. What a harsh and desolate landscape the Australian outback is. But it was amazing how there was almost always something to look at. For the first few hours the terrain was savannah woodland, consisting of parched grass, zillions of gum, wattle and acacia trees, extraordinary shaped anthills dotted everywhere which are such a feature of the Northern Territories. Arriving at Pine Creek, huge mounds of iron ore, their fine grains like beads of jet black, glistening in the hot Australian sun, were being loaded onto trucks in a siding. There was evidence of many bush fires but fortunately we did not encounter any, although I was told that they can burn right up to the track. Just before Katherine, the fourth largest settlement in the Northern Territories and seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a huge orchard of mango trees, and a huge surprise. Now some four hours down the line, we arrived at this township, and disembarked for a river cruise of the Katherine Gorge. It was scorching hot but a more pleasant way to spend an afternoon I could not imagine. Three hours later we were back aboard and settled down for our sundowners, relishing in the fact that we would not have to get up to do a night watch! The Stuart Highway, another great feat of engineering, now appeared at intervals running parallel to us, and for the first time I saw the famous road trains I have read so much about. Once they towed up to 8 trailers or "dogs ". Now three is the maximum number allowed. We stopped for many hours overnight at Tennant Creek departing again at sun rise. I just had to get up. I could not miss the moment. There is something quite special about an Australian sunrise and sunset. Huge forklift trucks were already unloading 20ft containers from the freight train which had arrived ahead of us. Being a centre of Australia's pastoral industry we now glimpsed the occasional cattle station. The earth had turned rust red and now I understood why it is called the red centre. It was a real surprise to see so many species of colourful shrubs, purple, pink and yellow in such arid ground and in many places the ground was littered with "Paddy " melons in various stages of ripeness. These are a great source of food for the animals. Approaching Alice Springs we could see the MacDonnell Mountain ranges in the far distance. Twenty eight hours after we first boarded, the mighty Ghan ground slowly to a halt. We had arrived in "Alice". The geographic centre of Australia, it is a town I have longed to visit for a long time.
The town of "Alice"
Alice Springs lies on the Tropic of Capricorn and what a difference in temperature. A climate so pleasant that as soon as we stepped from the train, the fresh cool of the air came as a blessed relief after the fierce heat of Katherine, the day before. My first "port of call" after checking into our hotel was the local book store to buy a book I read about on our train journey, "We of the Never, Never", a nineteen hundreds account of life in the harsh environs of the outback. This will be one of my Indian Ocean crossing books.
With only one day to sightsee, we had to be very selective. First we walked to the top of Anzac Hill and had a 360 degree view of Alice. It is just as I had imagined it, nestled in a hollow and surrounded by the lower reaches of the MacDonnell Range but of course no longer the sleepy town as described in Neville Shute's novel. Next to visit were the premises of the Flying Doctor Service. The operations room was surprisingly small considering it has to cover such vast areas. Ninety percent of their aid is to the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territories. They had a terrific museum, fascinating to me as a retired nurse. But the most enjoyable visit of the day was to the Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame, a tribute to all those who survived the rigours of the outback in the very early days of Australian exploration. The next day we walked along beside the dry riverbed of the Todd River to the Telegraph Station where we spent the entire morning. Like the museums of the previous day it gave a wonderful history of what was once the only settlement, dating from the earliest days of communication with the outside world. Last on our programme we went out to the out of town Desert Park to learn of aborigine life in the bush, how they hunt and use the plants for food, shelter and medicine. We returned to Darwin that evening by air too late for the rally prize giving but just in time to say farewell to our friends. The journey had taken just two hours in contrast to the 28 hours it had taken by train.
Farewell to our friends.....
Two more boats now leave our rally, Ronja and Ciao. Ronja we knew about. Vibeke, Jan and family from Ronja ended their cruising back in Fiji. It came as a real shock to learn that Olga and Srecko (Ciao) leave also, deciding to do a lot more travelling in Australia, New Zealand and back in the Pacific. Theirs was always a happy ship irrespective of who was on board. David and I notice these things. But it is their sailing ability I most respect them for. They are natural sailors and very few people have that gift. They proved themselves worthy winners on countless legs and now as we leave them behind there will be others taking their place on the podium. Some of the best friendships we have ever made have come through our cruising. We hope that Olga and Srecko will be another couple that we might add to our list. We wish them well and we will truly miss them.
Susan Mackay