Being trapped on a train for days with two teenagers and no wi-fi – I repeat, no wi-fi – wasn’t my idea of a holiday. But once you relax into the meditative rhythm of Australia’s most iconic locomotive, there’s no better way to disconnect from the world and reconnect with your children.
The Ghan – the kilometre-long train that steadily snakes from Adelaide to Darwin – is a luxe, all-inclusive journey offering up impeccable service (you’re allocated your own butler), cosy accommodation, superb food and thoughtful additions (for coffee snobs like me that means Nespresso).
There are dozens of Ghan adventures to choose from, but we were invited to experience The Ghan’s “official” birthday voyage, which departed on August 4, exactly 90 years to the day since the maiden journey. After settling into our cabin, we visited the pop-up “Bollinger and Brims” carriage, where French bubbles flowed while we bought obligatory Akubras.
The Queen Adelaide restaurant.
As The Ghan rumbled past outer Adelaide’s pastoral plains and entered the rusty-red terrain of northern SA, we came to a grinding halt at Pimba for a desert concert featuring artists from every 80s Aussie rock playlist, including Goanna and Joe Camilleri, plus Christine Anu. The two-hour gig was only bettered by the fireworks finale, which lit up the outback sky.
The next morning, we lumbered into Alice Springs and embarked on our first expedition: a three-hour, four-kilometre walk through Simpsons Gap. (For a fee, you can instead soak up the sights on a camel or via helicopter.) At the Gap, a gorge in the West MacDonnell Ranges, you’ll spy goannas, rock wallabies and towering Insta-worthy red cliffs.
Day three presented another off-board delight: a cruise down Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge. Here, freshwater crocs lounged on nearby rocks and, to my daughter’s despair, swam up to our boat. The prehistoric, pristine wilderness of Katherine is powerful beyond words. Swimming is mostly forbidden, but there are a couple of “safe” waterholes to escape the heat.
Cruising Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge.
Back on board, nights were spent chatting to fellow travellers over bottles of Bollie as guitarists beckoned guests to their feet. Even my teens danced to John Denver with a couple of spritely octogenarians. See what magic happens when there’s no wi-fi? As The Ghan’s brochure correctly states, it’s about the journey, not the destination. But the real thumbs up came from my usually monosyllabic son. As we alighted at Darwin he whispered to me, “Mum, that was actually pretty good.”
Prices range from $1919 (Gold Single cabin) to $4079 (Platinum Class cabin pp). Visit journeybeyond.com.
This issue originally appeared in the January 2020 issue of marie claire.
