day 1 the ghan...

...named for the Afghan cameleers who opened up the centre of Australia with their 'ships of the desert' in the late 1800s.
The original rail link connected Adelaide to Alice Springs but it was not until less that 20!! years ago that the rail line finally joined 'The Alice' to Darwin.

In the hundred years before that, the 'singing wire' (The Overland Telegraph) was constructed connecting Adelaide and the rest of Australia with Darwin and then with England via and equally extraordinary submarine cable from Darwin to London...and all this by1872!

Meanwhile back on The Ghan.
This is my little cabin which at night becomes my bedroom (extra)
I can draw up the blinds and watch the country race by for the 2979 km that will take us to Adelaide.
After lunch..buffalo curry(yummm)...it is off to Nitmiluk Gorge (extra) where we boat up the Katherine River to rock art and our guide's stories of his country.

The Ghan has been on my 'bucket list' for yonks
And now it is happening.