The Ghan to Alice

Sunday 15 May: Another of the world's great big rail journeys. Completed in 2007, The Ghan (86th mode of transport) is named after the tough Muslim Afghan cameleers who first opened up this trail as a caravan route.
So, from Adelaide's Parklands Terminal I take my seat and promptly at 12:20pm we slowly pull out of the city. It's a comfortable overnight trip with reasonable meals and good but expensive wine. First we pass farmland, grain fields mostly, but soon we are in the 'red centre', the outback, proper. Trees give way to bushy scrub and I've seen it all before, magnificently monotonous.
Monday 16: A morning of more interesting bush with rocky backdrops and a single river, still almost dry despite the recent rains. Then, after lunch, we find ourselves in Alice.
Photos of The Ghan.