On the train

After a bit of a rough night, mostly caused by the super thin walls and the old guys next door who wouldn’t shut up at 4am, we woke up early to get out and see the sunrise. We’d stopped at a place called Marla which wasn’t much but a platform and a water tower. It was quite cloudy but we still managed to see a reasonable sunrise across the desert. We were hoping we’d be able to do a bit of walking to try and walk off yesterday’s food but no such luck, we could only walk up and down (part of) the train which we did a couple of times.

By the time we got back on the train I was absolutely shattered. We had a shower, a quick drink then I crashed for a bit before we crossed the border into the NT.

Just after lunch we made it to Alice Springs. Had to go through the rigmarole of filling out the border COVID paperwork before being able to go on a tour. We got off the train when we were told to, lined up in the 6 billion degree heat then were told that because we were on the tour we were we had to move to the back of the line. The guy was really rude and I was less than impressed.

The actual tour itself wasn’t bad. We drove around the town for a bit and visiting Anzac lookout then the Royal flying Doctor service museum which was quite interesting. Then a reptile park where we learnt a few things about lizards, snakes and crocodiles (no point trying to poke them in the eye if they’ve got hold of you apparently). Then last stop was this old telegraph museum but by this stage it was just getting too hot and I think we were all a bit over it. Because we came back to the bus quicker than expected the driver had time to drive us through the city before taking us back to the train. Really feel like we’ve seen Alice now and don’t feel like I need to come back and visit anytime soon.

Dinner was pleasant enough - I decided to have a couple of drinks to try and get my money’s worth. Just a bit paranoid that I’d struggle in the heat the next day with a headache.Read more