Katherine to Alice Springs

One of the really interesting aspects of travelling on the Ghan, is when we are out of cities and towns there's no internet. The train does have a hot-spot set up in the club car but that's it. Most people haven't bothered and are enjoying the silence of their phones.
Meals on the train are very good and the wine list is most acceptable. I have become quite fond of a Margaret River Chardonnay (name to be inserted here) and, given the quantity of reds being drunk they are also most acceptable.
We travelled overnight to Alice Springs - with several long stops along the way. Apparently this is usual so that other trains can get by. I love the changes in the landscape as we travel south. Lush, green and dense to the more desert vegetation. This is why I am on the train. It's great.
We arrived in Alice Springs around 9am but we weren't sent on our excursions until 11am. I did the Dessert Park excursion. First was a quick tour of the town with Doug our driver happily pointing out various places of interest with accompanying stories. Doug came across as a real bushie - lived in Alice Springs all his life, worked on various properties and now runs a tour company. We were taken to his company's catering venue that is set up in a old quarry for lunch - cold buffet with wines etc. very nice.
The Desert Park was next with Skip as our guide. Everything in the park is native to the habitats surrounding Alice Springs. The tour took about 3 hours. Luckily I had a mobility scooter - quite good fun actually - but this meant that myself and the other 4 scooter people were often at the back of the group and missed a lot of what was being said. Two highlights - the very pregnant bilbies in the nocturnal house and the raptor display in the Ampitheatre. They have trained their birds to respond to various hand commands and rewards. The birds fly freely around the young girl running the show before returning to their 'home'. The cutest was Bruce the Willy Wagtail who would hop around in front of her waiting for his reward.
We arrived back at the train at 4.35pm and had to be organised by 5.15pm to disembark to be bused to the Overland Telegraph Station for dinner under the stars. Fantastic. Beautifully set up. Delicious food, Bollinger champagne, Bird in Hand Chardonnay and Pepper Jack Shiraz. There was a reasonable band playing and after dinner, they turned of the lights so we could see the night sky. Amazing. The Southern Cross was very bright as were Orion, Gemini and Leo star formation. Jupiter was also incredibly bright in the sky - even when the lights came back on. After some energetic dancing by many guests, we were bused back to the train by about 10pm. Quick night cap and off to bed.
I have photos on my other camera but right now I am having difficulties getting the camera to talk to my laptop. So will add more later.Read more