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The Ghan.


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The Ghan train supported by 38 carriages runs 2979 kiolometres from Adelaide to Darwin.

BBC 4 did a 3 hour programme of the train travelling through miles of countryside via Alice Springs 

which is approx half way through the journey.

Great camera views from the front of the train and camera shots from the air made this programme very

interesting, and facts throughout history on how the track was laid and the people who laid it.

Not cheap though as half the journey can cost 500 pounds upwards with the full 3 day journey costing 1828 pounds.

Did anyone else watch this programme and thoughts. 

Ghan_Alice_Springs.jpg

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I done a 6 day bus tour from Adelaide to Alice stopping at all the notable towns on the way. Can't imagine a train through not much varying scenery would be a lot of fun though!

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will-i-am-a-jambo

I'd be quite interested to see this programme. I did the lndian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide going through the Nullabor Plain. Was great fun although expensive at AU$300 (but this was back in 2011). Was quite lucky as l won AU$250 the day before on their version of bingo so that paid for my trip quite nicely!

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Thunderstruck

Watched it a few weeks ago but not all in one sitting. The lack of commentary and interesting use of graphics was a pleasant change. 

 

What surprised me was how varied the landscape was along the entire route. 

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£1800??  Jesus christ. **** that. 

 

I drove Cairns to Darwin then down to Adelaide. Both trips over 7 days which was probably more fun than sitting on the train. 

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4 hours ago, hughesie27 said:

I done a 6 day bus tour from Adelaide to Alice stopping at all the notable towns on the way. Can't imagine a train through not much varying scenery would be a lot of fun though!

 

6 days???

 

You could cycle it in 6 days.

 

Seriously though it's a great drive, not sure I would fancy getting the train and missing out on places like Oodnadatta, Coober Pedy, Port Augusta and well that's pretty much it.

 

Edit: Forgot about Uluru and King's Canyon which are must sees.

 

 

 

 

Edited by graygo
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joondalupjambo
10 hours ago, graygo said:

Found a wee map I did showing where we drove in Oz, did over 27,000kms.

 

Out of interest what did you do that in?  A hire car, a purchased one, a van etc.?

We lived in Perth from to 2003 to 2016 and although we would never go back and live in Oz again we keep trying to work out a way of doing a drive right around it.

Prices there are steep but roughing it to keep costs down are not a problem even to a couple of oldies like us.

We know a few well off folk from Perth who simply bought a big jeep and towed a caravan round and another lot bought a home van thingy to do the trip.  We also know some younger ones who simply bought an estate car and stuck their swags in the back and off they set, that couple just sold the car on their return to Perth.

So would be good to hear how you did it.

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1 hour ago, joondalupjambo said:

 

Out of interest what did you do that in?  A hire car, a purchased one, a van etc.?

We lived in Perth from to 2003 to 2016 and although we would never go back and live in Oz again we keep trying to work out a way of doing a drive right around it.

Prices there are steep but roughing it to keep costs down are not a problem even to a couple of oldies like us.

We know a few well off folk from Perth who simply bought a big jeep and towed a caravan round and another lot bought a home van thingy to do the trip.  We also know some younger ones who simply bought an estate car and stuck their swags in the back and off they set, that couple just sold the car on their return to Perth.

So would be good to hear how you did it.

 

We bought a van from a place in Sydney (https://www.travellers-autobarn.com.au/) it was pretty basic but did the job and I sold it in Sydney to a young Croatian couple when we were done with it.

 

We mets lots of folk who did this also some who hired campervans and some as you say who bought a cheap estate car and a tent or stayed in bakpacker hostels. We tended to sleep in the van on campsites but if it was too hot, too cold or we fancied a bit more of life's comforts then we hired a cabin on the campsites. Sometimes we stayed in luxury hotels, which was fun parking the old van up in their car park.

 

I take it you lived in Joondalup? We spent a week near there in Sorrento and Burns Beach.

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53 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

That is some drive. They must have petrol stations in the middle of nowhere.

 

Good on ya mate for taking that drive on.

 

They do, sometimes you would see what looked like a wee town on the map and when you got there it was just a roadhouse  with a campsite attached.

 

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I lived in Oz during the mid 90s - to fund my travels I used to buy Tax file numbers (NI numbers) off tourists who were heading home and take them to an Accountant at Bondi junction who applied for a rebate. A lucrative little earner. 

Edited by PTBCAL
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joondalupjambo
20 hours ago, graygo said:

 

We bought a van from a place in Sydney (https://www.travellers-autobarn.com.au/) it was pretty basic but did the job and I sold it in Sydney to a young Croatian couple when we were done with it.

 

We mets lots of folk who did this also some who hired campervans and some as you say who bought a cheap estate car and a tent or stayed in bakpacker hostels. We tended to sleep in the van on campsites but if it was too hot, too cold or we fancied a bit more of life's comforts then we hired a cabin on the campsites. Sometimes we stayed in luxury hotels, which was fun parking the old van up in their car park.

 

I take it you lived in Joondalup? We spent a week near there in Sorrento and Burns Beach.

 

Yeah we were lucky and moved to Joondalup before the resources boom and the mad expansion of housing and the increase in new suburbs that followed.   We were in the old part of Joondalup and did that because of the size of the house and land we could get for the price at the time and also it was a short 10 minute drive to the beach.  Sorrento is nice and on the beach and Burns Beach was nice until the late 2000's when it got so over grown.   Burns Beach virtually up to Yanchep is now houses, rows and rows of them all about a metre apart!!   Back in the day when was wife was young her family used to drive from Perth to Burns Beach caravan site for a weekend away.

 

Thank for the link and the other information.

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3 minutes ago, joondalupjambo said:

 

Yeah we were lucky and moved to Joondalup before the resources boom and the mad expansion of housing and the increase in new suburbs that followed.   We were in the old part of Joondalup and did that because of the size of the house and land we could get for the price at the time and also it was a short 10 minute drive to the beach.  Sorrento is nice and on the beach and Burns Beach was nice until the late 2000's when it got so over grown.   Burns Beach virtually up to Yanchep is now houses, rows and rows of them all about a metre apart!!   Back in the day when was wife was young her family used to drive from Perth to Burns Beach caravan site for a weekend away.

 

Thank for the link and the other information.

 

Can't stop "progress" eh?

 

2003/4 we were there so thankfully missed all that.

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13 hours ago, PTBCAL said:

I lived in Oz during the mid 90s - to fund my travels I used to buy Tax file numbers (NI numbers) off tourists who were heading home and take them to an Accountant at Bondi junction who applied for a rebate. A lucrative little earner. 

Genius ?

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13 hours ago, PTBCAL said:

I lived in Oz during the mid 90s - to fund my travels I used to buy Tax file numbers (NI numbers) off tourists who were heading home and take them to an Accountant at Bondi junction who applied for a rebate. A lucrative little earner. 

Very clever. 

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Did the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Diego last month. 54 hours and right across the Rockies. Was absolutely spectacular. Only $500 a head as well

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56 minutes ago, trotter said:

Did the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Diego last month. 54 hours and right across the Rockies. Was absolutely spectacular. Only $500 a head as well

 

I did LA to New York a number of years ago, it was about $140 for 72 hours. Which at the time was bang on £70. I thought about getting a sleeper cabin but just got a standard ticket instead. Turned out to be OK as the seats were massive and I'm one of those people that can sleep anywhere. Amazing journey through deserts, and the Great Plains. With the bonus of an 8 hour stop off in Chicago waiting for the connecting train that went right along the very north of the US and down from the top of New Yorks state. I'm not sure I'd do it again but I'm very glad I've done it. 

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