the Ghan

It’s been a little while since the last post, and by the time this actually gets on the internet we will most likely already have left even Darwin, because I don’t know when we next have an internet connection... Maybe I’ll get lucky and there will be something in Alice Springs or at the place near Uluru. Anyway, as I write this I’m sitting in a miniscule train compartment on the Ghan, the line which travels from Darwin to Adelaide and back. It’s quite the adventure. I really would have liked to have taken the Indian Pacific line, which goes all of the way from Sydney across to Perth, but that trip would have cut out the Great Ocean Road and some other essential parts of our trip. I think we could have engineered it, but this will probably work out to be just as exciting. Also I’ve been told that the Narbullor Plain isn’t as interesting as one might think, what with its being a huge stretch of desert-like plain with absolutely no human inhabitants that stretches through half of the continent. Sounds fun to me though, very authentic. But the Ghan. So far I personally have seen seven Emus, which, if you don’t know, are relatives of the ostrich, and are huge black things that wander around eating bugs, etc. Let’s see, I’m not sure exactly where I left off last, but I think we were still on the road then. Sooo... We reached Adelaide, or the outskirts at least, and parked ourselves at yet another Caravan park, this one resembling a small town in its size and completeness. I don’t see the draw to these places. I mean, the smaller ones are nice; there’s certainly a sense of  camaraderie when you’re encountering the same people everywhere, but to me it still feels like a manufactured experience. My idea of camping in Australia would be to ride horses across the outback. Unfortunately, the only way to do that kind of thing anymore is to have guided ‘horse tours’ so the whole idea is polluted in my mind. Oh well... At least Kodiak is still pretty authentic in its feel.  So, our next stop is Alice Springs, where we will get off of the train and take a five hours bus ride out to Uluru. We spend the night somewhere in the area, then fly back to Alice Springs and get back on the train for the remaining day on the Ghan up to Darwin. I believe that they are in 'the wet' right now, so our few days there are going to be spent constantly drenched, whether in sweat from the humidity or from rain. According to our newfound friends on the train it’s useless to wear a raincoat, as it is just too hot and you’ll just get wet anyway. Sounds fun to me. It seems that ever since I saw Australia, cheesy as it was, I’ve had the urge to do more, experience more things truly Australian. I feel like such a sell out, because that is exactly what the Australian Tourism Board had hoped to gain from the movie. I suppose it isn’t a bad thing really, I just feel like I’ve been manipulated a little.